Denver’s creative side takes center stage in River North, or RiNo. This mural, by artist Nick Napoletano, is one of dozens that decorate the neighborhood, which is a thriving arts and entertainment district within walking distance of the city’s baseball stadium. Photo by Visit Denver, RiNo Art District

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At Nocturne, a jazz and supper club in RiNo, patrons can hear live jazz almost every night of the week. Bars and coffee shops are abundant in the hip neighborhood. Photo by Rebecca Todd

Just three minutes from downtown Denver, an industrial-warehouse-belt-turned-art-district bubbles with creativity. Nestled on the South Platte River, the part of town known as River North, or RiNo, is a rich mosaic of murals towering inside and outside trendy bars and coffee shops, in alleyways and on highway underpasses.

RiNo offers a sensory romp anchored by rich shades of primary colors set against the multi-hued backdrop of the Rockies. Everywhere you look, art studios and galleries fill the frame.

During the last decade, the area has morphed “from a largely empty, uninhabitable area to probably the hippest of Denver right now,” said Ed Sealover, a former Annapolis resident and longtime reporter for the Denver Business Journal.

Wasn’t always for hipsters

Officially a part of the historic Five Points neighborhood, RiNo was a blue-collar mecca early in the 20^th century, when businesses like foundries and pattern shops opened there.

By the late 1980s, however, industry began moving to the suburbs, leaving the area with an assortment of vacant warehouses and a crumbling infrastructure.

The Five Points area “had a reputation that was less than stellar,” explained Alison Salutz, director of community programs for Historic Denver, Inc., a nonprofit that works to preserve old structures slated for demolition.

“It was the first place in the city to grow when the downtown area became too congested.”

Five Points became home to many Black residents “because of its location near the railroad,” Salutz said.

That inflow, she added, was prompted by the process of redlining. The New Deal program, designed by the federal government, systematically kept minorities out of suburban neighborhoods by denying them loans and services and redirecting them to urban housing projects. “It forced them to live there,” she added.

Warehouses attracted artists

In time, in order to revive the area, a grassroots group called RiNo Art District began linking artists with various arts entities, converting forgotten warehouses into studios with affordable rents.

The construction boom produced a wide range of sparkling new distilleries, wineries, bars, restaurants and 10- to 12-story apartment buildings.

At Sacred Heart Catholic Church, near the heart of RiNo, the pastor of the longest continuously operating Catholic parish in Denver, Father Joe Lajoie, finds the neighborhood’s freewheeling, bohemian mood a never-ending source of inspiration. When he’s not saying Mass or lifting weights, he sets out in search of some quiet time.

“And given the nature of my assignment,” he deadpanned, “I [allow] time into my schedule to go to a brewery and drink beer.” Lajoie’s favorite spot is Epic Brewery on Walnut Street, about four blocks from the parish.

Exploring the robust margins of RiNo on foot is possible in a couple of days. At one worthy destination, the Molly Brown House Museum, fill your senses with facts and fantasy surrounding the life of Margaret “Molly” Brown.

She became a socialite and philanthropist after her husband made a fortune following the discovery of gold at a mine he managed.

She also gained fame as a survivor of the RMS Titanic in 1912. The so-called “unsinkable” Brown became active in numerous social and political causes, among them women’s suffrage and workers’ rights.

To honor her heroics on the ship’s maiden voyage, a fictionalized musical comedy, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” premiered on Broadway in 1960. The film version, starring Debbie Reynolds, was released in 1964.

Kathy Deutsch, a 73-year-old Bethesda resident, grew up in Denver and graduated from East High School, which produced familiar names like singer Judy Collins and novelist Jack Kerouac.

Deutsch recommends historic businesses like Tattered Cover, her treasured bookstore, which opened its first store in 1971 in the Cherry Creek North section of the city.

“It’s the best independent bookstore in the country. They have every book you’d ever want,” she said, and it has “the same vibe” as Politics and Prose in the District of Columbia.

Connecting with residents

On a Friday afternoon, John Gaines circled the neighborhood around Larimer and 35^th Streets, near an outdoor drinking and dancing club sporting an expansive chunk of artificial turf.

“There’s a lot of spirit [here],” said Gaines, an independent stock broker. “The art helps you stay present if you take it all in.”

Gaines, a Baltimore area native, observed that “architecturally, RiNo’s more like Pigtown,” the historic meat processing district of Baltimore. “They’re neighborhoods that have sprung up around factories.”

For resident Rachael Smith, the forest of tall buildings in downtown Denver caused her to “lose my direction.” That’s why living a few miles from the center of town brings her immediate relief.

In RiNo, block after block of creative commentary “arouses my senses,” said Smith, 37, a project manager. “And you can see the Rockies from our rooftop!”

Murals make visitors smile

Within the intimate circle of local street artists, Pat Milbery’s name stands out. His mural “Love This City,” at Broadway and Arapahoe, showcases a love for Denver with a heart fashioned from geometric shapes. Two other versions of the mural are displayed in the city’s other art districts, Santa Fe and the Golden Triangle.

Milbery, who hopscotches the country painting on commission, said RiNo “is a special city in a lot of respects. It’s really welcoming. I enjoy the chill. And the weather is really incredible. You’re painting in the sunshine every day.”

Over on Larimer Street, the action never seems to stop at Lekker Coffee & Watering Hole. Kara Finkelstein and her mother, Dawn Kaprielian, started the business four years ago. In that time, Milbery’s work has added energy to their coffee shop experience.

“We chose Pat because everything’s so bright and colorful,” said Finkelstein, who donates 10% of the shop’s profits to a rhinoceros conservation society.

“When you walk in, you just want to smile.”

If you go

Round-trip flights from the Washington area to Denver start at around $220 on United, but you can often find cheaper flights at discount airlines like Spirit, Frontier or Southwest.

When you arrive, take a colorful two-hour walking tour of the River North arts district called the Denver Graffiti Tour ($30 per ticket at denvergraffititour.com). The tour ends at Denver Central Market in the heart of RiNo, where you’ll find plenty of breweries, galleries and restaurants.

Denver may be landlocked, but that doesn’t stop regular shipments of fresh seafood from arriving on a rotating basis from eastern and western ports. At Fish and Beer, 35 Larimer Street, Spanish octopus is a specialty.

The Source Hotel, 3330 Brighton Blvd., features a wide assortment of restaurants and an excellent bakery. Stop by The Woods Restaurant, located on the hotel rooftop, for a view of the city. On the ground floor, New Belgium which traces its roots to a basement in Fort Collins, is now the third-largest craft brewery in the country.

At Blue Moon Brewing, 3750 Chestnut Place, pulled pork tacos and bison burgers are among the featured items.

If you’d like to watch a baseball game, you can walk from RiNo to Coors Field to see the Colorado Rockies play other major league teams.

For more information, visit rinoartdistrict.org.