Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i 5280 Magazine

Annie Guo VanDan has spent her entire adulthood spotlighting Colorado’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. In 2006, the now 39-year-old Aurora resident—whose family immigrated to Colorado from Taiwan in 1987—and her mother, Christina Yutai Guo, founded Asian Avenue Magazine, a monthly print and online publication covering local topics from restaurant openings to politics. Three years later, the tiny outfit blossomed into the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network (CACEN), a nonprofit with a mission to encourage cultural exchange through networking events, sports camps for Asian youth, and anti-harassment workshops. But VanDan’s dream of opening a physical space dedicated to her community felt out of reach—until now. Through donations and grants, including $1 million from the Colorado Health Foundation, CACEN was able to purchase a former warehouse…

1 Landfall Floral Co. 5505 W. 20TH AVE. Last September, Emily Guin moved her floral design shop from a small kiosk in Union Station to a bigger storefront inside Edgewater Public Market. Customers can grab a bespoke bouquet (ranging from $35 to $145); create their own centerpieces at the stem bar (starting at $2 per stem), which stocks local blooms in the summer; and browse an assortment of aesthetically pleasing gifts, from specialty pantry goods to adorable baby toys to relaxing bath salts. 2 Lot 46 Music Bar 5302 W. 25TH AVE. Regulars of neighborhood mainstay Edgewater Inn Pizza don’t have to go far to enjoy a side of live entertainment with their hand-tossed pie. In 2023, Niya Gingerich, the former owner of now-shuttered Tennyson watering hole Local 46, purchased…

For the first three years of our marriage, my husband and I rented a 500-square-foot row house a block off South Broadway. We always joked that we weren’t hip enough to live in Baker—we had too few tattoos and lacked an all-consuming passion for pour-over coffee. Still, we felt pretty cool when we hit Atomic Cowboy’s late-night pizza window on the way home from a show at the Hi-Dive. I loved walking to Alameda Station and taking the light rail to work downtown. On evening strolls with our husky, we dreamed about buying one of the quirky Victorian homes we passed. When we started looking at real estate, though, reality set in: If we wanted a yard, a garage, and more than one bathroom, we were going to be priced…

Cathy Fluegel: Over on 19th Street, around 2006, there was a house where people were running up a driveway and sliding down this little grassy spot where the homeowner put out a sprinkler. I went home and told Bryan, “Let’s put out our slip-and-slide.” So many people came over that the slide got destroyed in 10 minutes. Bryan Fluegel: It became so popular, so fast. People were just lining up. Cathy: We used a pool liner after that. Now we use roofing plastic with a carpet-pad barrier underneath. Bryan: And we have PVC pipes on either side. Cathy: [To Bryan] You’re going to give away trade secrets. We can’t give away our engineering designs to 5280. Bryan: But it lasts. I’ll walk up the street and see this big line…

FACING THE MUSIC A group of strummers on a small stage, backed by peaks and forwarded by tie-dye-clad, noodle-dancing revelers, feels essentially Colorado—but recent headlines around music festivals have not been harmonious. NPR pondered if 2024 was “the year the music festival died,” cancellation announcements abound, and even big-time gatherings such as Coachella are no longer selling out. Production costs have soared along with inflation, making the already low-profit-margin endeavors even riskier. Colorado is not immune to those pressures: Planet Bluegrass’ Wildflower FallGrass in Lyons, Alma’s jam-happy Elevation Music Festival, electronic dance extravaganza Sonic Bloom in Rye, Denver’s Five Points Jazz Fest, and two festivals in Pagosa Springs (the Pagosa Folk’N Bluegrass Fest and Four Corners Folk Festival) are among the latest casualties. “We have more tickets available for the…

1 When it comes to sparking a flame, “there’s no such thing as cheating,” Krebs says. She suggests packing two types of foolproof ignition tools (like a butane lighter and matches) and at least one kind of quick-light tinder (try cotton balls coated in petroleum jelly). 2 Make sure your campsite is within a fire-safe zone, then gather arm-loads of the driest wood you can find. Test your kindling’s dehydration levels by breaking pieces in half. “If it doesn’t make a snapping sound, scrap it,” Krebs says. Stock up on pencil-size twigs and wrist-thick branches. 3 Krebs swears by the platform-and-brace method: Place a big piece of bark (the platform) in a pit, put a thicker branch at one end (the brace), and prop a stack of twigs against the branch to form…

Odie B’s is more than just a sandwich shop; it’s a highly caloric, deeply satisfying, dopamine-producing vibe. The concept—both the smallish OG in Sunnyside and the brand-new, more spacious spinoff—is nothing short of a joy machine. When Cliff and Cara Blauvelt opened the first restaurant in 2022, they named it Bodega (despite lacking the convenience-store shelves of its typical East Coast namesake). But after two years of crushing it with a packed dining room every day, they received a cease-and-desist letter from a Kansas City restaurant named La Bodega, so they quickly swapped in signage and printed materials with the new moniker. Honestly, Odie B’s fits all the better. Cara says Cliff chose the name because “it’s kinda hip-hop cool”—just like the couple’s restaurants. You can hear the music thumping…

LITTLETON With its stellar schools, ample lot sizes, and access to outdoor recreation, Little-ton boasts the standard perks of a Denver suburb. But it also offers something many don’t. “Downtown Littleton is actually pretty lit,” says Sam Neumann, a broker’s associate at Compass Real Estate. The Arapahoe County seat’s Main Street—which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998—is lined with locally owned restaurants and shops, providing a soulful antidote to chainstore malaise. Order up avocado margaritas at 18-month-old Cencalli Taqueria, cure post-hike hunger with a locally sourced steak burger at Grande Station Scratch Kitchen, and satisfy a sweet tooth at Little Man Ice Cream’s newest location, which opened this past October. For retail therapy, peruse women’s consignment fashion at True Find Boutique or find gifts sourced…

THE PROCESS How we come up with the Top Dentists list. This list is pulled from the 2025 topDentists database, which is created using peer evaluations and includes listings for more than 900 dentists and specialists in Colorado. To create its list, topDentists asked dentists and specialists a personal question: “If you had a patient in need of a dentist, which dentist would you refer him or her to?” The nomination pool comprised all active dentists listed online with the American Dental Association as well as with dental academies and societies. (Dentists could also nominate others who may not be on those lists.) Respondents were asked to consider experience, continuing education, manner with patients, use of new techniques and technologies, and physical results. After the responses were compiled, dentists were…