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DENVER (KDVR) — A migrant encampment near Zuni and Speer has spread around another corner in the area. Now, residents nearby are sharing concerns as more tents are cropping up on that block.
“I just moved during the pandemic, liked the mountains, wanted to be out here,” John Schmulling said.
Schmulling came to Denver for a new perspective. He landed at an apartment complex with a view of the city.
“Pretty quiet,” Schmulling said, “other than the construction going on next door. But yeah, just a regular neighborhood, really.”
His apartment is on Speer Bouelvard and Zuni Street, where other people who came to Denver for a new life were being housed by the city of Denver.
“I thought it was odd, but I didn’t really pay too much attention to it. And then I guess they got kicked out after a certain amount of time,” Schmulling said.
More time passed, and more people were timing out of shelters — then housing themselves in tents along the block Schmulling also calls home.
‘We need to hold the city accountable’
“First week, it might have been like five or six tents, and over the last three or four weeks., now there’s about 60. And as of yesterday, they moved down the street right there as well,” Schmulling said.
Now, he sees an entire community on his drive home, and he is part of the number of residents who want to see something done to resolve this.
“Obviously, want these families to find homes, and it’s not like they’re disrupting the public like some other encampments. But ideally, we need to hold the city accountable,” Schumulling said.
The city of Denver has housed some families with young children on cold nights, but other communities are cropping up.
City officials have taken their petitions for help with this situation to the federal government in Washington, but Schmulling and his neighbors have found only one place to send their own petitions.
“They’ve (apartment management) asked everyone in the buildings to fill out reports on the 311 website, and the more reports the city gets, the more traffic, the more noticeable it is,” Schmulling said.
So far, Schmulling said it hasn’t yielded much change.
“We’re not necessarily getting radio silence, but the city continues to say we’re working on it,” Schmulling said. “We’re working on it with no real solution.”
There have been fewer days where the number of migrants arriving in Denver has gone down. The city’s migrant dashboard reports 188 arriving Friday and 159 arriving Thursday.
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