Posts from — July 2007

Wow, the future is so bright. Today I was in the Union Station Neighborhood Office located in Union Station and they had a great rendering of the vision for the 17th street plaza leading up to the historic Union Station Building.

Check out the cool cutaway showing the bus transit below grade.  Those big glass structures will allow folks who are below grade to check out the stars and restaurants lights above.  Plus the folks on the ground above, after relaxing in a restaurant with a glass of wine, will be able to cruise out to the plaza and look down into the energy of the transit.

Cool, cool, cool

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It’s nice to see one sport root on another. At last nights Rockies game we noticed a familiar face in the seats next to us. Jay Cutler appeared to be enjoying a night in the fan’s seat rather than in the spotlight as the Rockies played the Padres at Coors Field. The previous night the Rockies pulled it out at the tail end of the game. They were on the verge of repeating this on Tuesday night but it just wasn’t in the cards. But still, a great game night even with the heat. Something about a cold beer and baseball on a summer night appeals to many, including Denver Bronco quarterbacks.

I was glad to see Jay getting a chance to kick back and relax before the season kicks off. With his arm and the combined team strength we have a shot at taking the A.F.C. West. The papers are all doing their comparisons of Jay with his arm and the days of Elway. I’d say lets not compare him to anyone and let him make his own way.

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Last night the board voted on the decision to do Electric rail or Bio Diesel. Electric won (Wahoo!!) I think it will be cleaner, less pollution, and allow us for more options in terms of powering the lines for the future. Do it right the first time has always been my favorite plan. Plus, and of course I am only offering my opinion, the possibility of electric gives us future choices for how we generate the electricity we need. Solar, wind or something else may be the future power source that runs across these lines. I like possibilities.
Here is the article for you to read from [Read more →]

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It’s Hot.

Not just a little hot, it is really, really hot. I walk from one building to another and breathe in a sigh of relief as the man made cool of the air conditioning hits me. I know it is wrong, all the air conditioning certainly is not helping the environment, but it still feels good. It might not be so bad if not for the grill top heat that emanates off of the asphalt up at me.

This is when I really miss the mountains, or the ocean.
But if you want to mentally take control of your reality and try to think “snow, snow, snow” in an effort to cool down here is a helpful thought. I just saw one of our local businesses unloading their snowboard and winter gear deliveries. Try and reconcile the idea of trying on the newest winter warm gear while temperatures hit 100 degrees plus. Ouch… hot.

But seeing this gear reminds me that winter is on its way. And with it the cool cool snow. Yeah!

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If you have not read the Denver Post today let me tell you that it has been an exciting day of news for our growing up little city.

First there is an article about the new Union Station Neighborhood and the decisions going on currently about the trains. Two questions are on the table currently. First, should the commuter trains (not light rail) be buried and covered with commercial buildings or should the trains be trenched and open air. Apparently there are some security questions about terrorist risks and also the complication of ventilation. I would prefer to see them covered, both for the benefit of hiding them and for the additional businesses that could be supported. Plus I tend to say we should not change our neighborhoods or life to greatly due to things like terrorist risks. Otherwise, don’t they in a sense win. The other big decision is whether to use bio diesel trains or to go with electric. This is a big decision and one that brings in our goals of sustainable transportation, of which I am a fan of. That decision looks to be done tonight and we should know tomorrow. The photo above is just a generic example of a trench.

Second is an article about the trifecta of not just the W but three awesome hotels opening up in Denver. Their quick summary is…

The planned arrival of a W Hotel completes a trifecta of high-end hotels landing in downtown Denver.

The announcement that a W is planned for the 16th Street Mall comes on the heels of the development of a Ritz-Carlton and a Four Seasons hotel in the area. All three are being built with condominium residences.

The diversification of downtown and the millions of dollars spent in public improvements over the past 10 to 15 years deserve the credit for attracting the three hotels, said Bob Benton, a hotel analyst.

Restaurants, the ballfield and the convention center have turned downtown Denver into a thriving residential and retail haven, he said.

And lastly an article about the possible, or more accurately probable, approval of a Theater district in Denver. Just another sign of the growth and energy that is happing in our wonderful city. Wow, what a cool item.

So check these articles out and [Read more →]

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What a fun tagline… “Serious food Silly Prices”!

While there has a been a great deal of excitement about the new King Sooper announcement another grocery store has popped up and opened for business. In the Highlands and close to the CPV, at the corner of 38th and Wolff a Sunflower Farmer’s Market began serving the community. Initial feedback was that there was wonderful produce to fill the need of local cooks and munchers downtown.

Let’s face it, a grocery store is a big big thing. Bigger than a top restaurant, bigger than a retail shop, a grocery store that is convenient makes our lives that much easier. So last night I went to check it out.

[Read more →]

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Why is this person so happy. Because while it is dumping rain outside and other poor souls are driving with white knuckles fighting traffic, the elements, and sleep she is cozy in her train cabin sipping a drink, reading a book, and watching the beautiful outdoors go by.

This is what we need from Denver to Vail (With a stop in Summit of course). I just drove down from another mountain excursion this morning and while I was blown away as always by the view, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to have been sitting and reading my paper while making the journey.

And this was a beautiful uncrowded day. But when I went up on Sunday I-70 was PACKED with cars heading down. Nothing compared to the ski season but certainly another reason to get on a train.

Just picture this. You head over to Union Station and grab a nice warm cup of coffee, a newspaper or book, and some of your best buds. You load all of your stuff onto your train car and grab a wonderful cabin with benches and curl up. The snow outside is dumping and the weather is freezing. The roads are going to be icy, if open at all. But you will make the trip to Vail in bliss surrounded by laughter, warmth and friends.

When you are hungry or thirsty you eat and drink. When you have to use the bathroom you do (but leave your cabin for this). When you are tired you sleep. You are safe.

The train might even have a dining or bar car where you can grab a bite or a drink. The folks going to and from the mountains might be the perfect audience to make this work. Or who knows what other luxury is possible. Perhaps a massage after hours of pow pow skiing or rock hopping biking.

Or maybe the train simply has seats that look out the mountains and allow all of these comforts with gorgeous views. Either way, it is a better experience than driving in a car.

And would you like to know what makes it even better? If it is planned out right we can

1: Promote alternative transportation

2: Reduce many many carbon footprints (my biggest violation is that drive to and from the mountains)

3: Make it a fun, fun journey for many people.

So why am I bringing this up again? Because I want to get started with planning, designing, and more before we go and add another lane of traffic to I-70. Or at the bare minimum we can try and send a message that we support this direction and promote the idea that it might happen (hopefully sooner rather than later).

And yes, I know there are challenges. But those challenges become greater every day that we continue doing short term solutions such as expanding lanes. Let’s support a long term solution with environmental responsibility.

Plus it will be more fun. And just to see if there is an interest out there please show your support at this ipetition here. Maybe it will even show enough support to encourage a private investment firm to get involved as discussed in the Denver Post. It doesn’t matter who does the train, what matters is folks get out of their cars.
Pass it on!!

Here is the scoop from when it was voted down from High Speed Monorail

Colorado I-70: state says highway, not monorail (1/13/05)
Denver, Colorado. Colorado transportation officials are sticking to their belief that a high-speed monorail is not the way to solve highway congestion from Denver to Vail. Their vision is for more pavement, by widening Interstate 70 through the busy mountain corridor. Last month the state released a draft environmental review that favors widening I-70, while rejecting both a high-speed monorail or a conventional rail line as too costly. In the first of ten public hearings on the I-70 mountain corridor study, almost 200 people showed up Wednesday to voice their opinion. Most of them favored monorail and said CDOT’s idea to widen the highway will be outdated when completed by 2025 as proposed. A plan for a Colorado High-Speed Monorail using inverted-T rail technology lost steam when Colorado voters turned down money for a test track in 2002. That proposal was described derogatorily as a “Disneyland ride” by Governor Bill Owens, which helped sway voters against the ballot measure.

The vote below is for the blog…. the real vote is available

clicking here!.

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Yep, thats right… a W Hotel is opening right here in little old Denver on the site of the existing office depot.

I can’t take credit for this story so check it out here.

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Better get shopping unless of course you already have a full stockpile of red fashion because this Thursday the plaza gets overtaken for the second Riverfront Park Fashion Series event.

The theme is red. Red what? Well that is up to you. Red shoes, red dress, red shirt, or maybe just a great red toga (not recommended). No matter what, it will be fun to see what everyone comes up with. And just think, if you spill that Merlot or blood orange mohito on yourself maybe, just maybe, no one will notice.

Seriously, this event is one of the funnest things about the summer and I will warn you ahead of time that the Friday after is a good time NOT to schedule a big meeting.

Check it out, order tickets, plan ahead for a cab, and put on your party shoes. See you there.

(click on the web site image for www.riverfrontparkfashion.com to check out the info)

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Not that you aren’t all over fireworks, but wanted to share a quick update from a couple nights ago.  It is rumored that Microsoft had a big old shing ding in Coors Field and set off their own set of fireworks for the event.

I wonder if anyone there had an iphone?  Can’t imagine the heck one would catch for that.  It’s probably like the old days where if you worked for General Motors and drove into the parking lot with a foreign car you had better believe your tires would be slashed and your car maybe with a bit worse by the time you tried to drive home.

At Microsoft, who knows.  Perhaps it gets really rough where a bunch of Microsoft programmers beat them out of the gang, as it were, right after work.  But these guys are techies, and I have to believe that quite a few are going to have a tough time resisting the new phone.  If you know of anyone who works for Microsoft and has an Iphone, just let us know their treatment.

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