The "W" Line Opens
in
257 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 Sunday Edition, Aug 12, 2012. |
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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[Note: Once again, the heart of the entire Denver FasTracks system is Denver Union Station. If you have not seen the amazing transformation that is taking place, you need to take a tour - the next one is scheduled for August 18, 2012].
Denver Union Station Update #103 By Ryan Dravitz, Aug 10, 2012 Back on July 21st, Ken Schroeppel had his largest turnout yet at a Union Station tour (68 people!). What was special about this particular tour was Dana Crawford, Denver's most distinguished historic preservationist, who spoke and gave some great insight on the Union Station hotel project.
READ MORE...
TheDenverPost.com
RTD Officials Face Legislative Grilling Over Commuter Rail Delay
By Monte Whaley, Aug 09, 2012
Regional Transportation District officials face grilling Friday from state lawmakers over delays in the promised construction of commuter rail in the northwest metro area.
READ MORE...
TheDenverPost.com/Editorial
Trying Not to Get Side-Tracked
By Curtis Hubbard, Aug 12, 2012
If current projections hold, RTD will finish construction of a train station in Longmont in 2015 and the first train will arrive a mere 29 years later.
East Rail Line Progress - Quebec Bridge Construction
By Ryan Mulligan, Aug 10, 2012 If you've been along Quebec Street over the last month or two, you've surely noticed construction in the underpass beneath Smith Road and the freight rail tracks. All that work is for construction of the Quebec Street Bridge for the East Rail Line heading out to DIA. READ MORE... BizJournals.com/Denver
Colorado Apartment Rents Hit Record High
By Dennis Huspeni, Aug 09, 2012
Average statewide apartment rents rose to an all-time high in the second quarter,...Meanwhile, vacancy rates statewide fell to an average of 4.9 percent in the six metro areas tracked by the report. That rate is the lowest statewide average since 2001, when a 4.3 percent rate was logged in the first quarter. Vacancy rates below 5 percent are considered a tight market.
READ MORE...BizJournals.com/Denver
Metro State University Opens on Campus Hotel
By Ed Sealover, Aug 08, 2012
The $12 million, 150-room SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown at Metro State is one of just 10 teaching hotels on U.S. campuses. It will be run primarily by students in MSU Denver's hospitality, tourism and events department. |
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National
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TheAtlanticCities.com
Young People Aren't Buying Cars Because They're Buying Smart Phones Instead
By Jordan Weissmann, Aug 08, 2012
Youth culture was once car culture. Teens cruised their Thunderbirds to the local drive-in, Springsteen fantasized about racing down Thunder Road, and Ferris Bueller staged a jailbreak from the 'burbs in a red Ferrari. Cars were Friday night. Cars were Hollywood.
DC.StreetsBlog.org
The Strain of Job Sprawl on Two-Income Households
By Tanya Snyder, Aug 09, 2012
In the 1950s, 57 percent of residents and 70 percent of jobs were located in central cities; in 1990, they were about 37 and 45.READ MORE...MotherNatureNetwork.com
Secrets of the Congestion Lobby
By Jim Motavalli, Aug 09, 2012
The highway lobby tells Congress what to do, but that doesn't stop critics from accusing environmentalists, urban planners and rail advocates of ruining the country and hating the all-American automobile.
Blogs.Planning.org
Sustainable Placemaking for Everyone
By Bill Sadler, Aug 08, 2012
Sustainable placemaking, whether it be walkable neighborhoods or transit-oriented development (TOD), has developed somewhat of a "cool" factor in recent years.READ MORE...
Street-Sense.org
Every Day Squares
By Joe Nickol, Aug 09, 2012
Memorable and livable neighborhoods, towns, and cities are made so by a specific type of place that has the unique ability to spark and continuously energize the district that grows around it. They are the necessary vernacular counterbalance to large, formal public spaces and are home to our daily and, at times, serendipitous lives. They are not our civic squares but rather our Everyday Squares.READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities.com
A Greener, Safer Empty Lot
By Nate Berg, Aug 09, 2012
Vacant lots in neighborhoods can mean trouble. Often overgrown and kind of creepy, these places can be magnets for crime, with tall grasses and bushes that can conceal criminal activity or serve as hiding places for weapons. They may even be good places to stash a body; Oh My!
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities.com
The Sad Evolution of the Strip Mall
By Sarah Goodyear, Aug 09, 2012
A group of schoolchildren, about six or seven years old, stand in front of a display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, listening to a docent explaining what they're looking at. This was an old-fashioned strip mall, he told them, recreated just as it would have been in the 1920s or '30s, with wax figures standing in for the merchants and shoppers who would have been there.
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International (when available)
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StreetsBlog.net
Greeks Turn to Bikes to Weather Economic Storm
By Brad Aaron, Aug 09, 2012
Thousands of Greeks are turning to bikes to help weather the crisis, and while unemployment is at 20 percent, the bike business is booming:
RailWay-Technology.com
The World's Busiest Train Stations
August 09, 2012 As transport infrastructure develops and the world becomes better connected, major train stations around the world are reaching their full capacity.
READ MORE...
ThisBigCity.net
Potholes & Politics: How Citizens are Using Paint to Solve Urban Problems. August 07, 2012 Being a road engineer in Russia must be a nightmare. The combination of harsh climate, mud and marshlands, with annual frost and thaw, makes the upkeep of many roads next to an impossible task. In spring, some roads simply float off.
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| Sunday's Film (when available)
| | StreetFilms.org
Portland Adds Nation's First Bike Counter to Hawthorne Bridge
By Clarence Eckerson, Jr. Aug 09, 2012
Good news for mathematicians who love watching throngs of cyclists stream by: Portland, Oregon just became the first U.S. city to install a bicycle counter!
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Things you need to know along the West Corridor
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>Lakewood, Saturday, August 18th, 9am to 10:45am
Karen Kellen and Ramey Johnson, City Council representatives for Ward 1, will meet with residents and considerate guests at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, at the 40 West Arts District Office, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80214. The future light rail line traverses the northern section of their Ward.
>Lakewood, Thursday, Sept 13, 2012 7pm. Mary Harris Auditorium on the Campus of the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design. 1600 Pierce Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80214. Music! Singing! Dancing! Comedy! Oh My! A variety show produced by the 40 West Arts District showcasing the performing arts with an array of upbeat, high-energy, family-friendly acts. The inaugural show, emceed by the inimitable "Naughty Pierre" from Lannie's Clocktower, is set for September 13 at the Mary Harris Auditorium - Click here to learn more and purchase tickets.
[Note: in just 9 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
The Last Bike to the Game will be held Sunday, September 02, 2012
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, Sept 02, for the game against the SD Padres. 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 will be ending soon! Only two remaining!, The tours will be from 9am to 11am on the 3rd Friday of the month (August & September). 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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Residential Real Estate Agents
Who Get the "Big Picture" of Transit Oriented Living
| Jim Smith
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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Fractivists Unite! Please join the coalition and share with your networks.
WE THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO want clean, healthy, renewable energy, not another dirty fossil fuel that's harmful to our health, environment, communities, property values, long-term economic prosperity, and our children's future.
Statewide Convergence to Stop the Frack Attack
August 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Colorado Convention Center in Denver
>Flatirons, Carter Lake & Estes Park
Saturday, August 18, 2012 Please join in the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association's bike event on August 18th. The 2012 Tour de Cure has it all, from the spectacular Flatirons to Carter Lake and Estes Park. There are rides for any type of rider, from avid cyclists to families. 20k-12.5 miles, 50k-31 miles , 100k-62miles or a Century 100miles. Join team Schwab: Contact: wendy@schwabcycles.com
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.
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 advocate for the "final mile" and call for more and safer cycle access from the future light rail stations. We also consider the bicycle as not only 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.
>Denver, Thursday, November 8th, 2012, 7:00am to 10:30am
The Transit Alliance Presents the Transit Event of 2012
Union Station:
Community Trans-Formation
Celebrating the Vision of FasTracks Coming to Life
The Ritz Carlton Denver, $75 - Individual, $700 - Table
Stay tuned for reservation details
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