31 Days Until the
Tour de FasTracks
Bike Event.
The "W" Line Opens in: 254 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, Aug 15, 2012. |
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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Denver Union Station Tour This Saturday, August 18, 2012
Ken has had great turnouts this summer for his walking tours of the Union Station Project...over 100 people on the last three tours! If you haven't been on one of our tours yet, then you're missing out!
Here's what's in progress: one of the largest multi-modal transit hubs in the country, three major public spaces, the restoration of the historic station, and numerous private-sector mixed-use developments. It's all happening right here in Downtown Denver... right now!
Here's how it works: Head on down to the LoDo side of the historic station at 17th & Wynkoop at about 9:50 AM. Whoever shows up, that will be our tour group. We'll start promptly at 10:00 AM and conclude around 11:15 AM at the new light rail station by the Millennium Bridge. The suggested donation for the tour is $10 per person and all proceeds go to the non-profit Student Chapter of the American Planning Association at the University of Colorado Denver, but you're welcome to attend regardless of what you can donate.
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BizJournals.com/Denver Feds Reject Historic-Preservation Tax Incentives For Denver Union Station Remodel
By Dennis Huspeni, Aug 13, 2012
The National Park Service has rejected a development team's request for "historic preservation certification" for its plan to remodel Denver Union Station to include a 130-room hotel, but left the door open for reconsideration.
[Note to below: Sorry that I missed this important article - life got in the way - WS].
TheDenverPost.com
RTD Looks at FasTracks Shortlist, Including Northwest Metro Plan By Monte Whaley, Aug 08, 2012
A "to-do" list of transportation projects that should be finished within the next six years in the Denver metro area contains few frills or bonuses for communities hoping for expansion of commuter rail.
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National
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StreetsBlog.net
On Transport, Romney-Ryan Ticket Presents Extreme Contrast to Obama
By Angie Schmitt, Aug 13, 2012
What would a Mitt Romney presidency look like for transportation?READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities.com Advice for Passing a Massive Infrastructure Referendum By Scott Thomasson, Aug 14, 2012 And like Atlanta, Denver failed by a wide margin in its first referendum attempt-a 1999 initiative dubbed "Guide the Ride." It took five more years before voters agreed to fund a redesigned and rebranded "FasTracks" proposal. During that time, the FasTracks campaign retained a political consulting firm and proactively engaged the public and local businesses in the planning process. READ MORE... TheAtlanticCities.com
What Makes a Public Space Good for Democracy?
By Emily Badger, Aug 13, 2012
Political protest in the past few years has famously moved online. You can build a movement on Facebook, organize it with Foursquare and document it on Instagram. Many academics and media commentators fell in love with the idea of whole social revolutions powered by Twitter in the immediate wake of the Arab Spring.READ MORE...
TheCityFix.com
Public Packs Parklets Across US
By Andrew Bevington, Aug 10, 2012
As summer rages onward, celebrating the urban outdoors is now safer and more enjoyable via parklets: mini parks that extend outward from the sidewalk and into the sphere of pedestrian access. These reclamations of urban space have appeared in cities across the United States and are transforming the way people interact with streets formerly dominated by automobiles.READ MORE...TheAtalanticCities.com
Why Have So Many Cities and Towns Given Away So Much Money to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's?
By Scott Reeder, Aug 13, 2012
Both Bass Pro Shops and its archrival, Cabela's, sell hunting and fishing gear in cathedral-like stores featuring taxidermied wildlife, gigantic fresh-water aquarium exhibits and elaborate outdoor reproductions within the stores. The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for development dollars. But the firms' economic benefits are minimal and costs to taxpayers are great.
READ MORE...PlannersWeb.com
Making or Breaking a Towns Appeal to Bicyclists By Hannah Twaddell, Aug 13, 2012 Acclaimed transportation researchers Rich Kuzmyak and Jennifer Dill in the recent TR News feature "Walking and Bicycling in the United States:.. provide useful insights about key elements such as the following: Hills, Climate, Proximity, Connectivity & Design.
READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities.com
Choosing the Paths Less Traveled? There's an App for That
By Henry Grabar, Aug 13, 2012
In his final year at the Design Academy of Eindhoven, Tom Loois received a vague assignment: "Design your personal definition of silence." Loois, whose training is in product design, had no idea what to do. He found himself, as the deadline approached, wandering around the city searching for inspiration. Then he noticed a little alley near his route home from school.READ MORE...
TreeHugger.com
Biking is in Vogue (As in the Fashion Magazine, Vogue!) But You Don't Need Fashion to Bike
by A.K. Streeter, Aug 13, 2012
At TreeHugger, we love biking - women on wheels, families biking, and cool new bike innovation. It's all good...We give Vogue kudos for featuring affordable bikes along with the predictable over-the-top Chanel bike. Hopefully the takeaway message is this: absolutely take a look at how the arbiters of American style matched up pretty bikes with far-out new fashion. Then do your own thing. READ MORE...
StreetsBlog.org
The Bicycle Uprising, Part 2
By Charles Komanoff, Aug 14, 201
This is the second installment in a multi-part series looking back at the victory over the
Midtown bike ban, 25 years ago...This post looks at that activism in the context of the previous two decades of bike advocacy. Activists are planning a September 28 bike ride and forum to commemorate and celebrate the events of 1987...
[Note to below: Great set of architectural renderings below!]
The USA is in a Big City Train Station Boom
By Dan Malouff, Aug 14, 2012
If you're reading Denverurbanism.com, you probably already know that Denver Union Station is in the midst of an impressive major reconstruction. But did you know that many other American cities are also making big investments in their rail depots? The list, and the renderings, are pretty darn cool.
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities.com
What Makes Some Train Station Waits Better Than Others? By Eric Jaffe, Aug 14, 2012
Everyone handles waiting on lines with varying degrees of composure, or lack thereof, but there are some universal rules for what we hate about them. The M.I.T. professor Richard Larson, sometimes known as Dr. Queue, described three of them in his famous treatise on the subject from 1987. As Larson's "queueing theory" makes clear, it's not the length of the wait that bothers us so much - it's what might be called the personality of it.READ MORE...TheNewYorkTimes.com
For Bike Advocates, Delayed Gratification
By J. David Goodman, Aug 10, 2012
IT was supposed to be the summer of bike share. And for Transportation Alternatives, the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group, it was supposed to be a time to celebrate. A fund-raising party in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn - complete with a choreographed "Bike Ballet" - was set for Aug. 23, a date chosen early this summer and meant to occur long after the bikes had rolled out.READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities.com
How Twitter Is Like a City
By Megan Garber, Aug 13, 2012
FP: So, if your life moves onto the Internet, that's a big, open city. AW: It is. Twitter is my city, my favorite city. I can talk to anybody I want to. And anybody who wants to talk to me will get my response. They know me better than their relatives or my relatives. There's so much imagination there; a lot of times it's just like poetry. You just read one sentence, and you sense this kind of breeze or a kind of look. It's amazing. READ MORE...PikeResearch.com Building Integrated Photovoltaics
August 14, 2012 The building industry in the United States and in many other parts of the world has faced severe challenges, with continued low housing starts and new builds for some time. At the same time, the global solar industry has been subjected to severe reductions in financial subsidies in key markets that, until recently, were the savior of the industry.
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International (when available)
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Eindhoven's (Netherlands) Futuristic "Blob" Building Hides 1,700 Bikes in Its Belly By Anna Lisa Alperovich, Aug 10, 2012 Standing among Eindhoven's old city center is a futuristic building that stands out from its surrounding environment. Named "The Blob" it was designed by Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas and is located on the city's "18 Septemberplein" central square.
EdibleGeography.com
The Honey Trap
By Nicola, Aug 12, 2012
A beehive is the urban roof accessory du jour, even more popular than its eco-friendly cousins, solar panels or greenery. New York City's Waldorf Astoria hotel is only the most recent to join a trend that includes roofs from the Paris Opéra to Chicago's City Hall, as high-end chefs, locavores, and urban homesteaders alike enjoy the taste of honey made from trees and flowers in their own neighbourhood.
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities.com
The Case for Distinctive Taxi Cabs
By Robinson Meyer, Aug 13, 2012
Last week, Nissan and the City of London announced that the Nissan NV2000 will be the official taxi cab of London. The NV2000's already New York City's officially-sanctioned Taxi of Tomorrow, and it pretty much represents the latest in transportation technology.
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| Wednesday's Film (when available)
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 | Bobby Verenna of Campus Cycles, 7130 West Colfax Ave. Lakewood, Colorado, 80214 shows us how to assemble a bike from a box. (They come in boxes?) Dude! You gotta cut down on your coffee consumption!!..Enjoy.
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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 & 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.]
The Last Ride to the
Rockies Game For 2012
Sunday, Sept 2nd
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, September 02, 2012 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 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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>3415 West Colfax Ave TOD Assemblage
>4419 West Colfax Retail Location
>4917 West 11th Ave Assemblage [sold]
Sold, See Press Release
>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.
West Corridor Vision
RTD West Rail Line video flyover (entire line from Union Station to the Golden Jeffco Station.
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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>Flatirons, Carter Lake & Estes Park
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Please join 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, 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.
>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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