Denver's Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs)

Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs) are organizations registered with the City of Denver that are formed by residents and property owners within a neighborhood (or other defined set of boundaries) that meet regularly. RNOs receive notification of proposed zoning amendments, landmark designation applications, planning board and board of adjustment hearings, liquor and cabaret licenses and other activities occurring in the neighborhood as stipulated in the Revised Municipal Code. RNO boundaries do not usually coincide with other boundaries that are used for statistical gathering purposes such as census tracts or Statistical Neighborhoods.

Alamo Placita Neighbors Association (APNA) RNO boundaries are shown below.

How Denver Statistical Neighborhoods are different from RNOs:

Statistical Neighborhoods are combinations of census tracts as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with DRCOG and local governments. Census tracts are defined as "having between 4,000 and 8,000 persons with relatively homogeneous social and economic characteristics". Census tract, thus, Statistical Neighborhood boundaries, remain mostly unchanged from one census to another. The Statistical Neighborhood boundaries were developed in 1970 by the Community Renewal Program (CRP) which was administered by the current Denver Department of Community Planning and Development. APNA is in the Speer Statistical Neighborhood. These boundaries are used in city business and planning. One example of their use is in crime mapping. APNA is in the Speer Neighborhood on the city Crime Map.

How Denver Historic Districts are different from RNOs:

Denver’s Historic Districts may also have different boundaries from RNOs and Statistical Neighborhoods. All properties in the APNA boundaries are within a Historic District (although not all buildings are “contributing structures”). However, the buildings are not all in the same Historic District. If you live within the APNA RNO boundaries, your building may be within the boundaries of one of three different historic districts. The main and largest district is the Alamo Placita Historic District. Some buildings in APNA are in the East Seventh Avenue Historic District. In addition, a few APNA homes are in the Country Club Historic District. None of the APNA buildings are in the nearby Driving Park Historic District. It is a common misconception that APNA approves or disapproves changes to buildings in the Alamo Placita Historic District. Instead it is the Landmark Preservation Commission that is involved in that process.

How Denver Subdivision Boundaries are different from RNOs:

Yet another boundary is the original subdivision name that may be found in the Legal Description of a property within the APNA boundaries. Most buildings in APNA are in the original Arlington Park subdivision. However, some properties are in other subdivisions such as Arlington Heights Addition, Driving Park Place or Cartwright’s Addition, among others. So if you see on a real estate document that your property is in Arlington Park, even though you live in the APNA boundaries, it is probably correct. For more information on the subdivision boundaries and names you can go view the Assessor’s office records at the Denver Public Library.