> Pedestrians Using a Bike Lane as a Sidewalk.
>Carr Street Bwtn 13th & 14th Ave, one block north
of the future rail line, looking NE.
GOAL: "PROMOTE A SAFE MULTI-MODAL
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM."
2003 Lakewood Colorado Comprehensive Plan, pg. 30. *Got a bicycle related issue within
the city limits of Lakewood Colorado?
>Public Rights-of-Way (streets) 303-987-7980
>Trails within City Parks? 303-987-7800
k |
|
|
THE BACK FENCE
The Newsletter Featuring Livable Community Items That Readers Value and Highlights of Happenings Along the West Corridor on the RTD "W" Light Rail Line Serving Golden, Lakewood & Denver.
|
|
* * *
The "W" Line Opens in:327 Days
 |
|
|
Hi 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 this Sunday Edition, June 03, 2012. |
 |
West Corridor, Denver & Region
| MarketWatch.com
Land Bought by Denver for New Public Library Branch Near FasTracks West Line Corridor May 30, 2012 As part of a long-term collaboration, the City and County of Denver today purchased land from Urban Land Conservancy at West Colfax Avenue and Irving Street in order to begin construction of the long-anticipated Denver Public Library branch in West Denver.
AuroraSentinel.com Can Aurora Keep RTD Light Rail on Track?
City, political and transit officials say Mayor Steve Hogan's proposal to raise local taxes to get RTD's beleaguered light-rail project back on track deserves a thorough vetting READ MORE...DailyCamera.com
New Details of USA Pro Cycling Challenge's Boulder Stage Released By Erica Meltzer, June 02, 2012 City prepares for 100,000+ spectators, plans downtown 'Finish Festival' Cycling enthusiasts can start plotting the best vantage points from which to catch the USA Pro Cycling Challenge during its Boulder stage.
TheDenverPost.com
Revolution Evolution: Mountain Bikes go Big
By Douglas Brown, May 29, 2012
Sally Hammond displays her new mountain bike with 29" wheels that are gaining popularity. Hammond was on the North Foothills Trail in Boulder riding the new bike that is easier to ride than her previous bike that had 26 inch wheels.
READ MORE...TheChoice.Blogs.nytimes.com
College Grads Flock to Some Cities, Foregoing Others (Denver area is #9) By Daniel E. Slotnik, May 30, 2012
There is a growing disparity among cities that have a surfeit of college graduates, like Washington, and those, like Dayton, Ohio, that are trying to attract more grads, an analysis by the Brookings Institution indicated. |
|
National
|
DC.StreetsBlog.org
Clues Hint at Souring Negotiations in Transpo Bill Conference
By Ben Goldman, May 31, 2012
Politico Pro Transportation put out a news blast today that threw some light into the inky shadows of the conference committee process, and what we saw there doesn't look too pretty. Apparently Sen. Barbara Boxer has reason to believe negotiations aren't going so well, "after a House GOP conferee criticized her for 'stonewalling' the lower chamber": READ MORE....DC.StreetsBlog.org
Fate of Bike-Ped Compromise Still Unknown as House Reconvenes By Ben Goldman, May 30. 2012
The Senate has left town for their traditional late-May nine-day weekend, while the House has just returned from their own week off. Amid these comings and goings, work continues on the transportation bill, which has been concealed inside the conference committee's secret underground lair since the beginning of May.
READ MORE....
DC.StreetsBlog.org
Broad Coalition Urges Congress to Support Local Control of Bike-Ped Funds
By Ben Goldman, May 31, 2012
A coalition of 70 organizations, including the US Conference of Mayors, American Heart Association, and the National PTA, have signed on to a letter from American Bikes urging Congress to preserve the Cardin-Cochran amendment - a provision in the Senate transportation bill that allows local agencies to directly access funds street safety projects. The letter is addressed to the 33 House members and 14 Senators on the transportation bill conference committee. Neither co-sponsor of the original amendment is on the committee.
TheAtlanticCities.com
The Growing Popularity of Bus Rapid Transit
By Mark Byrnes, Jun 01, 2012 In an era where financial resources are sparse, public transportation projects are difficult to put together. Though less popular than subway and light rail, bus rapid transit lines can be a successful and much cheaper alternative.
READ MORE... Grist.org
'The Great Inversion': Cities Are the New Suburbs, Suburbs the New Cities By Andrew Zaleski, May 30, 2012
In his new book, The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City, Ehrenhalt outlines at length what he dubs "a major change in American urban life" over the last decade: namely, that "living patterns are rearranging all throughout a metropolitan area," something he calls a "demographic inversion."TheAtlantCities.com
America's Economic Rebound By Richard Florida, June 01, 2012
"Weak U. S. Hiring Adds to Global Gloom" blares the New York Times today, noting that America added just 69,000 jobs in May and its unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2 percent. But might such short-term bad news mask America's underlying capacity to remake and rebuild its economy?
MomentumMag.com
Riding Errands With Kids on Bikes By Kathleen Wilker, May 29, 2012
Over the years, depending on where we're going, what the weather is like, what we need to transport and how old our two children are, my husband, Derek, and I have had lots of different biking and walking systems for running errands and traveling around the neighborhood.READ MORE....TheAtlanticCities.com
Rethinking the Economics of Traffic Congestion By Eric Dumbaugh, May 31, 2012
With a few notable exceptions, transportation planning practice in the United States is focused on managing or eliminating traffic congestion. Regardless of whether planners are advocating for highway infrastructure to improve level-of-service, or transit projects intended to "get cars off the road," the underlying assumption is that congestion relief is an unmitigated good.READ MORE....TheAtlanticCities.com
The Urban Health Desert By Nate Berg, May 30, 2012
Economic growth and demographic change won't necessarily make an unhealthy city into a healthy one.
Streesblog.net
Agenda 21 Conspiracy Theory: Completely Absurd, Frighteningly Effective
By Angie Schmitt, June 01, 2012
When it comes to Agenda 21, you've got to at least give the the far-right credit for effective messaging. The Agenda 21 conspiracy theory was popularized by the great fearmonger and overpriced gold-salesman Glenn Beck. Inventing this scourge to American freedom really took some imagination - turning an obscure, decades-old UN environmental resolution into a global Green Menace, mobilizing Tea Party members to pack public meetings in Maine, Virginia, Tennessee, and elsewhere.
|
|
International (when available)
| Guardian.co.uk
Building Megacities for the Poor By Jackie Wills, May 31, 2012
Poor people in the world's megacities suffer disproportionately from congestion and pollution caused by the explosive growth in car ownership - their journeys to work are unsafe and take longer.
READ MORE...Blogs.WallStJournal.com The New Trade Routes
By Rashmi Sadana, May 31, 2012
At a recent conference about metros at the University of Paris-Nanterre, the Delhi, New York, Santiago and Paris metros were compared. One idea discussed was how metro stations allow "strangers" to enter "communities" - to go where you have not gone before, or perhaps, where you may not have even thought of going before. READ MORE... |
|
Sunday's Film (when available)
| [Below: Once again, if more women commute and feel comfortable riding their bikes, then everyone gets the message that, they too, could commute]. Source: Scientific American
MomentumMag.com
Biking to Work in a Dress & Heels May 31, 2012
Mandy Farmer, CEO of Accent Inns, shows us how to bike to work in a dress and heels.
|
|
Things you need to know along the West Corridor
|
[Note: in just 10 short months West Corridor residents will be able bike to a West Rail Line station, jump on board with their bikes, get off at Union Station & cycle just six blocks to Coors Field and LEAVE THE CAR BEHIND. But until then, those of you adventurous souls who commute downtown, check out the facilities in place this year.] 
2012 schedule of Ride to the Rockies Games:
June 03, July 01, Aug 05, & Sept 02. All games are Sunday Day games. Over the course of 20 games this season the Rockies along with media partners ROOT SPORTS, 850 KOA and The Denver Post will once again be enlisting players and fans toward making a positive impact on the environment through the 2012 Games of Green initiative. NEXT BIKE TO THE GAME! WHEN: Sunday, June 03 for the game against the LA Dodgers. Bike lot opens at 11:30 a.m. and closes 10 minutes after the game ends.
WHERE: Coors Field, the special Bike to the Game secure parking lot at 21st and Blake St., across from Gate C.
WHAT: Check in at the Bike to the Game Tent at the entrance to the bike lot at 21st and Blake to enter a drawing for great prizes, like a Rockies Batting Practice experience, Rockies tickets, autographed items and more! >Denver, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. The City of Denver will hold a discussion of the Decatur-Federal Station build out concept titled: "Creating Places; What Will Make the Future Bright?" Food provided & Win Prizes; Children welcome with parents; Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, & Vietnamese. Mile Hi Station, 2027 West Lower Colfax Ave, 5:30pm to 7pm. >Denver Union Station Historic Summer Tours Thursday, June 14, June 28, July 12, & July 26, 2012 at 4:30pm - 5:30pm The Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) will be conducting free guided tours of the Denver Union Station redevelopment site this summer. This guided tour will emphasis the early station history and famous travelers who visited Denver by Train. The tour will also tell visitors about all the new features that will soon be part of, and surround, the historic station. The one-hour tour will start inside the Great Train Hall at the historic station, 1701 Wynkoop Street. Participation is limited to 35 people per tour. To reserve your spot, visit. RSVP here [Scroll down on left] 
>Lakewood, starting Friday, June 08, 2012, 5-9pm; June 09, 10-4pm; June 10, 12-6pm Lakewood's celebration of the Arts week - Inspire -- starts with a Ribbon-cutting, Arts Exhibit & Community Art Project Preview of the new 40 West Studios at 7175 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood, Colorado 80214 starts June 08, 2012. The new art studio is located just 0.6 miles - an 11 minute walk, or a 6 minute bike ride from the future Wadsworth Light Rail Station. Click here to learn more
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 (June 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. Click here to register
JUNE 9-15th, 2012 
AUGUST 20-26th, 2012
SEPTEMBER 21-23RD, 2012
Denver Union Station
Construction Cam
Golden Jeffco Station
Construction Cam
Wish You Could Find an Apartment/Condo near a Light Rail Station? As part of TBF's continuing efforts to bring TOD's to the West Corridor & elsewhere, this link from Walk Score.com will now be a permanent feature. Thanks. |
|
Residential Real Estate
* * * Please note: TBF receives no promotional fees for the placement of links to the various agents. |
* * * RTD West Rail Line video flyover (entire line from Union Station to the Golden Jeffco Station. West Corridor Vision |
|
Things You Need to Know Around the Region
|
 >What is the Better Block?
The "Better Block" project is a community revitalization effort that temporarily demonstrates how to improve a street with pedestrian and public infrastructure mixed with art, culture, pop-up businesses and street life. For one day, the project will fill vacant storefronts, create pedestrian seating areas, provide landscaping and street furniture, redraw the street, provide live music, and more. Better Block aims to create quick, inexpensive, high-impact changes that lead to permanent solutions for areas in Denver. >Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Bike to Work Day in the Denver Region Get set to win prizes for individual and business challenge categories. Pedal to Work instead of driving the old burdenmobile. Remember: A bicycle burn fat and saves you money. A Car burns money and makes you fat. Click here to learn more |
|
|
|
|
| The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of William A. Spriggs and no one else. |
|
|
|
|
|
