Villa Park (Denver, Colorado)

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The neighborhood contains three small creeks: Lakewood Gulch, Dry Gulch and Weir Gulch. Because of the creeks and a general elevation gain towards the west, Villa Park is a very hilly neighborhood.

In 1871, Developers bought more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land in the area that now includes Villa Park and the Barnum neighborhoods. Original plans called for a subdivision with artificial lakes, ravines and beautiful landscape design by Frederick Law Olmstead, the man who designed Central Park. The plan never came to fruition and the land was sold to Judge Hiram Bond who operated a cattle brokerage there until 1891. At that time it was sold to Helen Barnum Hurd Buchtel the daughter of circus owner Phineas Barnum, whose family was active in Denver real estate.

The neighborhood is about 80 percent Latino, 15 percent white and the rest from other ethnicities. The neighborhood also has a large immigrant community with more than 35 percent of residents born in another country. The population is mostly lower middle class. The neighborhood consists chiefly of single-family homes with some apartment buildings and several apartment complexes. Commercial development exists primarily on the major thoroughfares of Sheridan and Federal Boulevards with smaller commercial areas along Sixth and 10th avenues and Knox Court.