It’s lunchtime in Denver, and all the cool kids head to one place to mix, mingle, and nosh — the 16th Street pedestrian mall. The happening corridor runs at least a dozen city blocks, and the only wheeled vehicles allowed are the free buses — manna from heaven for a convention-goer’s aching feet — and the free bicycles that are parked all over the city.
Denver's 16th Street pedestrian mall
The street is lined with shops and pubs, restaurants and salons. You can find whatever you need on the 16th Street mall, including a nice, shady bench to eat your lunch and tap out a blog.
But with the convention in town, lots of business is done here as well — and I don’t just mean hawking souvenirs. Convention hall credentials and tickets for the night’s hot parties are horse-traded like Super Bowl tickets. There’s a good chance a member of Congress will be in line with you at Starbucks, and delegates are everywhere — easily identified by the ubiquitous identification hanging around their necks. The mall has become a prime networking place, until the Pepsi Center opens at 3 p.m. each day for the official proceedings, and the official business of the day begins.
