It is the most populous neighborhood in all of Denver with over 30,000 inhabitants and around 9,000 housing units but holds a lower density than most, at approximately 6,000 people per square mile.

[5] Black and Hispanic communities typically redlined into areas like Whittier, Five Points and west Denver neighborhoods like Valverde and Athmar Park, and recently returned war veterans were experiencing notably poor housing conditions by the mid-century mark.

[5] In the first half of the 20th century, the land that would eventually become Montbello was initially within Adams County, one piece of a larger section of undeveloped farmland.

[11] The planning focused on mixed-use zoning for homes, public parks and schools, and intended to be more “automobile-oriented” than older parts of Denver.

[10] In spite of state fair housing laws put forth in 1959, realtors of the later 20th century were accused of dramatic “racial steering”, discouraging their white clients from buying homes in the more diverse Montbello and, in effect, helping to mold the demographics of the current populace.

[13] Montbello, along with Gateway-Green Valley Ranch and DIA neighborhoods, lies along the northern end of a geographic phenomenon some city historians call the “inverted L”, used to loosely describe socioeconomic patterns and disparities in Denver's urban planning.

Since the start of the 21st century, neighborhoods that sit on the outer edges of I-25 and I-70, further from the city center, tend to be lower income, less white and less environmentally healthy.

Today, they state that their board members and stakeholders are attempting to address the issues of increasing housing costs, the lack of nearby full-service grocery stores, disproportionate unemployment and unstable quality of education.