The "W" Line Opens in
282 Days.
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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 Wednesday Edition, July 18, 2012. |
Local Businesses Take Note!!!
Here's your chance to become a sponsor of
RTD' West Rail Line's
Tour de FasTracks Bike Event.
Click on the logo to learn more.
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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ClimateDesk/YouTube
Climate Desk, Jul 06, 2012
Amid the wreckage of his home, a Colorado fire victim warns future generations of climate change
TheDenverPost.com
RTD's I-225 Plan Draws Key Supporters By Monte Whaley, Jul 18, 2012
A bid by a construction firm to build a major segment of the FasTrack's light rail line in Aurora drew some key backers Tuesday night - but also pleas that other metro-area projects not be forgotten.
TheDenverPost.com
Public gets Chance to Comment on Front Range High-Speed-Rail Study By Monte Whaley, Jul 16, 2012
A high speed rail system that would connect Pueblo to Fort Collins will be discussed this week as part of a $2.5 million study of the feasibility of the far-flung project.
[Below is a photo slideshow on one of the oldest tourist attractions located on West Colfax Avenue]
BizJournals.com
Literally hundreds of Mexican restaurants dot the Denver landscape but there's only one Casa Bonita.
By Kathleen Lavine, Jul 13, 2012
With its pink walls, 85-foot bell tower and gold dome, Casa Bonita looms large over an otherwise nondescript strip mall along West Colfax Avenue. The interior of the 52,000-square-foot restaurant is meant to evoke a Mexican village, albeit one that has cliff divers, staged gunfights and a puppet show.
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National
| Slate.com
Old Infrastructure is Hard Infrastructure By Matthew Yglesias, Jul 12, 2012
So the question is, what's a mature superpower to do? It's all well and good for China to go from poor to middle income and build a bunch of new infrastructure. But America's infrastructure isn't old out of perversity, it's old because we genuinely built this stuff a long time ago.
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities.com
The Case for Public Transportation, in Infographic Form
By Kaid Benfield, Jul 17, 2012
This would make a great poster. Last week the Sustainable Cities Collective posted a terrific, poster-sized graphic highlighting the benefits of public transportation to individuals and to society
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities.com
Why We Should Stop Talking About 'Bus Stigma' By Jarrett Walker, Jul 17m 2012
Years ago, when I was presenting my firm's bus network redesign plan to the board of a suburban transit agency, a board member from an affluent suburb leaned slowly forward, cleared his throat, and asked me a simple question: "So, Mr. Walker. If we adopt this plan of yours, does that mean I'm going to leave my BMW in the driveway?"TheAtlanticCities.com
What Might Gas Stations Look When Hardly Anyone Uses Gas
The car of the future will require the city of the future to change dramatically, too. We can't simply swap out minivans for self-driving solar pods, pick-ups for electric three-wheeled rockets. America has spent decades building a vast infrastructure for the internal-combustion car, and we'll have to change all of that, too
READ MORE...HelmOfThePublicRealm.com
Mayberry: Is Small Town America a Myth?
By Erin Chantry, Jul 14, 2012 In the wake of Andy Griffith's death I came across the BBC article,Is the ideal of small-town America a myth? Author, Rob Dreher believes that Mayberry has always been a myth and therefore it was impossible for it to have been lost.
TheAtlanticCities.com
How Urban Parks Enhance Your Brain
By Eric Jaffe, Jul 16, 2012
A couple weeks ago the folks at
Cracked told readers that "living in a city make you dumber." There are a number of flaws here - beyond the obvious one of getting your science news from
Cracked - but the research at the center of the claim has some relevance to cities worth considering nonetheless. What it tells us is not so much a story about the hazards of city living as it is about the benefits of city parks.
TheAtlanticCities.com
How the New iPhone Will Expose Cities Lagging Open Data
By Emily Badger, Jul 17, 2012As you probably know by now, Apple is planning to ditch Google Maps when it releases the newest version of the iPhone later this year (a pandemonious event that could come as soon as next month, according to the latest rumors).
TheGazette.com
Bicycle Insurance is New, But do You Need it?
By Cliff Jette, Jul 14, 2012
Specialized insurance for bicyclists is an option arriving on the insurance market, but cyclists may want to review their existing coverage to see if they need it, experts said.
StreetsBlog.net
Skinny Storefronts, a Must for Walkability
By Angie Schmitt, Jul 16, 2012
Wide sidewalks, accessible transit, even beautiful landscaping, benches, and public art - all help make cities walkable. Another major factor: pedestrian-scaled destinations. Seattle Transit Blog's. Matt Gangemi wonders how to achieve the kind of retail development that promotes walkability:
The AtlanticCities.com
The Geography of Tolerance (Boulder #9, Greeley #12)
By Richard Florida, Jul 16, 2012
The map above shows how metros across the U.S. score on the Tolerance Index...The chart below shows the top 20 metros... it ranks U.S. metros according to three key variables-the share of immigrants or foreign-born residents, the Gay Index (the concentration of gays and lesbians), and the Integration Index, which tracks the level of segregation between ethnic and racial groups.
READ MORE...Grist.org Green Party's Presidential Candidate Says it's Time to 'Take Our Country Back' Boston physician Jill Stein...is running on a platform centered on her Green New Deal, an ambitious plan that would guarantee full employment of all Americans at a living wage, develop a green economy based on renewable energy sources, tax banker bonuses at a 90-percent rate, and legalize marijuana. |
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International (when available)
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EvironmentalTransportationAssoc.co.uk
Olympic Bicycle Ban Affects 30 Miles of London Roads July 16, 2012
The ban on cyclists using Olympic Games Lanes applies to over 29 miles of the city's busiest roads.
READ MORE...TreeHugger.com
Cars Kill, Make Us Fat Says British Report
By A. K. Streeter, Jul 16, 2012
The British Medical Association has updated a 1997 report on healthy transport, and the news is not exactly good.READ MORE... ThePolisBlog.org
Summer in the City July 16, 2012
In 1927, the Times reported that more than 3 thousand people had spent the night sleeping on the sand at Coney Island in order to escape the stifling heat of their tenements. Patrolmen had been assigned to stand guard over the sleepers. Many more spent their nights in Central Park while others piled up on their fire escapes to survive the sweltering heat of New York City in July. Over the years, the image of children cooling off in the spray of a fire hydrant has become synonymous with summer in the city.
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| Wednesday's Film (when available)
| TheAtlanticCities.com
How the American Military Is Fighting Climate Change By Kaid Fenfield, Jul 06, 2012
A Tampa TV station has produced a feature highlighting environmental work of the U.S. military - along with important strategic reasons for pursuing renewable energy, installing efficiency measures, and fighting global warming.
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Things you need to know along the West Corridor
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>Denver Union Station Historic Summer Tour, July 26, 2012 at 4:30pm - 5:30pm
The Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) will hold its final historic tour of the summer 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 exciting 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]
>Denver, Thursday, July 19th, 2012 9:30am to 11am Federal Boulevard Workshop
Rude Recreation Center, 2855 West Holden Pl. Denver Co. 80204
The City & County of Denver invites residents and considerate guests to a workshop to discuss transportation, walkability, land use, urban design, and economic development as these relate to Federal Blvd from 6th Avenue to 20th Avenue. There will be a walking tour of Federal Blvd between 6th Ave and Colfax Ave. Coffee and donuts will be served.
[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 can commute to downtown, check out the facilities in place this year.] 
2012 schedule of Ride to the Rockies Games 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, Aug 05, for the game against the SF Giants. 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. The very popular RTD West Corridor bus tours are back but ending soon!! All tours will be from 9am to 11am on the 3rd Friday of the month (Aug & 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
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. |
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Commercial Real Estate Assemblages, Land or Buildings Available on The West Corridor
Please note: TBF does not
own or sell any real property.
Prices displayed may not be correct.
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>4917 West 11th Ave Assemblage
>10th Avenue Light Rail Assemblage
>1010 Sheridan Blvd TOD Site
>13th Avenue & Newland St., Light Rail Vacant Land
>5830 West Colfax Ave
>1025 Ammons Complex
>6990 West Colfax Ave Pad Site
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. Learn more about this vision below from the Center for Transit-Oriented Development.
RTD West Rail Line video flyover (entire line from Union Station to the Golden Jeffco Station.
West Corridor Vision
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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THE TRANSIT ALLIANCE IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE FALL 2012 AND SPRING 2013 ACADEMIES! Please note that the Academy application process is competitive as they only have 50 slots available and usually have 100 applicants or more. Applications must be submitted by 5 PM on August 24th to be considered for the Fall 2012 Academy. The Fall Academy (2012-02) will begin September 12 and end on October 24, 2012.  Tour de FasTracks - West Rail Ride Bike Event Saturday, Sept 15, 2012 Calling all Cyclists in Golden, Lakewood, west Denver, and the Denver Region. The RTD FasTracks West Rail Line which will serve our West Corridor will host a bike event on Saturday, September 15, 2012 to show off its magnificent bike path that parallels most of the future "W" line. The Back Fence, in the coming months, always a huge supporter of alternatives to the single occupier automobile, will strongly advocate for the "final mile" and call for more and safer cycle access from the light rail stations. We also consider the bicycle as not just a recreational vehicle, but a tool of economic empowerment that helps our citizens stay healthy and keeps more expendable cash in their pockets in which to enhance our local businesses; and I won't bore you with lectures on sustainability, oil dependence and air quality. Although the Tour de FasTracks event is billed as a "leisurely ride" that will start at the future Oak Street Station parking area and end at the Decatur Federal Station, there also will be a stage for the intermediate and advanced cyclists that will start at the Jefferson County Government Center-Golden Station. Details will be forthcoming, but you can Click here to view the current RTD bike path.
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