I don’t know if I have ever felt the energy in a downtown area as I did during a recent trip to Denver. Here are some current figures from the Denver Post: 23,000 people now live in a six-neighborhood downtown area that is three times the population than it was 2000. Additionally, there are 4,500 new residential units under construction trying to serve the rapidly growing and techno-developed working community. Both Whole Foods and Kroger’s King Soopers have built stores made for the urban environment inside some of the new construction. With King Soopers, I was quite impressed with the efficiency, layout and shopping experience. Steve Frenda, managing director – community development for the Path to Purchase Institute, has been a passionate retail watcher for more than four decades. Having worked as a retailer, for a brand manufacturer and in the infotech world, he is an authority on the entire path to purchase and its changing face. Contact Steve at sfrenda@p2pi.org.