Denver's Ballpark general improvement district says they've collected 22,000 pounds of trash in one year

Denver's Ballpark Neighborhood, from Coors Field down to Welton Street, launched its own general improvement district a year ago. On Thursday, they unveiled the district's new office to the public. It will also be available for members of the community to use for meetings or gatherings, for free. They also celebrated some big milestones they've hit along the way.

"I love being able to see more folks return to the local businesses to spend money in the restaurants, and I don't hate not seeing, you know, trash and dirty socks and things on the sidewalk," said Kate McKenna, a Ballpark resident turned the district's executive director. 

Ballpark Ambassadors could be seen over the past year since the GID began operations.

"Every piece of trash, every mitigation of some sort of public way disturbance is documented," said McKenna.

During that time, the team has removed more than 22,000 pounds of trash and more than 7,000 graffiti tags. 

"And had just countless hospitality interactions, as well as being able to better route folks who are in need of social services," McKenna added.

New signage and some fresh paint have also gone a long way. 

Candace Pineda owns Mexico City, a restaurant and lounge in the heart of the neighborhood. 

"Mexico City has been here for 66 years," said Pineda. "We're a third-generation restaurant."

"That funding, it wasn't available, and so now that we've had it, we've definitely been able to make some really positive improvements," Pineda added.

For Pineda, the community taxing themselves has been money well spent. 

"Very much so," she said.

And though there's still more room for improvement, many in the community believe the district is on the right path.

"It's not perfect by any means, but I feel supported, and I think that's the biggest thing," said Pineda. "We're not in this alone, we've got teams, we have people who are engaged and doing work every day."

McKenna says the GID is currently working with fewer funds than they had hoped for due to decreased property valuations. Now, they're also focusing on more ways to generate additional revenue to keep their mission going.