Sun Valley Housing Projects

    West 9th Ave. and Bryant St., Denver, CO 80204

    Sun Valley is Denver’s poorest neighborhood, but plans exist to stimulate growth and revitalize the area. The housing projects, which essentially make up the entire neighborhood, are bordered by a river, roads, and industrial buildings. The neighborhood’s poverty rate is around five times higher than Denver as a whole.

     

    -written by Molly Kimbley

    Image Source (Top): Jeffrey Beall - Wikipedia - 2009

    1977

    Emanuel Martinez mural: “Urban Dope, Rural Hope”

    Across from the Sun Valley housing projects, Emanuel Martinez painted this mural with fellow Chicano artists (Elfego Baca, Ernie Gallegos, Roberto Roybal, and Carlos Sandoval) and with many of the neighborhood's children. It is Denver's largest mural and portrays opposing images of hope and deterioration. On hope's side is an agricultural family and romanticized image of Chicano life. The conflicting sight of deterioration is symbolic of danger and death due to drug use.   -written by Molly Kimbley

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