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THE BACK FENCE NEWSLETTER
The newsletter featuring Livable Community items of interest that readers value and highlights of happenings along the West Corridor on the RTD West Rail Line serving Golden, Lakewood,
& Denver Colorado
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Hello everyone! This is Bill Spriggs and I have found several news articles, links, and blogs that I wanted to share along THE BACK FENCE & beyond in the Sunday, April 01, 2012 Edition. |
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
| | [Editor's Note: No news is good news. I guess the news makers on are Spring Break. You do the same!]. |
| National
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DC.StreetsBlog.org
Rejection of Senate Transpo Bill Opens Rift Between GOP, Business Groups By Angie Schmitt, Mar 30, 2012
The conservative wing of the Republican Party had their way yesterday in the House of Representatives, refusing to bring up for a vote the moderate, two-year transportation bill passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate, going instead with a 90-day extension, the 9th in a row.
Politico.com
Senate Clears Transportation Extension By Kathryn A. Wolfe, Mar 29, 2012 Congress dug itself out of a hole of its own creation by clearing a transportation extension Thursday, but not before generating a lot of hot air - and heartburn for people with a stake in transportation programs.
TheHill.com
GOP Lawmaker: We Can Afford a War in Afghanistan, But Not a Transportation Bill?
By Pete Kasperowicz, Mar 27, 2012 Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), a long-time critic of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, questioned House GOP leadership on Tuesday for arguing that the transportation bill must be delayed due to fiscal constraints, even as the U.S. spends billions of dollars each month in Afghanistan.
DC.Streetsblog.org
The Utter Futility of a Gas Tax "Holiday" By Ben Goldman, Mar 28, 2012 Disclaimer: The House and Senate, in the grand scheme of things, have plenty of time to hack together a short-term extension of transportation funding, or even to pass the Senate bill outright if they felt like it. READ MORE...
NRP.org [audio & test}
Get Onboard: It's Time To Stop Hating The Bus By NPR Staff, Mar 29, 2012 Everyone loves to hate riding the bus - passengers complain about cleanliness, overcrowding, timeliness and inefficiency. In a piece for Salon.com, writer Will Doig argues that disliking the bus is "practically an American pastime," but buses are key to improving mass transit. Doig thinks that rather than spending money on expensive new systems like light rail or streetcars, cities should focus on making buses better.
Switchboard.nrdc.org
Two Minutes on How to Make a Healthy City By Kenfield, Mar 27, 2012 This two-minute video was produced by the Healthy Eating, Active Living Cities Campaign, H Cities, a California partnership that works with cities "to adopt policies that will improve the physical activity and food environments for all residents."
WorldNews.msnbc.msn.com
World's Cities to Expand by More Than Twice the Size of Texas by 2030 By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com Cities worldwide are on track to expand by nearly 580,000 square miles - more than twice the size of Texas - in less than 20 years, according to experts at a major international science conference.
TheAtlanticCities.com
For Developers, Apartments Still a Safe Bet By Nate Berg, Mar 29, 2012 The recession and housing crash has pushed a lot of people into rental housing and multi-family housing like apartments. The real estate industry has noticed.
TheAtlanticCities.com
City Life, Recreated in the Sky By David Lepeska, Mar 28, 2012 "If we're going to make tall buildings socially inclusive, the only way we're going to do that is to connect them at height."
RustWire.com
Big Box Stores - the Municipal Equivalent of Crack By Richey Piiparinen, Mar 29, 2012 I started a series on the "psychology of the suburbs" unsure if crack, big box sprawl, the amygdala, "Don't Tread on Me," and innovation-stunting conformity had a legitimate connection. I ended it confident they do.
TheAtlanticCities.com
Illustrating a Commute, One Rider at a Time By Eric Jaffe, Mar 28, 2012 It's a perfectly natural feeling, now and again, to wish the other people crowding into one's morning commuter train would just disappear. Not so for British illustrator Steve Wilkin. For the past decade or so, Wilkin has used his hour-long commute on the 7:38 a.m. train from the town of Hebden Bridge toward the city of Preston to sketch his fellow passengers in all their commuting glory.
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International (when available)
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ThisBigCity.net
Capturing Rainfall on the Rooftops of Sana'a By Joe Peach, Mar 22, 2012 An often under-utilised resource sits above our cities - the roofs of buildings. But as the world urbanises and cities become more dense, rooftops are beginning to be used more efficiently. Green roofs are more common, solar panels are cropping up with an increased frequency, and loft conversions are now commonplace in many cities.AtlanticCities.com
A Crosswalk You Can Roll Up and Carry Away By John Metcalfe, Mar 30, 2012 This is not good news for drivers who think they own the road. French artist Florian Rivière has created a crosswalk that rolls up into a tube, allowing pedestrians to quickly lay walking bridges over busy streets. The crosswalk is made from carpet and acrylic paint and sells for 10 EUR.
Cyclopology.wordpress.com
Freedom, Sex, and the Female Cyclist March 29, 2012 Cycling around Dar es Salaam it doesn't take long to notice a stark gender gap when it comes to who rides a bicycle. I've occasionally seen women sitting side-saddle on the back end of bikes pedaled by men, but so far very few ladies powering bikes themselves (an exception: disabled women cranking three-wheeled handcycles).
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Sunday's Films (when available)
| StreetFilms.org
From Minnesota to Mississippia America Tells Congress to Preserve Bike Ped Funding By Elizabeth Press, March 27, 2012 For more than 20 years, federal funding for bike and pedestrian safety has enabled American cities and towns to invest in transportation projects that state DOTs would otherwise have overlooked. Thanks to these programs, communities have helped main streets thrive, provided kids with safer routes to school, and made biking an attractive transportation option.
View Film
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Things You Need to Know Along The West Corridor
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>Lakewood, Wednesday, Apr 11, 2012, 7am - 8:30am
Cindy Baroway and Scott Koop, City Council representatives for Ward 2, will meet with residents and considerate guests for their monthly outreach meeting at the Lakewood-West Colfax Business Improvement District Office, 7125 W. Colfax Ave. The West Rail Line will traverse the northwestern section of their Ward.
>Lakewood, Wednesday, April 11m 2012 Mark Your Calendars! Wednesday, April 11, 2012! Swinerton Builders and RTD Invites Everyone to the Wadsworth Parking Structure Groundbreaking! See Details
>Denver Union Station Basement, Friday, April 27, 2012
Final Open House for the Model Railroad display before construction closes same.
Soon the terrific model railroad display put on by the Platte Valley & Western Model Railroad club in the basement of the Denver Union Station will have to close because of the redevelopment of the Station (let's hope they put in better ventilation and more areas to sit for elderly and struggling families) The open house will run from 7pm to 9pm in the Basement.
Press release pdf >Lakewood, Wednesday, June 13, 4-6pm. Grand Opening party of A+E Fine Woodworking, woodworking studio, 7175 W. 16th Ave. A&E Woodworking will become a future art collaborative where artists will share a common location to create their artwork. The location is located 0.6 miles - 3 minutes via bicycle - from the future light rail stop at Wadsworth Station.
May 19-20th, 2012
June 9-15, 2012
August 20-26
September 21-23
The very popular RTD West Corridor bus tours are back!! All tours will be from 9am to 11am on the 3rd Friday of the month (April thru Sept). Each reservation that is made is for one seat only; please sign-up all attendees individually. You will receive e-mail confirmation within one week of your registration.
Denver Union Station Construction Web Cam
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Commercial Real Estate Assemblages or Individual Sites Available on the West Corridor
Major construction is done on the RTD West Rail Line and now is the time to begin Phase 2: Creating a new image of the West Corridor by building high-quality, high-density development along RTD's West Rail Line. Let's get the party started.
Please Note: TBF does not
buy or sell real property. Prices displayed may not be correct
>8181 West Colfax Ave retail site>10890 West Colfax Ave
>11400 West Colfax Ave
THE BACK FENCE supports a corridor wide, regional vision, with individual nodes of unique "places" within that corridor. We hope that the listing of commercial properties available will help to speed this vision to fruition sooner. >Editor's note: Due to the greatness of Democracy and right of it's citizen's to express concerns freely, RTD has issued a follow-up statement addressing those issues raised surrounding the Future Sheridan Street Parking Structure meeting held on March 01, 2012. Subjects include 1) Sun/snow on the north side of the structure. 2) Safer lighting between station and parking structure. 3) Ped/bicycle interaction from structure to station. 4) more. Sheridan Parking Structure Learn more about this "big picture" vision from the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. Here's a PowerPoint Presentation of the RTD Elected Officials Briefing held Feb 10, 2012
Part One deals with grade crossing safety (boring) and Part Two has (awesome) photos of the latest civil construction of the West Rail Line. Well worth a peek.
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Things You Need to Know in The Region (when available)
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| The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of William A. Spriggs and no one else. |
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