Recession Special, originally uploaded by aturkus.

This economy sucks.

Many people out there are trying to act like it isn’t that bad.   Bull puckey.  I believe the real expert I talked to the other day…. my cab driver set the record straight for me. It was on this past Friday night.  I had just rolled into the back a green and white hybrid taxi cab of Metro Taxi (Thanks for going green Metro, but don’t stop at a few). I should have known something was different when the “ring ring” of my phone indicating my taxi’s arrival came only a few scarce minutes after I placed the call.  I mean this was fast service. Remember, this was on a Friday night. Usually you can call a cab with time to spare to finish getting ready, have a glass of wine, watch the last few minutes of 30 rock that you recorded on your DVR, or even take the dog out for a final squirt before they usually arrive.  In fact you usually have to make that insecure “did you forget about me call” at least once, which coincidently I believe is the real time that they dispatch the cab.   But not this night my friends.  They were ready and waiting.  Here is why…

“This is my worst Friday ever” the cab driver shared with me. He was pretty noncholant about it. “I thought last Friday was my worst Friday ever, and then this week it got worse” he continued. “This economy must be keeping everyone home”. It was then that we passed tons of people walking to the Pepsi Center. “Or maybe they are just driving”.  That might be scary if they are still out at 2 am.

Whatever their transportation plans are, straight from the cabbies mouth we are seeing the slowdown in the simplest things. I stopped into the Chang (PF Chang) for for a quick lunch while downtown and the place was, well not empty, but lets just say “strangely table friendly” I could pretty much sit wherever I wanted, lay out whatever I was reading, and be taken care of by the readily available team there. Mind you this was a weekday, lunches have consistently been packed on weekdays downtown. (Side note, weekends are a great time to eat at the Chang and avoid lines). Again the feedback I got from my server was “It’s been reeeeeeaaaaaaallllllly slow”. nuff said.

The last omen might not be the economy but a troubled season. I decided to save a little money myself and put a pair of club level Bronco’s tickets for the always popular Raiders game on stubhubb. At the beginning of the season I was all pumped up for the game, now I think I’d be just as happy to sit cozy on the couch with a my own snacks and beverages. Everyone said “those tickets will sell in a snap”. They haven’t. I look and prices are dropping. This one you can’t blame on just the economy, but the Broncos don’t need any more heat.

And for those of you out there, you know who you are, who say “Don’t say the economy is bad, it will scare people into acting in a way to make the economy worse”.  The cat is out of the bag.  Lets just realize it sucks, laugh about it, deal with it, and move on.  Making it a big bad scary thing that you can’t say does make people act a great deal differently.  Treating it like the a zit on the face of life that will come and go makes it a little easier to bear.  Sure, it’s ugly, but it will go away.

By the way it is either sad or funny what the lowest (0 votes at the time of this post) ranked cutback item is.

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 “There are so many great restaurants around here and check out this view” to “Yeah, but it’s got a lot more square feet” when they start thinking about families.

It’s too bad that the American way of life has created a situation that pushes people away from the heart of their cities when it comes time to think of families. Sometime during the suburban rush of the 70′s and 80′s everyone decided that you want to live in cookie cutter lots outside of the city. The money flowed there, and so did the education driven by the taxes to follow. But what did we sacrifice? That’s a great question and one that is being answered every day as the number of urban parents continues to grow. They say they don’t want their children to grow up sheltered and away from the culture, the diversity, and the education offered by living in a downtown environment. Pushing this growth along at a grass roots level are a myriad of web site forums and communities such as Urban Baby and DC Urban Mom and Dad.

But now with gas prices going through the roof and commutes becoming more painful I believe a lifestyle choice of urban living is gaining in appeal. Not to mention the financial impact this real estate market is taking on the suburbs. Downtown areas and Resort areas have, at least in the Denver marketplace, held onto their value better than most of the suburban areas. And why not, if you have a family a choice to live in the suburbs may mean long and possibly expensive (hopefully you can take the light rail) commuting and less time with your children. Will this new market mean a new financial incentive to live downtown. I think so.

Now not every urban center is the same. I was reading the LA Times blog discussion about the possibility that gas prices will drive real estate buyers downtown. One commenter made a great point in discussing the differences between such cites as Los Angeles and New York and how far apart they are in providing a family friendly environment. The commenter posts…

Downtown LA is a long way from Urban Living. I just spent a week in Manhattan with my wife and realized the many many differences between the two cities. Parks everywhere (not just Central Park), total access to everywhere through public transportation, and a market, deli, chinese, italian, american, pizza, mexican resturaunt, pharmacy, chain store, hardware store, bookstore, bakery, bar within walking distance so you actually don’t even need public transit to do anything except go to work! LA has essentially none of this. There is no comparison.

Reading this I ask myself, how do we ensure Denver becomes more like the New York scenario. The other comments on this blog point out other worries as well. Sure, the gas price increase might encourage buyers to move downtown, but it might only motivate those buyers who are sensitive to the price increases. If we don’t continue to get diversity in our downtowns we might miss out on the tax base needed to provide funding for better schools and other services. Or should the city step in and put education as a priority first and use it to draw in the audience. Maybe a developer will take that leap speculating that they just increased the price per square foot they can sell that next townhouse for. Better build them bigger then. A number of different sites offer viewpoints from parents who say they may have enjoyed their own youth in a suburb, but they were bored and felt disadvantaged in that way. Others who grew up in cities like New York talk about the education and exposure to the arts, culture, people, and activities that they want their own children to have. Which is better, are we missing out. If we look at Europe we see huge societies raising their families in cities. Are their schools better downtown?

When I look at Denver a couple new areas seem to be creating a unique opportunity for a new family focus. First there is Riverfront Park and the proposed Union Station Neighborhood in the Central Platte Valley. They have created a system that addresses one core point of parental concern, safety. Every resident in Riverfront Park pays into a master HOA. That’s a little bit of money from everyone over a very large area. This pays for their own private security in the form of off duty police officers who patrol and respond to even the smallest “I locked myself out” to the highest safety concern. It’s like an Ungated Community. There are no gates but the security stops at the property line. It’s a great idea and helps to provide the residents with security above and beyond their tax dollars. Sure it costs money, but it’s spread across the who area. This area has more than it’s fair share of what most would consider yuppies. And guess what, those yuppies are having fun together at night and making babies. So now you have an area with folks in start up family mode who have figured out safety. Now its a matter of figuring out the schools which could work just like the security does. More on that in a later post.

Just like Riverfront Park, the Highlands are has also become the starter family route. This area offers the best of downtown living plus you might actually have a yard, or a half yard. Plus you have your Mayberry style main street right at 32nd and Lowell. You can have coffee in the morning, pick up flowers for the table, maybe some wine from Mondo Vino or some cheese from next door. There are plenty of little cafes and restaurants and of course some baby or children’s clothing stores. Yep, this area is growing its starter family base. I have heard a couple stories of stolen cars but it seems theft is the biggest crime issue right now. They have nailed down community pretty well because when you walk down these streets you see a number of strollers and couples. And what is one thing parents want for their children? Someone for them to play with. The socialization might just prevent them from growing up to be the next hillside strangler and just might give the parents a reprieve during their day. Most of the other neighborhoods offer some great family communities as well. Wash Park is often mentioned for families and Cherry Creek comes up for schools. You notice pretty quickly that access to a park or green space becomes a priority. Riverfront Park has tons of strollers and children around with the vast expanse of Commons Park and the Skate Park, but I am not sure most of them live there.

So here are three poll questions for you today. Here is the first… What is the most important element of a neighborhood in a downtown for it it be family friendly. In other words, if you could sit down with the Mayor and say “I’ll raise my family downtown if you prioritize fixing this”.Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

And the second, if the city or a developer invested in an urban neighborhood such that it had the reputation of being the best school district in Denver, would you move to or buy your home in that neighborhood? Would that influence your purchase decision?Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

And finally, with how things are today, what is the most family friendly Denver neighborhood? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

For more of the polls on Denver visit the Best of Denver page.

Related Post: Babies Downtown

The Police at Red Rocks

Last night I had the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane. It was back to a time when I cruised around my small Ohio town in a 1974 forest green Beetle that had been outfitted with a high tech Sony Cassette system that fed tunes to the monster woofers in the back (supported on a home built plywood panel) and small Boston Acoustics cut and placed into the side boards. The stereo probably cost as much as the car which I had bought in Baltimore while living one of many summers eating Chesapeake Blue Crabs smother in Old Bay, Phillips Harborplace Oysters, and sliced fresh tomatoes with a touch of salt and pepper. But I needed great tunes in that car for it’s 8 hour drive back to Ohio. And one of the mixed tapes that surely be playing on that road trip would have included classic Elvis Costello and the Police, along with a myriad of other artists of that time.

So last night when, with the beautiful backdrop of the Red Rocks peaks, Elvis Costello started out singing many of his classic tunes I could feel the memories come back full force. I have heard that Elvis, in other recent concerts, had played sets of almost entirely his recent song list. Not for this show. Perhaps it was a homage to the feeling of the event, which was purely the classic Police tunes revived for the first time in many years. Whatever the reason, it was a most excellent time. The star moment in the Elvis opening act was when Sting joined in on for a duet of “Alison”. While I am an Elvis fan, you could tell who this crowd considered their star as they all jumped to their feet.

When the Police did come out they did it with style. They were true to their fans playing one great tune after another. The guys might be older, but they sure weren’t acting like it. While Sting was certainly incredible to watch and captivated the audience throughout, Stewart Copeland was perhaps the attention getter whenever you got a glimpse of the energy he was throwing into each song. I think he missed this… a lot. Well they gave us our money’s worth. With an average length set the band returned for not one, not two, but three encores. While I heard their top hits such as “Roxanne” and “Every Breath you take”, I was surprised that I never heard “Synchronicity”. No matter, the show was incredible. The cruise down memory lane was just what I needed and the weather even held out.

If you get a chance to see such a show I highly recommend it. But then again, I am biased because old memories certainly push up the appeal.

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.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Oh, and here are a few links

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

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. In the past year I began volunteering with Foresight Ski Guides, a non profit organization based out of the Vail Valley that works with the visually impaired as guides on the Mountain. Living in Denver I didn’t spend as much time volunteering as I would have liked to, but the limited time I did have was amazing. I met so many inspirational men and women who only want to experience the best in life. They work, they persevere, and they were simply amazing. All we did in guiding was help out a little bit. Just like we all need a little bit of help in one way or another every day.

To me, this change of currency would be simply a little fairness to create more empowerment and freedom for the visually impaired. Do you like to travel? I do, so this is an easy example for me. Can you imagine exploring our country and going to an ATM in a strange location and having to ask someone to explain the currency for you? Or what about the simple act of getting change for a cup of coffee? Sure, you can rely on others to help but if we can assist in creating a denomination that is clear for any visual impairment why wouldn’t we?

It is also curious to consider from an artistic or philosophic approach the U.S. approach to money. In traveling I have encountered many different currencies across many different countries. None resembles the American Greenback (which may be a distinguishing feature worth retaining, that argument has merit) and are adorned with various colors and backgrounds. Some currencies are, quite simply, works of art.

Does our approach to currency mean something? Is it a hard nosed business approach to money. Does it reflect the value we put on the “almighty dollar”. Does something more fun and whimsical mean “It’s just a piece of paper… my time,experiences and laughter are more important”. I don’t know but someone out there probably studies this for a living and could better answer it. Or do the various colors in other cultures do just what the American Council for the Blind hopes for, a better tool for the visually impaired to differentiate their currency. Remember that we are not just hoping to help individuals with total blindness, but many that have partial impairments who could benefit from something as simple as different colors.

A lot of vending machines will need to be reprogrammed and it is a BIG change. But like all things, we will get used to it. Doing the right thing is always more important.

Interested in supporting this, you can visit this page and show your support with Congress.

Either way, lets have a fun little challenge and see if anyone can design our new currency. I’ll create a topic on the forum (I am hooked on the new forum component of this blog) and see if anyone uploads their ideas or links to items on this topic.

http://www.theurbanbrain.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7

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. The other pending worry is that the Screen Actor’s Guild negotiations are coming up and they are expected to handle the same issues about Internet revenue sharing. How much of a bummer would that be, the Writer’s strike ends and the Actor’s strike begins. That would put Tina back on the line again so keep your camera ready.

Here is the prediction for when your favorite shows will return from the Winnipeg Sun…

BACK BEFORE SUMMER

- The CSI franchise

- The Office

- The Law & Order franchise

- Criminal Minds

- Lost

- Desperate Housewives

- My Name Is Earl

- Two and a Half Men

- House

- ER

- Ugly Betty

- Grey’s Anatomy

- Gossip Girl

- How I Met Your Mother

- Cold Case

- 30 Rock

- Without a Trace

- Samantha Who

- Boston Legal

YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE FALL OR LATER FOR THESE SHOWS

- 24

- Heroes

- Private Practice

- Dirty Sexy Money

- Chuck

- Pushing Daisies

THE WRITERS OF THESE SHOWS WON’T BE GOING BACK TO WORK, AFTER ALL

- Journeyman

- Bionic Woman

- Cane

- Cavemen

- Carpoolers

Of course, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that and the shows get back on track.

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…

“In the past five years, barbeque grills are directly attributable to causing over 150 deck fires in the greater Denver area.

In response to the large number of deck and patio fires, most Denver metropolitan fire districts have adopted the 2006 International Fire Code. Provisions of this Code relating to the use of barbeque grills directly impact owners, residents and managers of multiple family dwellings which include any structure that contains three or more living units. Therefore, this ban essentially encompasses everything but single family and duplex type homes. However, it’s important to note that some of the fire districts have excluded townhomes from the definition of multiple family dwellings.

The Fire Code bans the use and operation of barbeque grills fueled by propane, natural gas, charcoal or any other open flame cooking device from any deck or balcony constructed with combustible material. Additionally, the ban extends to the use and operation of a barbeque grill within 10 feet of any combustible material. So, even if a homeowner is using a barbeque grill on a concrete patio, if the grill is within 10 feet of any combustible material – for example, a structure made of wood, siding or plastic – the owner may not use the barbeque. This ban also includes prohibiting the storage of propane tanks on a deck, balcony or patio.

The only exceptions to this rule are if the patio or balcony is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or if the barbeque grill’s gas source is smaller than 2.5 pounds, which is approximately a small camping style grill.”

Now that we know the rules lets talk about what this post is about. This is about how to have an awesome grilling experience, make that savory food you will love, and enjoy your evenings with the smell of sizzling steak and more.

The answer, from hunting around on the internet and asking around turns out to be a great little company called Electri-Chef located out of Temple Texas. They make serious style electric grills going up to 600 btu’s. From what I can tell these beauties were originally designed for Yachts and other fancy bout outings where you might not keep a fleet of propane tanks. In talking with the owner I have found out that they are also growing in demand from all of the MDU (Multi Dwelling Unit) buildings going up under the new fire code.

They aren’t the cheapest things in the world, going over two thousand for the bigger grills. But then again I love my steak and don’t want the cheapest thing. I want a great grill to prepare some great food.

Order from them direct and get the best deal. I ended up going through a reseller and paid more, but when I had the first service question they had me go direct to Electri Chef anyway so there doesn’t seem to be any benefit. And I learned when I called them the money I could have saved (bummer, but my mistake can be your benefit).

For the record, the problem I had involved a timer switch not working and a weak roller wheel weld giving way. I called and spoke with the owner, a super nice guy, and that was when I found out I could have saved money by going direct. Even though I didn’t buy through them they first made arrangements to send out new parts to switch and then surprised me with a call that they were going to send me a brand new grill. Awesome! They were so nice and so great at their customer service that I was impressed.

And true to their word a brand new grill showed up days later. Not a single thing wrong with it. I shipped the other one back and we were in business.

Now let me tell you about these grills. They are just as big as the mega buck gas grills. They have two timers on the front, one for each side and a heat indicator to let you know if its getting juice. The temperature gauge lets you set the heat you want and the timer tells it to activate. This way if you forget to turn your grill off and leave a temperature gauge on it will automatically get shut off when the timer hits zero. I certainly know a few folks who this will be a great benefit to. Especially if they are hosting a party and get absent minded.

Now these grills require a 220 or 230 Volt outlet, just like your washer and dryer or hot tub. Some buildings today, like ours, are being built and wired with these outlets automatically. But don’t despair if your home isn’t set up this way. Any electrician worth his dirt can convert an outlet or even run a new one.

With our new grill plugged in and a recent trip to the Marczyk’s completed I gave the new grill its first trial using a delicious Pedro Steak. Don’t try to google that term by the way, the folks at Marcyzk’s made it up. It is a sirloin steak or tri tip section. In addition to the steak was a great selection of vegies for roasting.

With the grill plugged in we turned the burners all the way up and dialed the timers on. Within seconds you could feel the heat start rising off of the grill face and within minutes they burned bright red. The cover offers two thermometers, one for each side, which showed the steady temperature increase. This was the first time we had used the grill and a little bit of that electric radiator smell kicked out and then quickly disappeared.

Everything got thrown on the grill and started sizzling. Ah.. such wonderful aromas filled our balcony and the grill was awesome. It rocked and did everything my best gas grill ever did. Except now I don’t have to go and swap tanks anymore. And now I am legal and in compliance with the Fire Code.

Not much more to say that that. Great food, great results, and its an electric fully compliant grill solution.

Expect to see more of these in Denver. And I can already envision a cool night, leaves changing, Monday night football, a cold beer and some great grilling. Very cool!

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

August 5, 2007

In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich

By GARY RIVLIN

MENLO PARK, Calif. — By almost any definition — except his own and perhaps those of his neighbors here in Silicon Valley — Hal Steger has made it.

Mr. Steger, 51, a self-described geek, has banked more than $2 million. The $1.3 million house he and his wife own on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is paid off. The couple’s net worth of roughly $3.5 million places them in the top 2 percent of families in the United States.

Yet each day Mr. Steger continues to toil in what a colleague calls “the Silicon Valley salt mines,” working as a marketing executive for a technology start-up company, still striving for his big strike. Most mornings, he can be found at his desk by 7. He typically works 12 hours a day and logs an extra 10 hours over the weekend.

“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to. Maybe in the ’70s, a few million bucks meant ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,’ or Richie Rich living in a big house with a butler. But not anymore.”

Silicon Valley is thick with those who might be called working-class millionaires — nose-to-the-grindstone people like Mr. Steger who, much to their surprise, are still working as hard as ever even as they find themselves among the fortunate few. Their lives are rich with opportunity; they generally enjoy their jobs. They are amply cushioned against the anxieties and jolts that worry most people living paycheck to paycheck.

But many such accomplished and ambitious members of the digital elite still do not think of themselves as particularly fortunate, in part because they are surrounded by people with more wealth — often a lot more.

When chief executives are routinely paid tens of millions of dollars a year and a hedge fund manager can collect $1 billion annually, those with a few million dollars often see their accumulated wealth as puny, a reflection of their modest status in the new Gilded Age, when hundreds of thousands of people have accumulated much vaster fortunes.

“Everyone around here looks at the people above them,” said Gary Kremen, the 43-year-old founder of Match.com, a popular online dating service. “It’s just like Wall Street, where there are all these financial guys worth $7 million wondering what’s so special about them when there are all these guys worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Mr. Kremen estimated his net worth at $10 million. That puts him firmly in the top half of 1 percent among Americans, according to wealth data from the Federal Reserve, but barely in the top echelons in affluent towns like Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton. So he logs 60- to 80-hour workweeks because, he said, he does not think he has nearly enough money to ease up.

“You’re nobody here at $10 million,” Mr. Kremen said earnestly over a glass of pinot noir at an upscale wine bar here.

Not every Silicon Valley millionaire, of course, shares that perspective.

Celeste Baranski, a 49-year-old engineer with a net worth of around $5 million who lives with her husband in Menlo Park, no longer frets about tucking enough money away for college for their two children. Long ago she stopped bothering to balance her checkbook. When too many 18-hour days running an engineering department of 1,200 left her feeling burned out and empty, she left and gave herself 12 months off.

Yet like other working-class millionaires of Silicon Valley, she harbors anxieties about her financial future. Ms. Baranski — who was briefly worth as much as $200 million in 2000 but cashed out only $1 million before the collapse of the tech bubble — returned to work in March.

Along with two partners, she founded a software company, Vitamin D, and already she is resigned to the sleepless nights and other stresses that await her. “I ask myself all the time,” Ms. Baranski confessed, “why I do this.”

Working inside a start-up has always been invigorating, she says. But she and her husband, 62, who also works, have concluded that she must stick with it if they are to continue to live the life they enjoy here.

Recently the couple hammered out an agreement: Ms. Baranski will work at least five more years for the sake of their bottom line.

“People around here, if they have 2 or 3 million dollars, they don’t feel secure,” said David W. Hettig, an estate planner based in Menlo Park who has advised Silicon Valley’s wealthy for two decades.

The Luck Factor

Many of the more modest millionaires here feel sheepish, even guilty at times, about their piles of cash. Talent played in a role in their financial success, but so did being at the right place at the right time.

“They recognize that if they happened to walk into a different office,” said Marilyn Holland, a Menlo Park psychologist who has been counseling the Valley’s elite for 25 years, “things would have turned out very differently.”

That is one big difference between these working-class millionaires and the country’s wealthiest tycoons, who tend to see themselves as pillars of the community worthy of the hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps billions, they now possess.

“A lot of the money here is accidental money,” said Bruce Karsh, 51, an engineer who puts his net worth at $2 million to $4 million. “People weren’t setting out to become gazillionaires.”

Ms. Baranski is one of them. The daughter of a college professor who died when she was 12 and left her mother to raise three children, she began college intending to become a musician. But worries about the debt she was racking up prompted her to transfer to the engineering school, where she eventually earned a master’s in electrical engineering.

That today she is worth around $5 million, said Ms. Baranski, who helped to put herself through school cleaning houses, “was unimaginable in my 20s.”

“I always ask myself, ‘Do I deserve it?’ ” she said. “It never feels like you do, because that’s a lot of money.”

Ms. Baranski is hardly the only working-class millionaire asking herself this question. Ms. Holland said she regularly works with multimillionaires who wonder why they are so well compensated when others, like teachers, who contribute so much to the world, are not.

The lucky moment in Ms. Baranski’s career came when she took a job as the head engineer at Handspring, the hand-held device maker, in September 1999. By the end of 2000, Ms. Baranski’s stock holdings briefly made her one of the wealthier women in Silicon Valley.

At quick glance, Ms. Baranski and her husband, Paul, live modestly. She drives a 2006 Subaru, her husband a six-year-old Saab. Their children attend public school, and vacations tend to be modest affairs centered on visiting family.

Ms. Baranski cares little for clothes or jewelry. They have a swimming pool, but only because Ms. Baranski pressed hard for one, a dream of hers growing up in Southern California.

Like most of her neighbors, Ms. Baranski splurged most on a house in a community studded with some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Early in 2001, when Ms. Baranski seemed richer than she was, they paid $1.95 million for a dilapidated house in Menlo Park, knowing they would tear it down. They spent $1 million over the next few years building their dream house.

Ms. Baranski recognizes, of course, that she is far better off than many of her neighbors. Even well-paid college administrators, professors and other white-collar professionals struggle to pay their bills in this expensive redoubt 30 miles south of San Francisco.

“I don’t know how people live here on just a normal salary,” said Ms. Baranski.

Her nanny rents an apartment in Palo Alto, Ms. Baranski said. She pays her what she described as a generous salary and gave her the keys to her old Saab when she bought the newer one. But “basically I have no idea how she survives here.”

Mr. Hettig, the estate planning lawyer, sums it up for many: “We’re in such a rarefied environment,” he said, “people here lose perspective on what the rest of the world looks like.”

‘A Dime a Dozen’

David Koblas, a computer programmer with a net worth of $5 million to $10 million, imagines what his life would be like if he left Silicon Valley. He could move to a small town like Elko, Nev., he says, and be a ski bum. Or he could move his family to the middle of the country and live like a prince in a spacious McMansion in the nicest neighborhood in town.

But Mr. Koblas, 39, lives with his wife, Michelle, and their two children in Los Altos, south of Palo Alto, where the schools are highly regarded and the housing prices are inflated accordingly. So instead of a luxury home, the family lives in a relatively modest 2,000-square-foot house — not much bigger than the average American home — and he puts in long hours at Wink, a search engine start-up founded in 2005.

“I’d be rich in Kansas City,” he said. “People would seek me out for boards. But here I’m a dime a dozen.”

No one knows for certain how many single-digit millionaires live in Silicon Valley. Certainly their numbers reach into the tens of thousands, say those who work with the area’s engineers and entrepreneurs. Yet nearly all of them still have all-consuming jobs, not only because the work gives them a sense of achievement and satisfaction but also because they think they must work so much to afford their gilded neighborhoods.

That certainly describes Tony Barbagallo, 44, who over the last two decades has collected around $3.6 million in stock and options from companies he has worked for. Despite his good fortune, though, he is surprised to find that he worries like most other Americans about matters as varied as the soaring cost of health care, the high price of college and the pressure to sock away more money for retirement.

Taxes have devoured about 40 percent of his stash, Mr. Barbagallo said, knocking that figure down to $2.2 million. Over the years, he has tried to live off his salary, but not always successfully. To limit their monthly expenses, he and his wife Catherine bought a ranch house far from Silicon Valley, in the town of Moraga, for $750,000 — by Valley standards a modest sum.

But they spent $350,000 on extensive remodeling — causing them, not for the first time, to dip deeply into their nest egg.

Today, he has roughly $1.2 million left in savings and another several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of home equity, Mr. Barbagallo said, with one child in college and a second on her way.

So he works as hard as ever, logging more than 70 hours a week at a San Francisco start-up.

“Poor Tony, he’ll never be able to retire,” Catherine Barbagallo said.

Chasing the Top 0.1 Percent

Many of these millionaires have options, of course, beyond working hard to earn another $5 million to $10 million. A few even choose to jump off the golden treadmill.

That is what Mark Gage, 51, an engineer, and his wife, Meredith, did when they left the Bay Area in 2005 with $3 million or so in assets. They bought a house in Bend, Ore. — “a bigger, much nicer home with dramatic views” — and now Mr. Gage works only when the perfect consulting job presents itself.

Yet the same drive that earned so many of the engineers and entrepreneurs who live here their fortunes keeps them tied to the Valley, which resembles nothing so much as a sprawling post-war suburb, though one whose roadways are thick with cars costing in the six figures.

Umberto Milletti has fantasized about downsizing his life to ease the financial pressures he feels despite a net worth around $5 million. In 2000, when his stake in DigitalThink, the online learning company he co-founded in 1996, was worth around $50 million, he bought his family of four a five-bedroom house in Hillsborough, an upscale suburb south of San Francisco. After his net worth fell 90 percent, though, he found the house more of an albatross than a dream.

“We could move,” Mr. Milletti said. “But if you do that, then you’re admitting defeat. No one wants to go backwards.”

So he works 60 to 70 hours a week at InsideView, an online sales intelligence company he co-founded in 2005, in part to prove that his first success was not a fluke — but also to meet his monthly nut, which includes payments on a seven-figure mortgage.

Silicon Valley offers an unusual twist on keeping up with the Joneses. The venture capitalist two doors down might own a Cessna Citation X private jet. The father of your 8-year-old’s best friend, who has not worked for two years, drives a bright yellow Ferrari. Temptations loom everywhere.

“You see how much money you have in the bank,” Mr. Koblas, the computer programmer, said, “and your eyes get really big.” He described it as “upsizing your life to your cash flow.”

Then there are the additional burdens on this digital elite, said Ms. Holland, the psychologist — demands they are typically not prepared to handle.

“There are all these people who come to you for money,” Ms. Holland said. “Siblings, parents, other relatives. Organizations seeking charitable contributions. There’s this assumption you have all this money — so why don’t you write a big check to the school or to this other charity?”

Other pressures can come from within the social circle. Mr. Barbagallo, for instance, remembers when several couples tried cajoling his wife and him — unsuccessfully — to fly to Las Vegas for a charity event featuring Andre Agassi.

“You look around,” Mr. Barbagallo said, “and the pressures to spend more are everywhere.” Children want the latest fashions their peers are wearing and the most popular high-ticket toys. Furniture does not seem up to snuff once you move into a multimillion-dollar home. Spouses talk, and now that resort in Mexico the family enjoyed so much last winter is not good enough when looking ahead to next year. Summer camp, a full-time housekeeper, vintage wines, country clubs: the cost of living bloats.

To Mr. Milletti, it all looks like a marathon with no finish line.

“Here, the top 1 percent chases the top one-tenth of 1 percent, and the top one-tenth of 1 percent chases the top one-one-hundredth of 1 percent,” he said.

“You try not to get caught up in it,” he added, “but it’s hard not to.”

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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 today’s Rocky Mountain News..

It’s electric, boogie woogie: RTD says no diesel to DIA or Arvada

By Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

July 24, 2007

The RTD board tonight bowed to political pressure and financial reality, dropping talk of converting two FasTracks corridors to diesel-powered cars instead of electric.

Some board members a few months ago believed FasTracks, which is $670 million over its $6.2 billion budget, could save up to $200 million by changing rail projects to Denver International Airport and to Arvada and Wheat Ridge from electric commuter rail to diesel.

It adds about $4 million per mile to electrify a rail line.

But faced with staff research that showed the upfront savings would be overwhelmed by the higher operating costs of a diesel system, the few board members left who supported going diesel joined their colleagues in voting 13-0 to stick with the current arrangement. The DIA line is expected to be completed in 2014; the Arvada line in 2015.

If that wasn’t enough, 26 speakers led of by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper unanimously urged the board to back the communities’ choices. No one spoke up for using diesel cars; many of the speakers demanded RTD abandon current plans to use diesel power on two other FasTracks lines, Northwest Rail to Boulder and Longmont, and North Metro to Commerce City and Thornton.

“Pretty firmly, the whole city has come down on the side of EMU,” Hickenlooper told the board. EMU is the acronym for the self-propelled passenger cars called Electric Multiple Units. “When you take the long view, it’s the right choice.

Mayor Ken Fellman of Arvada and Mayor Jerry DiTullio of Wheat Ridge joined Hickenlooper in endorsing the use of electricity. Residents who live near the proposed lines also told the board their concerns over pollution, noise and keeping promises to voters.

The selection of an all-diesel system would save RTD $89 million in construction costs, mostly because it wouldn’t have to build overhead electric lines.

But financial consultants on privatizing the construction and operation of FasTracks lines have told RTD that it could actually be $184 million less costly to build an electric system on the Gold Line to Wheat Ridge and East Corridor to DIA. That’s because operating costs are less than diesel, and if financing is privatized, RTD would reap the savings in the first year.

Diesel is the stronger candidate to serve the other two heavy-rail commuter corridors in the program, the Northwest Rail to Boulder and Longmont and the North Metro Corridor to Commerce City and Thornton.

Because those trains will run farther and less frequently, the savings of going electric are reduced.

It would take 20 years of running electric on those routes to make up the difference in construction costs.

RTD board member Lee Kemp, the primary backer of going to diesel, said public sentiment and staff analysis changed his mind, but he would fight any move to convert the other two commuter rail corridors, initially planned for diesel, to electric.

Planners on the Northwest Rail corridor, for example, said if RTD had to pay to electrify the line to Boulder and Longmont, there would only b enough money to get the train built from Denver to Louisville, and no farther.

Plus this gives us a good update on the train to DIA. 2014 may be a long way out but at least it is coming.

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!.