Montbello, Denver

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Montbello is a neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, appearing on a map as a northeast appendage of the city. The neighborhood lies north of I-70 and was isolated from the rest of the city by Stapleton International Airport, now under redevelopment. After Denver's annexation of the Denver International Airport site even farther northeast, the neighborhood has occupied a more "central" location in the city. Nonetheless, Montbello has a marginal image among Denver neighborhoods, and is often referred to locally as "the ghetto" or "The Bellows". The neighborhood has a disproportionately large Black and Hispanic population, which can be attributed to the rapid gentrification of historically Black Denver neighborhoods such a Park Hill and Five Points. The residents are mostly low-income families driven out of the older neighborhoods because of higher housing prices. The Bloods and Crips and more recently, local Denver street gangs are known to be active in Montbello, making the neighborhood among the most dangerous in the city due to gang violence. Despite this, Montbello has the lowest crime rate of all the Denver neighborhoods.^{[citation needed]} Montbello, in terms of many other low-income neighborhoods in the country, it is a very nice looking neighborhood with newer homes and clean upkept streets. Montbello is considered a suburban ghetto rather than an inner-city one. This makes it seem from the outside looking in that it is not at all what many say it is.