Long Term Effects
Transforming the Lower Downtown Area
Before Coors Field came to Denver, the Lower Downtown area was struggling. The construction boom had passed around it, meaning the area was used only to tear down old buildings so parking lots and garages could be put in. Business was bad and development was very slow because the area was overlooked by most people. Things were not looking very good for the LoDo area, but that quickly changed when Coors Field came around. It quickly transformed the area, and still is today.
There are three major transformations that happened because of Coors Field...
Now that we know both the short and long term effects, lets take a step back and look at the big picture by concluding all that Coors Field does for Denver...
Before Coors Field came to Denver, the Lower Downtown area was struggling. The construction boom had passed around it, meaning the area was used only to tear down old buildings so parking lots and garages could be put in. Business was bad and development was very slow because the area was overlooked by most people. Things were not looking very good for the LoDo area, but that quickly changed when Coors Field came around. It quickly transformed the area, and still is today.
There are three major transformations that happened because of Coors Field...
- Residential
- The population of the surrounding area tripled from 3,470 to 9,829 ever since the stadium opened, and is still growing. More and more housing, especially apartments, are being contructed in order to meet the incoming population that wants to live in the area, and there are currently no signs of it ever slowing down.
- Business
- Along with the large crowd of people moving in, there are also many people coming through to just watch the Rockies games. This is a great opportunity business because people usually like to stop and eat before and after the game, as well as look around while walking to the game. Bringing in new business wasn't the only thing it did though, it also transformed existing business. Wynkoop is a great example of this as Coors Field brought in many more customers. According to one of its founders, Hickenlooper, when Coors Field opened its sales increased by 50% and they were grossing about $4.2 million a year. This saved the struggling business, and even during the offseason, many fans came back to the bar as the LoDo area continued to develop. This transformation of business still happens today, and bars and resturants are consistantly being started around, and even inside Coors Field where the Rooftop Bar recently opened and is attracting many fans.
- The increase in business also means an increase in jobs, and this is no exception. With many business inside and outside of the stadium needing employees to match the fans coming through on gameday, jobs are easy to find in the LoDo area. This is great for Denver as it gives people job opportunties, greatly benfiting the economy.
- Economy
- The economy benifts greatly from Coors Field. It attracts many fans to come and watch the games, some even from out of the state. This is great for the economy as it brings in all sorts of money. Many of what it does for the economy is in the short term, but it has one major effect that is in the long term. That effect is its change from before Coors Field to after Coors Field, which you can see in the fact that it pushed $250 million in to the economy just from construction, and then brought in many people who did not want to come to the area at first because of how unsafe it was, especialy at night. From there the economy continued to grow because Coors Field turned the heads of many business men who brought in businesses and made the LoDo area what it is today.
- Also a quick note on the safety of the LoDo area after its construction. After it was complete, and the area began to transform, both the crime rates and fire rates have gone way down, making the area much safer than it was before.
- You cannot talk about the long term without talking about the fan base. It is what makes Coors Field great, and without it the LoDo area could not be transformed like it was. Each year the Rockies sell well over 2 million tickets, meaning on average there are more than 25,000 people coming to each game. That is a lot of people, all of which are consistantly coming to games, and will most likely be fans for life. This is great for Denver and the LoDo area, as these people will come to Denver and spend their money and take in anything else the city has to offer. This will last for a very long time, and as long as there is a fan base, Coors Field will help Denver bring in more and more people, which will do a lot of good in the long run.
Now that we know both the short and long term effects, lets take a step back and look at the big picture by concluding all that Coors Field does for Denver...