Family in Commons Park on the 4th

What makes a neighborhood a great neighborhood to raise a family? Which criteria matter the most? Would you say it was the school system, the public parks and playgrounds, or simple safety. What about the value of a dollar towards your real estate, because let’s face it people usually make the transition from [Read more →]

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So yesterday I posted about the slap that oil gave our economy. I have a different question for Denver today. Fortunately, the Denver economy has been stronger than many parts of the country (hey, we rock).

That being said, there are still some things that affect us. How many of you are cutting back, if at all, and what things do you pick to cut back on? I am genuinely curious. Do we keep our dinners out and cut back on gas? Do we stop shopping but still drive? Do we cancel our vacations or do we splurge and not worry because it’s all cyclical? You tell me. I don’t need to remind everyone that by stopping our spending we hurt the economy. Easier said than done.

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Oh, and here are a few links

• 8 Ways to Cut Back Without Sacrificing
• Save Money on Utilities
• Daily Fuel Economy Tip

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Quick, what bills are these?

In 2002, the American Council of the Blind began a lawsuit against the U.S. Government claiming that our existing currency discriminates against the Blind or the visually impaired.

In 2006 the decision came in in favor of the American Council of the Blind. The Treasury Department Appealed.

This month in 2008, the Appelate ruling is in and the decision stands! The American Council of the Blind wins for now.

I applaud them, but it’s not over yet. The Treasury has 90 days to appeal or as for Supreme Court review.

Before I go into this topic let me discuss my bias and existing point of view. [Read more →]

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Wahoo!!! The Writers Guild Strike is expected to be over today and the great shows should be back, including my favorite 30 Rock with Tina Fey.

But don’t get too hopeful yet. According to the New York Times it will take weeks (maybe about 4) for the shows to get caught up. [Read more →]

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One thing you will learn very quickly about living in the city. You can’t grill out the way you used to. No more big propane tank feeding a gas fired fury of heat to sear up a delicious steak or to toast up a salmon plank. Nope, the fire code for Denver says that you cannot put your mega grill on your balcony.

So if you love the Downtown lifestyle and live in a multi dwelling unit (and don’t think that is a high rise only, that is three or more units) you will not be allowed to grill out unless you work within the rules. So lets cover the rules first [Read more →]

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Is too much of our life about the money?

The New York Times this past Sunday had an article about how the millionaires out in silicon valley just don’t feel rich anymore. Apparently, once you make $2 million, or $5 million, or even $10 million you still feel the need to work 60, 70, 80 hour weeks to make sure that you can keep up.

For some folks the money goes into bigger, and bigger, and bigger houses. Or faster cars, expensive gems, boats, trips, etc.

Basically, you will always spend what you make and need to make more.

That is so sad. And yet I seem to be spending what I make. I make more than I did when I was just out of college, but I don’t seem to have a great deal of extra. Isn’t it amazing that people just keep finding new things they “need” that they would never dream of years ago under a different tax bracket.

I have to wonder why it is that we just keep buying more and more instead of saving more and more. Are material items really that much more important than our free time, our ability to travel perhaps for a year and see the world? Do we really need the 10,000 sf house and the six figure car if our budgets grow. Is it keeping up with the jones.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my toys that I buy with extra money. But I don’t mind having a new scooter when my car has been paid off for a year. I really don’t feel the need to have the newest and greatest automobile. I do, however, want the coolest blue tooth ear bud for my iphone.

But given the opportunity to have a couple million in income I don’t believe any amount of peer pressure would make me choose to burn through it as quick as I could. I would like to think I would buy more time. More free time, more flexibility, and more freedom.

Check out the article and let me know what you think. Do you believe you will always be spending what you earn, regardless of how high that income goes? If you say you wouldn’t, let me ask you this…. are you currently making more than you made 5 or 10 years ago and are you spending it all? If so, what makes you think it would change?

Perhaps it was meant to be a sob story, but it is a bit more of a reality check. Here is my advice for you future millionaires who might get trapped into working 80 hours a week. Stop buying stuff.

Duh, and yet not the easiest thing to do. What does that say about our culture.

Here is that NYT article [Read more →]

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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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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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Isn’t it amazing sometimes how rumors can spread on the tips of the wind covering a city in just one day. Today I heard a nasty rumor not once, but three times.

So go ahead, have a seat, and I’ll share the rumor. The rumor is that “My Brother’s Bar” has been sold, as sad as it is, to a new owner. Needless to say I was shocked, baffled, mystified and more. Dumbfounded (one more term to use) I stared blankly as one of these persons shared with me (with an edge almost on tears) that it was so sad that the oldest bar in Denver was closing or changing hands. Where is our heritage? Where is our tradition?

The rumor continued to talk about how the bar was a huge money maker, the owners getting to the point of wanting to chill out, and how it all made sense. Well it sure as heck didn’t make sense to me and I was getting bummed out.
Turns out it is all horse puckey. I had thought about doing a post to ask all of you out there if anyone had heard the rumor, and then realized that was a moronic way to handle it. So I just called them. Duh.

So I ring up My Brother’s Bar and shared with them the scary rumor. With a half laugh and half disgusted chortle they let me know that the rumor was not true and was simply a vicious rumor. They also asked me to squash it, and to help spread the squashing word/

So SQUASH SQUASH SQUASH to this rumor. My Brother’s Bar isn’t being sold. My Brother’s Bar isn’t going anywhere. Now go get off your butts and enjoy a beer and a jcb on the patio and toast to the fact that sometimes things actually do stay the same.

Whew… that is a relief.

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Just a cool, cool article about how new buyers are taking on the market, and setting the stage for their future in buying new homes. When I think about it, our interest rates our lower, we have less fear of credit, and we know what we want. Plus, after watching the stock market tank a couple times, the technology stock boom and bust, and the crazy antics of enron and others I personally prefer to place my bets in my real estate over the stock market. This story is about New York, but it could just as easily be Denver… except we aren’t as pricey.

What a fun ride we are on. First, the number of people in our country and the world are increasing every day. Second, folks are realizing that the city is where they want to be and are relocating to downtowns across the country. And last, it’s just fun to be in the heart of everything.

This story talks about how the current generation is looking at real estate, their homes, and their future. It’s a story I believe in as well. [Read more →]

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