Well, it’s true, right? Since there was a choice between COVID and the Olympics, I took a different path last night. Watching the public hearing at the Denver City Council meeting on Channel 8 was the topic of designating La Alma Lincoln Park as an historic cultural district. That was the best choice, believe me, …
Last week, the magazine Modern in Denver (and other outlets) posted a press release said: “The department (i.e., the city’s Department of Community Planning and Development) will hire a City Urban Designer to lead and champion this effort." The new person will report directly to and work with the Executive Director of Community Planning and Development, i.e., Laura …
This morning, I watched Denver Mayor Michael Hancock deliver his 11th address about the State of the City. Quick, like 25 minutes, what the city will do for the homeless; violent crime; the economy and equity; $450 for infrastructure for a bonding package (including money for a new arena in the National Western Center); marijuana and …
And why? Let’s look at Society Denver, which was written about in BusinessDen, the Denver Business Journal, Colorado Politics, and Mile High CRE this week. Those of us who wanted to save that Brutalist building, the moneyed people made things happen to find a way to scrape it, and the Denver City Council had no interest in it. (Big surprise.) At …
And the next time we see a discussion about La Alma Lincoln Park, it will be on August 2 before the Denver City Council. If this is not a slam dunk, I just cannot imagine it will not move forward. Last Wednesday, the Denver Planning Board members had some questions, with the quorum of five, …
La Alma Lincoln Park is striving to be Denver's second cultural district, after the Welton Street cultural district was created years ago. Now a second cultural district has a lengthy application designation that is a great read. The history? There is plenty of that, but the homes, stretching back into the late 1870s, are Italianate …
But I will hang on to the bitter end/s. Westside Investment Partners has different places and different approaches. There’s the Park Hill Golf Course, and then there is Loretto Heights. That’s a lot of land put together for one developer. One property has been pretty much supported and hailed by those in the neighboring area …
Yes, the plastic bag ban and plastic foam container ban will happen, but it will take some time. Here’s the timeline: Approved timeline for plastic bans January 2023 - January 2024: 10-cent fee imposed on paper, plastic bagsJanuary 2024: Single-use plastic bags banned at most stores unless the store still has a surplus of plastic …
That’s because there have been stories and documentaries for more over a week – as it should be -- so people understand the terror that struck the Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa a century ago. Today, President Biden is meeting with survivors of the 1921 attack by a white mob that destroyed a prosperous Black neighborhood …
Well, that was a question, but it didn’t make much sense. The people who had been put on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., wanted to bow to the previous president. There was “explicit language endorsing ‘Spanish colonial and other Mediterranean styles generally found in Florida,’ thus including Trump’s privately owned Mar-a-Lago …
Still smarting over the unfortunate scrape of the Channel7 Building, it takes a while to clear out the anger, so it was necessary to wander around Denver last week to seeing what is going on – and up or down. But yesterday, it was time to drive around La Alma Lincoln Park to get a …
So, Monday night, 40 people signed up to speak about the Denver Channel7 Building, which proposed landmarking from three applicants in the community. I know all three of them: two attorneys and one architect. They believed that the building at 123 Speer Boulevard was impressive, with a Brutalist tower that could support not just landmarking …
Last Sunday, The New York Times magazine published The Health Issue. At first, I thought at times it is overwhelming to understand what is going on concerning COVID-19 and its growing numbers of variants. But that’s what viruses do, apparently. But beyond the virus, taking a look about what was going on centuries ago, there was a …
Monday night, May 3, there was a quick reference to the Denver7 Building, a precursor to the public hearing on Monday, May 10. District 10 Council Representative Chris Hinds spoke up because the Denver7 Building is in his district, at 123 Speer Boulevard. He said that he had talked to the press about this issue, …
That’s eye-opening because in a story in today’s Denver Post, the first paragraph reads: “The brute stands five stories tall at the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Lincoln Street in Denver, wrapped in panels of red Colorado sandstone and concrete, its grids of rectangular windows facing every direction but north.” Brute? Really? Like the Incredible Hulk or …
The continuing saga concerns what the city should do about launching a new type of program involving scooters and bikes. Yesterday, the third committee meeting sounded sort of the same, but not completely. As before, the presentations to the Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure committee were given by those who work in the Department of …
Once upon a time, there was not much trash everywhere in this city. Now, Denver is full of it. So: People coming here from other states – and here, too -- please stop pitching bags of trash out of your car window. Put it in your waste bin. Please pick up your dog’s poop. Your …
Continue reading "Dear Denver: Please pick up your trash. Not just for Earth Day, but every day."
Call it horse-trading, but it was not totally kumbaya. However: From the beginning, the three people want to save the Channel7 building to undergo adaptive re-use. Save the exterior, and figure out a new interior for a new use. The Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met Tuesday to decide whether the Channel7 octagonal building …
MCA Denver was located in a renovated fish market in Sakura Square, before there was land donated for the museum on Delgany Street. Visiting the museum in Sakura Square was great because it was in a part of Denver that had a special meaning. What intrigued me was a bust of Governor Ralph Carr, who …
This past Saturday morning, Denver’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) held a Zoom meeting, and about 70 people were online. The idea was to come up with information to bolster history, like how Latino and Chicano residents came to Denver and how they created their neighborhoods, and how they struggled for their rights and dignity. …
Yesterday’s Denver Landmark Preservation Commission meeting had a strange vibe when it came to the public hearing involving a tower at 123 Speer Boulevard. An owner-opposed application is always a long haul, and when the owner has the ability and wealth to seek support, the process can become less than pleasant. Of course, going to …
In the early years of Denver, having no housing was bad, and much worse. A two-part piece titled Homeless in Denver was in the newsletter for the Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy Department. The author is Alex Hernandez, a reference librarian in that department -- and the beginning is beyond bleak. (This department, which …
Yesterday, Denver’s Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee received more information from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, or DOTI, to help the city council representatives on the committee to push it along to the full council. But that did not happen; the next meeting about the scooter situation will be on Tuesday, April 27. …
Perhaps, it’s because those who deal with the city’s Certificate of Demolition Eligibility process and their application submissions should be replaced by another apartment building? After all, submitting the kill-the-building application costs $250, while the three people who must cough up $875 because they are not owners of the building/s. An owner who wants to have …
This has been a sad and horrible week, difficult to sleep, stop watching the news about a massacre, and why so many guns. It seemed absolutely correct to stay up late last night to read The New Yorker. This is the Style & Design Issue, which is always dreamy, even though many of us are in …
Yesterday, Denver’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure committee considered a new concept dealing with two scooter companies – Lyft and Lime – to pay no fees to the city, but share the city’s streets. At first, it seemed like something that didn’t make sense, although these new contracts would provide equity for parts of Denver, …
Continue reading "Scooters for no fees to the city! Really?"
“The concept of a view plane was codified about 70 years ago in an ordinance by the City and County of Denver, preserving the views of the mountains to the west. They serve as a backdrop for beauty, and for residents and visitors who love those views. Driving into Denver from the east to move …
Something more meaningful seemed right today. But then, I saw a lengthy story on Denverite that has a lot of good information. Yes: This weekend, it’s about snow. For anyone who has lived in Colorado, things can become murky. Things also can be treacherous. Having lived through several big dumps – including the six blizzards in a …
Continue reading "Because perhaps we will only see snow this weekend, covering everything."
It’s sort of like someone gives you a great bottle of wine, but you can only look at the label. But last night, the Denver City Council opened a public hearing, and the council members had a lot of questions and comments. Why? The land at 4700 East Evans Avenue was to change the zoning classification, …
For anyone who loves art, it’s not unusual that someone might find a painting or a sculpture in an attic or a garage, and think it might be worth something. Of course, not usually, but in the news this week, there are numerous articles about two New York residents who each discovered that they had a …
Dezeen Weekly is a good read, even though it sometimes can be snarky when commenters take on a building or an interior. This week’s Dezeen included a building to be constructed in Denver. Jeanne Gang’s Populus – the three-sided hotel building to be located on West Colfax Avenue -- is sort of a surprise. What is unusual, architecture and design online posting usually takes us around …
Though a count of The New York Times database had not reached that figure, but it will reach it. And according to that database, “Denver County is at a very high risk level.” Just what I wanted to hear! Still, the database noted that cases, deaths and hospitalizations in Denver County were way down. When a president …
Continue reading "Half a million people have died of COVID-19 in the United States as of this week."
Back in July 2019 – which seems a century ago – there was a lengthy Denver Landmark Preservation Commission meeting to deal with the demolishing of the South Ramp at Red Rocks. It was a way for people who were heading up to the amphitheatre, but the ramp was growing old, and city officials were …
Today’s Denverite offers a tour of the former Pancratia Hall, which is being turned into the Pancratia Hall Lofts. It is a striking beginning, chronicled by a reporter and a photographer. In the way back when we actually went to meetings, I started following the fate of the Loretto Heights Campus, which was purchased by Westside Investment Partners, Inc. …
Taking a break is because viewing the videos over the past three days has been making nightmares. So for a change, I’ve read (and watched) something easier on the heart. A family that owns the Axton Ranch that straddles Jefferson and Gilpin counties is donating 450 acres to create a mountain park for Denver. It’s …
The Denver City Council meeting last night discussed a major change for Denver. The public hearing started at about 6 p.m. and ended around 1:30 this morning. (The photo above is credited by the Denver City Council and at the top of a Westword story.) The topic was the Group Living Text Amendment. More than 1,140 letters were …
Snacks will be by my side. Some of this group living plan makes sense, but then it gets a little more complicated. For three years or more, Senior City Planner Andrew Webb in Community Planning and Development has been putting a plan together. I watched two of the city council committee meetings, one in September …
Seems that every neighborhood should have a library. During a meeting last week with members of a city council committee learned that branch libraries are needed in RiverNorth (better known as RiNo), Globeville, and Westwood. (The photo above was posted on Denverite today, taken by Kevin J. Beaty.) But with a combination of the RiNo Art District …
Today, I finally was able to read a bunch of emails because there was no time because of a project. Since many of us subscribe to well-known (and not-well-known) online publications, I figured I should give them a glance, at least. What I found was three interesting pieces. The problem of ugly architecture? The previous president …
This past Wednesday, The Colorado Sun ran a story with this headline: “How one block on Pearl Street represents Denver’s stubborn homelessness crisis.” The reporter was Jennifer Brown, who covered all the bases: the homeless people, the fearful neighbors, the unsanctioned camps, the sanctioned camps, the District 10 City Council representative, having problems to protect his restaurant, …
We had been warned in Denver that there might be protesters at the Colorado Capitol on Sunday, but from one report it appeared that there were more reporters than those wanting to protest. If you don’t hear the police helicopter whirling above my building, it is pretty quiet. It’s a relief, and I hope that …
A few months ago, there was a story about Channel7’s owner wanting to sell the buildings on the land to a developer (surprise!) to build an apartment building. Scripps Media is the applicant, but apparently is not interested about anything except demolition. (E. W. Scripps Co. is Denver7’s parent company.) But things have moved along, like …
“We Are the Storm” was the title of yesterday’s pro-Trump protest at the Colorado Capitol. Nah, you’re not the storm. You’ve lost your bearings. And you need to go home and rethink your life, under the spell of a president who also has lost his bearings and his inability to understand that a loss is …
That’s what prompted a new Facebook page titled Northeast Denver Love & History. Calvin Williamson had grown up in Denver, but moved to New York while creating that Facebook page. As a teenager, he spent a lot of time looking at photographs in the downtown library that showed those who lived in predominantly black neighborhoods. …
Continue reading "When neighborhoods melt away, so do the people who had lived there."
Oh, 2020: I was so looking forward to you, with a new election (!!!!!), more travels, and more things to do. Uh: The election did happen, but it has been a hard-fought battle, but the rest of this year has just been strange, mainly because the virus that was flying around the earth was killing …
The last issue of every year, The Times offers a round-up of those who have passed away. It’s a mix of those we recognize, but others who are new to us. This year, The Times added a lengthy beginning of those who died of COVID-19 or complications of the virus. Rodriguez’s story is one of various families who have …
Usually, I travel to see my family over the holidays, but it just didn’t feel right now. Trips for special events there earlier this year seemed fine, but now, with more and more virus cases……. No. Rather than post a beautiful flower, it’s more important to me to use a photograph of a trip last …
It’s sort of like Washington, D.C., but closer to home and with much less money. But with an Arts Relief Fund, we want cultural programs in Colorado to survive -- and dare we hope they will thrive. Colorado Creative Industries, or CCI, will manage those funds. CCI is a division of the Office of Economic …
In mid-November, one of my neighbors received an anonymous letter with a headline in big type: “Attention Uptown Denver Property Owner / Occupant: Permanent Homeless Encampment to be Opened December 1, 2020.” Well, that opened our eyes, and this letter – which later also was taped on the door of my building – had a …
The excited delirium syndrome has become a term that some find problematic, especially when police use ketamine to subdue someone who has been arrested. And unless you have lived in a cave for the more than a year, the death of Elijah McClain has shocked the country in terms of what happened to this 23-year-old …
Chandler in Denver 