I often patronized the McDonald’s fast food restaurant on the 16th Street Mall during the seven years I had an office across the street in what was then known as the World Trade Center.

You could always find a unique mix of downtown professionals and, yes, homeless people who came and went on any given day. The place was very well managed and I felt comfortable having meetings over coffee or a quick lunch in that diverse urban environment.

There has always been a plethora of great restaurants along the 16th Street Mall but on that end of the mall, McDonald’s was an oasis of cheap fast food where patrons of all backgrounds could go.

That is why I was saddened to read the corporate owner, McDonald’s USA, announced it was closing that location as of this past Dec. 31.  But the significance of the closure goes way beyond this one store.

A news report in Westword on Jan. 3 indicated that over the years McDonald’s employees “became a resource for people experiencing homelessness and the mentally ill. In fact, certain McDonald’s employees went above and beyond to assist those living on the streets.”

But, clearly, the crush of increasing crime in Denver, and specifically in downtown Denver, overtook the ability of that McDonald’s and its outstanding employees to continue staying in business at that location.

The Westword story went on to say “these same employees often had to deal with unruly and occasionally dangerous customers which sometimes led to the McDonald’s employees suffering injuries.”

There is no doubt the COVID pandemic dramatically changed the way office workers do their jobs. The shutdown of offices resulted in many employees preferring to do their jobs at home after being forced to do so for such a long period of time, and employers have had to adapt to that new reality.

As a result, fewer people are working downtown and employers are reducing office space, resulting in a 50% vacancy rate in downtown Denver.

Entities such as the Downtown Denver Partnership are urging companies to get their employees back into their offices. They correctly point out until downtown approaches the kind of foot traffic during the work week it had before the pandemic, restaurants and small businesses will struggle to survive. And inevitably increased crime will fill the void if this does not happen.

But it seems to me government officials from the City and County of Denver, and for that matter the state of Colorado, continue to bury their collective heads in the sand as the quality of life continues to deteriorate due to increasing crime, homelessness and drug abuse.

Yes, the City of Denver finally announced a “downtown action team” last year to focus on increasing crime, homelessness and drug abuse around the Colorado Convention Center after years of complaints from convention attendees and business owners. Even Denver Mayor Michael Hancock admitted “the reality is we are losing conventions and companies and people have chosen not to come to downtown Denver.” 

This effort is similar to the one at Union Station last year after crime and drug abuse seemed to take over the historic landmark. Never let it be said Denver City Hall will not respond when a crisis festers for years before action is taken.

High profile news conferences and promises of overwhelming action to deal with a crime crisis at a specific location are welcome, but is that a way to effectively deal with the problem, just going from crisis to crisis?

The City and County of Denver, and indeed the state of Colorado, are reaching the tipping points of whether the quality of life we have all enjoyed and prospered in can be restored on a long-term basis.

The state legislature is increasingly adding voices who are more concerned with protecting criminals at the expense of victims. Denver will elect a new mayor and City Council this year, and apologists for crime seem to be emergent.

The closure of the 16th Street Mall McDonald’s might seem to be no big deal in the larger scheme of things. But the unique nature of its service to its diverse customers over decades and its ultimate surrender to overwhelming crime, homelessness and drug abuse says something much more significant.

Dick Wadhams is a Republican political consultant and a former Colorado Republican state chairman.