The above “Walk Score” is for the address of 1610 Little Raven Street, Denver Colorado 80202, the home of Zengo Restaurant and the heart of the plaza in Riverfront. The score (at least today when writing the post) is 83 or “Very Walkable”. How cool is this tool!!! 8-)

Walk Score calculates, on a scale to 100, how pedestrian friendly (walkable) your address is. If you are looking for a new home or just want to check out your existing home give it a shot. It calculates the score by looking at what surrounds it. Are there restaurants, parks, shopping, bars, etc. All the fun stuff. Here is what Walk Score says the scores mean:

• 90 – 100 = Walkers’ Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
• 70 – 90 = Very Walkable: It’s possible to get by without owning a car.
• 50 – 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
• 25 – 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
• 0 – 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car

Now they do concede that their are still some things they are working to figure out. Here is what they say doesn’t work yet:

” There are a number of factors that contribute to walkability that are not part of our algorithm:

• Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks make it easier to navigate the grid.
• Safety: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are crosswalks well marked and streets well lit?
• Pedestrian-friendly design: Are there walking paths? Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are sidewalks shaded by trees?
• Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you’re carrying groceries.
• Public transit: Good public transit is important for walkable neighborhoods.
• Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking.
• Weather: In some places it’s just too hot or cold to walk regularly.

As MarlonBain said, “You should use the Web 3.0 app called going outside and investigating the world for yourself” before deciding whether a neighborhood is walkable!”

What a great tool for house hunting and evaluating the pedestrian friendly nature of any neighborhood.  I don’t know about you, but I am trying to move further up the Walk Score with every change of residence I make.  So hopefully this helps out those relocating to Denver or those of you contemplating a move.

Please comment back and let everyone know how your address rates.

How did you score?

Today Oil prices jumped over $10 a barrel, although I really don’t know how big that is but according to the New York Times it is the BIGGEST JUMP EVER. Just Frakking Great.

How did I know something was up, I noticed the stock market was taking a nose dive. So now everyone’s savings, 401K, and the overall economy is taking a hit because of some black tar stuff. But don’t forget is was up a ton yesterday as well. I am not annoyed by the economy, we’re tough. What annoys me is how dependent the market is on oil price fluctuations. Wouldn’t it be nice not be so oil dependent? Isn’t say… food, more important.

So that’s it, I am going to do my best to turn my back on oil. I already don’t drive much at all so my new goal is to let my car get dusty sitting in the garage. I’ve got all the bikes, mountain, cruiser, road, beater that no one would want to steal. I’m prepared. And of course I’ll take public transportation. Light rail rocks, the 16th street shuttle does me just fine.

For speed or when I need to get somewhere quick I’ll use my scooter, that will be my indulgence. But with an average of between 70 and 75 mpg I really don’t mind the whole $3.89 it took me to fill the tank last week. It’s still a frak of a lot better than any car.

The area that I haven’t figured out yet is the occasional dressy event out where we all jump in a cab across town. But for that I wonder if I can request specifically a hybrid cab.

And of course. My feet work just fine. Pedestrian friendly all the way. So I’ll keep a tally of how many days it has been since I drove my car. Just a simple goal really. Do my part for reducing my carbon footprint and having a little fun, getting a little healthier, along the way. The last time I drove my car was on Sunday June 1st. So I’m not doing too bad. I have even researched some options for cargo trailers to go on the back of my bike. Anyone else care to cut down on their car use or share how things are going. Look at it like an improvised support group. Do you think going cold turkey on a car is easier or tougher than smoking or heroin. Let’s find out. Here is the Forum Link…

http://www.theurbanbrain.org/viewforum.php?f=6

How much can you cut down on car use and how? Share your story there. ;-)

And if you want to listen to something interesting, but not cheerful, here you go.

And yes, for those who recognize the word Frak… It’s from Battlestar Galactica.  How clever that they created this word and it STUCK but they don’t get in trouble with the censors.

Forum Topic Here

This topic might get more comments than any others so in advance I’ve set up a forum discussion. The trick in the mix is that the owners have also pointed out that if the Rockies and the city advocate groups feel that strongly about preserving the views they can always buy the land away from them. That’s not such a crazy argument and I would think that if the city OR the rockies started to approach local developers they just might find some interested parties who would love the idea of developing the Coors Field lofts.

It has branding, it has some panache, it has some great possibilities (anyone out there who decides to do it give me a call :) ).

Really, just think about it. There is no need to step on property rights or to ruin the views for the stadium folks. Every challenge is an opportunity. First of all, just build the building to the maximum height that still keeps the Rockies owners and the advocate groups happy. That is still a fairly high range and I expect that several floors of condos could go in there.

Secondly, if the Rockies and their advocates are a partner in this to preserve their asset (The stadium views) they could also come up with some killer marketing idea that makes the units unique and increases the price per square foot they obtain and work to make it not just a winning move for the stadium, but also a profitable one for the group involved. What would that perk be…. who knows. What about those units carrying a 10 year season ticket package and rights to renew beyond that for each unit. What about a Rockies affiliated restaurant in the base. What about a rooftop Rockies sports lounge. Heck, you can even throw in autographed Rockie jerseys and baseballs for each owner as a welcome gift at almost no cost but a huge value.

Forget fighting about it. Someone take this bull by the horns and make it the opportunity it should be. My guess is a lower building with a Rockies tie in would sell better ane more profitably than a generic taller building that is in contention with the city. PR matters. Branding matters, and this just begs for a flip from bad to good. Let’s also get the city to do their part with a pedestrian bridge over to the stadium across the tracks from that building. There are always options to make it a home run (had to have at least one pun).

So lets do a little marketing and development feedback here on my crazy little idea. The land looks to be for sale from this info I found when I googled 2010 Delgany so this fiction can become reality. Any buyers out there?

Link to PDF of proposed change

Rocky Mountain News Article

I got a chance to attend a very small affair at the new Museum of Contemporary Art space on 15th and heard about the great new plans that have gone into the museum. I’ll save a great deal of those tidbits for the Museum itself to roll out but did want to share a few neighborhood tidbits.

The first ties into art. They have an artist who works in an almost Comic Book/Sin City sphere who has created some video pieces for display. They are going to be positioned in such a way that they will be visible from outside the Museum through one of the few window openings. Of course since traffic at that corner is such a nightmare you probably don’t want to be rubbernecking to take a peek. This is where the second tidbit comes in.

The Museum is pursuing a traffic light at this intersection to try and help pedestrians from risking life and limb to visit. And for those of you who walk to Pepsi Center from Riverfront know that area can truly be a scary crossing. Like Frogger on acid, one false move and SPLAT. The time frame for this to become reality is probably a year. The city is in support but as we all know anything goes. If you are later stopped at the light here perhaps you will get to peek in the window and see some art.

The last piece, and a HUGE bit of news for downtown is an update on the parking in the new building across the street from the Museum. This building is projected to contain 1600 parking spaces, of which 600 are for public use. With the McLoughlins parking lot disappearing soon to make way for the Cosmopolitan Club spaces are in high demand for downtown visitors. Of course there is always public transportation (good) as a solution too.

Either way. Plans are moving along and more of Denver is growing. There was some talk of the desire to see a revival of the small art gallery in the CPV area, which I would love. But that might be a little bit harder to do now that real estate values have reached the heights they have. One speaker talked about the phenomenon of (1) Art comes in, (2) place becomes cool/hip, (3) People want to live there, (4) Real estate values rises, (5) Art gets pushed out in areas from Soho to Denver. Guess that is why the city tries to solidify areas with investments in such things as Museums, public art, and community foundations as areas grow. That might not, however, help the struggling art studio afford its rent.

And maybe to some extent that is okay. While I want to see the preservation of the art culture in existing areas these migrating studios also act as pioneers and cultivators in up and coming areas. Perhaps they do more for the development of new communities than any city program can as they open their doors, draw their crowds, and promote local restaurants and shops to open around them. Look where they are setting up shop now and ten years from now you might have the hippest part of town to live in. It just takes time, heart, and dedication. They have it.

Originally designed to look beautiful, which it did, the bridge also collected water on the stairs causing a rust. Over the past couple years it has been repainted, and repainted, and repainted.

Well now it is getting a full overhaul with some beautiful granite stairs. It will be looking beautiful!

Here is that schedule for those of you who live or use the bridge regularly. The good news is that only one side gets the face lift at a time so you don’t have to worry about going around. Schedule from Riverfront Park.

DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Weeks beginning:

* 8/6 – Close Bridge Stairs and open temporary stairs for pedestrian access
* 8/6 – Remove center railing on Bridge Stairs
* 8/6 – Set up supports for bike ramp
* 8/6 – Begin removal of treads

* 8/13 – Continue removal of treads/landings/decking

* 8/20 – Continue removal of treads/landings/decking

* 8/27 – Remove outside railings/decking/structural support angles
* 8/27 – Start installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/4 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/10 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/17 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel
* 9/17 – Start installation of granite treads

* 9/24 – Sand blast existing white/rust colored structural steel
* 9/24 – Painting of existing steel
* 9/24 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/1 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/8 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/15 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/22 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/29 – Completion activities/demobilize/punchlist

Which means it will be open just in time for Halloween. Lets all have a spooky celebration there.

And for those who don’t know the exact details of this famous Denver bridge here is the quick scoop…

Denver Millennium Bridge Opens

Date: 26/04/2002

The Denver Millennium Footbridge was officially opened by the Denver Mayor, Wellington Webb, on Monday 22 April at a ceremony attended by city and state dignitaries as well as engineers, architects, and local residents.

Arup provided civil and structural design services from the beginning of 2000, and were present on site throughout the construction phase. The design team overcame the significant challenges presented by the complex geometry of the cable-stayed structure’s 200ft (61m) tall steel mast and unusually wide deck (80ft / 24m) to produce this spectacular structure.

and…

Millennium Bridge in Denver
One of the greatest hurdles architectural engineers faced in creating this beautiful bridge in LoDo was developing a clear span across 125 feet of railroad track while keeping the vertical elevation gain at less than 30 feet. They decided to develop a unique “cable stayed” solution using a tall mast to hang the deck. The mast was placed on the city side of the bridge visible from downtown. The cables to both the bridge deck and grade were arrayed from there. To make the structure as thin as possible a steel frame that derives its stiffness from tension applied to the thin structure of the deck was conceived. This “post-tensioning” was achieved by installing beams with engineered sag, then using the mast as a lever to pull up the deck with the cables into a shallow bow while the opposite end of the bridge is held down by two steel rods. Concrete was then applied pushing down the deck and applying tension to the cables. The combination of tension in the cables and the rods form a thin, stiff and stable deck assembly. The Denver Millennium Bridge was the first cable stayed bridge in the world to use this post-tensioned structural concept.

There are some very cool things going on with the new Union Station Neighborhood. Today I got a chance to see the model for this great vision on display over at the Union Station Neighborhood Co. office (which is, conveniently enough, in Union Station). With the lights on in this building people can’t help themselves but to poke their head in with curiosity (just like me).

This just looks cool. A great pedestrian plaza down the Union Station corridor takes shape along with the transit lines and building shapes. Wow!

Visit and contribute to the wiki detail for Union Station Neighborhood Co.

or check out a poorly done video at

I have to say that this marketing cracks me up. Yesterday I blogged about the Hash at Lola. The other photo I took, which turned out better, was of the sign across the street for some new lofts near the Highlands Pedestrian Bridge.

Their tag line is “You could spend more nights with Lola if you lived here”. Lola, of course, is that great Mexican restaurant and bar that we all love. With tons of tequilas and great food that you can’t get enough of… living right next to Lola might be dangerous for me.

I do have to say that some of the views from here are great, and with both Lola and Vita right next door it would be a pretty cool spot. All that exists there now is a big pile of dirt which is just fine because I still want to sit at Lola and see the city.

Cool buildings, cool lofts, pedestrian bridges and more are one aspect of Denver that makes it such a great city to live in. Today’s poll is about where the best of the best is.

Residents of Glass House are going to really love this access point as it creates the newest access point for the city. I am looking forward to a short cut for a sunny afternoon Rockies game. But don’t get your hopes up yet, with the time it takes to complete and the infrastructure that still has to be added for the street scape in that area it will probably be some time before you can walk across. Perhaps if City House wraps up in 2009 then the bridge will be ready at the same time. One can only hope.

Either way this is one more pedestrian bridge addition that is make Denver even better. Maybe not as exciting as the Pedestrian bridge over I-25 connecting the Highlands and Riverfront, but still cool.

Anyone have any idea what it will look like?