Soulfully Staplet*n Gets a New Name, Expands
By Lori Pace
What a difference a year makes.
The community formerly known as Staplet*n is now Central Park. The name change is a long story but the plot thickens when you know the story behind the story.
Denver’s Central Park neighborhood has been one of the highest appreciating neighborhoods in Denver. It is an award-winning master planned community. The homebuilders are known nationally for their craftsmanship, architecture and environmentally conscious construction.
Central Park is comprised of 12 unique neighborhoods. Each has a theme and its own identity. Examples are Eastbridge, Conservatory Green and South End.
Its new identity is based on the large park that is at the center of the community. It is a public park used by many surrounding neighborhoods that represent a variety of socioeconomic households and is, by far, some of the most multicultural representations of Denver residents.
I live in Conservatory Green, which is known for being an environmentally inspired enclave of homes with pocket parks, chicken coops, community gardens, trails and greenways throughout. Each section of the cluster of neighborhoods represents the greater community of Central Park. The new name, Central Park, was a name that was voted on by residents, and the final name chosen by majority vote of homeowners and renters alike.
When my family moved into Conservatory Green, I immediately wanted to shine a light on (and celebrate) the diversity of ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds and lifestyles that live here. I did not want my daughters to feel as though we were the only Black family in the neighborhood. They have ALWAYS known that their Black Lives Matter and it did not matter what anyone said or did. I wanted them to not just feel like they belonged, but to be leaders in the community. I therefore created the Facebook Group, “Soulfully Staplet*n.” It was designed to help us find each other, connect, embrace and uplift each other. It was to also serve as a beacon for those who made assumptions about the diversity of the community. And it was open to ALL. Today, the group is 200+ strong and growing every day. But the winds of change were undeniably underway.
To provide a little background, the name of the community was a controversial one and much has happened in the last few years to change it. A vote was taken by community members in 2019 to change the name because it was named for Denver’s former mayor who was an active member of the KKK. Unfortunately, it was voted down.
But like other areas of the country, evolution and growth was taking place, pushed to the forefront by today’s social unrest and efforts to finally dismantle the vestiges of hundreds of years of systemic racism. The MCA board decided it was time to change the name of the community and asked the now Central Park United Neighbors group help to come up with the new name. CPUN cut down the over 300 names suggestions to 16 and over the period of a month of the community voting came up with Central Park as the new community name.
And therefore, it was time for Soulfully Staplet*n to grow as well. And as a resident, a REALTOR, a woman of color and community member, this is a change that I, along with others, welcome.
It is the support of so many people in the neighborhood that helped Soulfully Staplet*n be successful – and assisted with its evolution for those same reasons. It’s not about property values – it’s about core values. And I thank you.
So, we are proud to announce that we are now “Soulfully Central Park.”
Our mission remains the same. We chose the name recognizing that many times people search for the name Staplet*n and their demographic identity to see if they can find others like them to connect with in the neighborhood. Knowing that, it made sense to choose this name. We are excited about all the people that reached out to us and want to partner with us to celebrate diversity in this community.
And what was once a Facebook group has now expanded.
Soulfully Central Park will soon launch a new website for anyone, particularly residents, to explore and learn about events and neighborhood opportunities to collaborate. This will be an extension of the social media platform and is now a social network. The website will also help to publicize future celebratory activities.
Cheers!
Lori Pace, REALTOR®
TedX Speaker|Keynote Speaker|Inclusion Consulting Strategist, and Proud Central Park Resident
Creating Multicultural and Multi-generational Emergence Experiences
