When Brent Snyder started talking to lenders about financing his downtown apartment developments, they said his prospective residents already live in or near downtown.
“They told me it would draw from a very narrow band,” said Snyder, president of Century Real Estate Services. “They were wrong.”
Snyder quickly discovered that he was drawing tenants from across the metro area. Many worked in places like Boulder and Greenwood Village but chose to join the ranks of reverse commuters – people who live within an urban core but travel to jobs in the suburbs.
As downtown Denver continues to grow as a residential destination and transit options expand, developers and real-estate agents say more people are commuting against the typical flow of traffic.
The tide of commuters flowing out of downtown has increased steadily as its population has tripled to 9,000 in the past 20 years. Some suburban businesses have acknowledged the trend by providing free transit passes as an employment perk, and developers like Snyder say it’s becoming increasingly important to build downtown projects near transit stops or easy routes to the highway.
Real-estate agent Dee Chirafisi of Kentwood City Properties said she recently noticed a spike in the number of downtown buyers who commute to Boulder and Broomfield.
“The trend is to come downtown, and it doesn’t really matter where you work,” said Snyder, whose company built the Broadway Plaza Lofts and Blake Street Apartments, both income-restricted rental developments.
Data from the Denver Regional Council of Governments based on the 2000 Census showed that half the people who lived downtown also worked there, while another 27 percent worked outside of downtown but within the city of Denver. Greenwood Village, Lakewood and Aurora were the top three destinations for those commuting outside the city.
But Snyder’s data point to a bigger proportion of people commuting to other parts of the metro area.
At Broadway Plaza, half the residents worked within Denver’s city limits, according to surveys Snyder took in 2005. At the Blake Street Apartments, less than 40 percent of residents worked in Denver, according to 2006 data.
“Younger people want the lifestyle. They want to be close to LoDo and the sporting events,” Snyder said. “They want the lifestyle, and they’ll work wherever they work.”
It was a lifestyle decision that persuaded Matt Krump to move downtown.
Krump, 26, works as an analyst at the Chotin Group, located near the Arapahoe Road light-rail stop in Greenwood Village.
Krump’s wife works in Boulder, and the couple considered downtown to be a central location relative to their jobs.
Most days, Krump walks about 10 minutes from his home to catch the light rail at Union Station. Then it’s a straight shot on the train to his office.
Krump’s colleague Chris Medema also couldn’t resist the lure of downtown even though he was working elsewhere. Medema, 29, moved downtown two years ago while he was working in Boulder.
“I moved because it was a younger crowd. There were more things to do in the evening,” he said.
When Medema started looking for another job, he concentrated his search on downtown businesses with the hope of minimizing his commute.
He still interviewed with companies outside downtown and ultimately selected the Chotin Group.
While Medema frequently drives to work, he and Krump said their reverse commute has been eased by the fact that their employer provides free transit passes.
But both echoed Snyder’s sentiment that lifestyle and other factors outweighed their commutes when they were deciding where to live.
“I think it’s a better long-term investment,” Medema said.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-954-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
