On the final day of the year, I thought about something positive to post to help redeem what has been a punishing 2018 (in my estimation). It’s about the arts, and how important it is that people spread the word and support organizations both large and small. And it is not just about the economic …
Continue reading "Why art is important to Colorado – and it’s not just about the economy"
First off: The aerial photo above does not capture any place in Colorado. It is a photograph by Edward Burtynsky, whose work is in “Anthropocene,” an exhibition about mankind’s impact on the planet, now on view at the Art Gallery of Toronto, in Ontario. But this photograph – Highway #8, Santa Ana Freeway, Los Angeles, …
Continue reading "Putting a brake on growth in Lakewood comes back around"
I’ve been catching up on news in Denver since I returned yesterday, and the Colorado Convention Center situation has continued to attract my attention. There have been numerous stories on the problem: an official of the owner’s representative, or program manager, Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow, allegedly gave information to Mortenson Construction, one of the three …
Today, Denver What the Hell Happened to You? goes on a quick vacation. It's a short respite from worrying about development on steroids in Denver, muddled decision-making, artists needing places to work and live, gentrification, and on and on and on. You get the idea. Instead, it's time for family. May all have a fine …
Today’s Denverite carries an in-depth story about where the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District money actually goes to cultural and scientific organizations in the seven-county district. As you might expect, most of the money goes to groups in the City and County of Denver because the big cultural and scientific organizations are in Denver. This …
Continue reading "As SCFD turns 30, some still have questions"
“Massive sections of Denver saw redevelopment in the late 1990s. The conversion of Lowry Air Force Base and Stapleton International Airport into residential neighborhoods is probably the most visible transformation. And the inner-ring neighborhoods (Highlands) and former industrial areas (RiNo) have come alive through infill projects and creative new development. But the Central Platte Valley …
Continue reading "When a black hole suddenly gets filled up"
At the end of a busy pre-holiday weekend, it was good to start poking through Sunday’s New York Times. I pulled out the Sunday magazine, and saw a cover photo of Max Harris. It grabbed me. So did the headline: In the Ashes of Ghost Ship, by Katherine Weil. (The image here is on the …
One of the first things I posted on this blog back in October was a piece by Aaron Betsky, a writer and president of the School of Architecture at Taliesin. That piece was about the spreading-like-wildfire scourge of five-story apartment blocks going up throughout our country and in our back yard. But recently Betsky took …
Well, not really a secret, but the Larimer Square Advisory Committee has been meeting. It met in October. It’s meeting today. But no one from the public can attend. I wanted to be a fly on the wall, but that is not possible. As you might recall, this past February, Larimer Associates and Urban Villages, …
Many years ago, I was eating lunch in The Hornet, and staring at the boarded up 1st Avenue Hotel across Broadway. What a shame, I thought. Such an elegant building, and so prominent in the Baker neighborhood. The hotel was built in 1905 to a design by architect William Quayle. The hotel was convenient for …
Chandler in Denver 