Lower Downtown District, Inc.

How LDDI Events Impact LDDI Members … and Lower Downtown

Nov 19, 1999

It happened at the LoDo games when painted faces and relay races showed up on fox sports news. And it happened when 400 people ate their way through the Taste of LoDo. It happened again when a full-page ad appeared in The Denver Post and more than 2,100 people showed up to see what life in a LoDo loft looks like.

What happened was that Lower Downtown got bigger. And while it's still a 25-square-block region, awareness of all LoDo has to offer keeps spreading with each LDDI event.

"We have events to raise funds, of course, but it's much bigger than that," says Dan du Bois, Executive Director of LDDI. "Part of our mission is to promote Lower Downtown and we create diverse events to bring all sorts of people down here that don't normally come to LoDo."

When they come, they look. And eat. And shop. And some realize, Larry Gibson President of LDDI Board of Directors says, that LoDo is "a neighborhood, a safe place and not just an entertainment district."

Perhaps this wider view of all LoDo has to offer - beyond the somewhat "common" perception of nightclubs and baseball games - is one of the biggest benefits of LDDI events to its members.

"Each event brings contacts we wouldn't have otherwise, "Larry Gibson Says. "And these people often go on to become Members, volunteers or donors."

But even those who attend events and don't become joiners are still "payers." And, yes, some of it (OK, a lot of it) is about the money.

"Without money, not one letter goes out," says Dan du Bois. "There is no computer, no office, no contact. But with successful events, the money enables us to advocate on behalf of the neighborhood as a united voice through our mailings, our newsletters, our city campaigns ?… and that's really the only way we can meet our mission to preserve and protect Lower Downtown."

How You Can Help

"Volunteers are the key to the success of all events," says Larry Gibson. "And it gives all of us an opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood while building camaraderie among members."