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The City of Lakewood Colorado shows off its latest commuter bike lanes. Scene is looking north on Pierce St. (6800 West) , at the intersection of Colfax Avenue, Nov 12th, 2012. The commuter lanes stretch north and south on Pierce St. from 10th Avenue to 20th Avenue and will be an important connector for students between the light rail line bike path on 13th Avenue (that goes east & west) and the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design at 1600 Pierce.
In addition to the work done on Oak Street, north and south, and the previously noted east - west 14th Avenue from Carr Street to Garrison Street, the City of Lakewood has gone a long way into upgrading itself in its quest to become a "gold" standard bike friendly city. A special thank you to traffic engineers, Dave Baskett, John Padon, Ben Walden and all the street crews for their excellent work this past summer. |
THE BACK FENCE NEWSLETTER
The Newsletter Featuring Livable Community Items That Readers Value and Highlights of Happenings Along the West Corridor on the RTD West Rail Line Serving Golden, Lakewood & Denver. |
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The "W" Line Opens in:
162 Days.
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Special Note:
There will be no
THE BACK FENCE
on Thursday,
November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving
Everyone!
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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 Weekly Edition, November 15, 2012. |
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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 Denver Union Station Tour This Saturday, November 17, 2012
By Ken Schroeppel, Nov 13 2012
The next walking tour of the Denver Union Station project will be this Saturday. Please join me to learn about and see all the incredible progress that's happening around Denver Union Station. This includes major transit infrastructure, several cool new public spaces, the restoration of the historic station, and numerous private-sector mixed-use developments. Click here for details where to meet and when. TheDenverPost
Northwest Corridor RTD Officials to be Quizzed About Commuter Options
By Monte Whaley, Nov 14 2012
Officials in the northwest corridor of the Regional Transportation District's FasTracks project will soon be quizzed about the best transportation options for their area.
TheDenverPost
Bike-Repair Rooms Popping up in New Apartment Complexes in Denver
John Mossman, Nov 15 2012 Apartment complexes are sprouting up all over the Denver metro area, many of them featuring a new amenity: bicycle-maintenance rooms.
UrbanLand.Uli
Colfax: The West's "Golden Road" Regaining Lost Luster
By Deana Swetlik, Oct 31 2012 Colfax Avenue in Denver has evolved from a Native American trading route, a key passage to the rivers and mines of the 1850s gold rush...And Colfax Avenue is evolving still. The 26-mile-plus (42 km) corridor connects the plains to the mountains. Often touted as America's longest continuous street-connecting Aurora, Denver, Lakewood, and points beyond-Colfax once again is a conduit for new growth and development. |
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National
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Moving the Dial on the Gas Tax By Fawn Johnson, Nov 12 2012
A federal gas tax increase has been off the table for the last several years because it has been considered politically untenable to ask for more money from taxpayers during a recession. This unquestioned tenet has persisted despite the fact that the gas tax has stayed at the same level, 18.4 cents per gallon, since 1993.
PerSquareMile
How Population Density Affected the 2012 Presidential Election By Tim De Chant, Nov 08 2012
There are lots of reasons why the 2012 presidential election broke the way it did, but one that's not often reported-but particularly germane to Per Square Mile-is the divide between cities and the country.
READ MORE...HuffingtonPost Paul Ryan: Obama Win Given By 'Urban' Areas By Luke Johson, Nov 13, 2012
Former GOP vice-presidential nominee and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is blaming President Barack Obama's win on his turnout in cities. READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities
We Shouldn't Be Surprised That Most Transit Referendums Won
By Eric Jaffe, Nov 13, 2012
Last week a number of cities across the country took it upon themselves to improve their transit networks. Of the 20 transit referendums on November ballots tracked by the Center for Transportation Excellence, 14 are considered wins for transit, for about a 70 percent success rate.
READ MORE...TheReporterOnline
Aging Drivers Present New Transportation Challenge
By Joan Lowy, Nov 10 2012
Baby boomers started driving at a young age and became more mobile than any generation before or since. They practically invented the two-car family and escalated traffic congestion when women began commuting to work. Now, 8,000 of them are turning 65 every day, and those retirements could once again reshape the nation's transportation.READ MORE...GristDotOrg
U.S. Poised for Energy Independence by 2035 - and Climate Poised for Collapse
By Susie Cagle, Nov 13 2012
The U.S. will be energy independent by 2035! And it'll only cost us a few measly degrees Fahrenheit.READ MORE...GristDotOrg
How You Can Help Clean Energy Eat Big Oil's Lunch
By Asher Miller, Nov 14 2012
Bill McKibben and the folks at 350.org have decided to target the pernicious financial influence of the fossil fuel industry and its front groups. On the day following the election, they kicked off a 21-city "Do the Math" tour " to "mount an unprecedented campaign to cut off the industry's financial and political support by divesting our schools, churches and government from fossil fuels."READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities
For Pedestrians, Cities Have Become the Wilderness By Chris Turner, Nov 14 2012
"Personal travel appears to be much more under the control of basic instincts than of economic drives."
TheWashingtonPost
Are Walkable Neighborhoods the Future?
By Jonathan O'Connell, Nov 11 2012 Christopher B. Leinberger has been pushing the smart growth ethos nearly his entire professional life. As a private sector developer, a consultant and now a business school professor and smart growth advocate, Leinberger argues that building walkable places is the most efficient, environmentally friendly, socially equitable and valuable way of developing real estate. READ MORE...
StreetsBlog
Enticing Car Lite Househoulds to Take the Next Step
By Angie Schmitt, Nov 12 2012
The city of Portland is really blazing trails with parking-free housing near transit corridors. As we reported before, many Portlanders have seized on the opportunity for more affordable housing and chosen to live in developments without any car parking.READ MORE...GristDotOrg
Population Growth and the Road to Total Societal Meltdown
By Michael C. Osborne, Nov 12 2012 A new documentary follows overpopulation experiments with rats to offer insight into our own dangerously crowded world. The bad news: Crowded rats got fat and happy -- and then they all died.READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities
How Nonprofits Can End Up Becoming a Drain on City Budgets
By Michael A. Pagano, Nov 12 2012
Nonprofits in America range from small community charities to large national and international organizations and universities, hospitals, art museums, religious institutions and more. One thing they all have in common, however, is that they do not pay property taxes on the real estate and the buildings they own.
READ MORE...Blog.WalkScore
Walk Shop Locally This Holiday Season By Jocelyn Milici Ceder
Vow to support small and locally owned businesses this holiday season. Walk to local stores or shopping hubs in your community. Take public transit, carpool, bike or walk-stay healthy while supporting local businesses.READ MORE...Wired
Government Shouldn't Regulate the Sharing Economy
By Arun Sundararajan, Oct 22 2012
The state of Minnesota briefly banned free online education. That's right: Last week, an entire state told its residents they couldn't take free online courses. Well, to be more precise: It prohibited degree-granting universities from offering classes through online community learning sites such as Coursera without first obtaining permission from the state regulatory body (and paying a registration fee, naturally).
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International (when available)
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TheAtlanticCities
Why Are Londoners Building Slums in Their Backyards? By Feargus O'Sullivan, Nov 12 2012
If these conditions sound Dickensian, that's because they are.
READ MORE...
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Weekly Film (when available)
| YouTube
How do You Lube a Bicycle Chain? [Note: with rain, snow and grim about ready to become part of your daily bicycle commute this fall and winter season, it would be beneficial to know how to treat your bicycle gears to a lube bath once a week. Problem with the video below? They forgot to tell you to put your bike on a bike stand first].
 | | How do you lube a bicycle chain? |
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Things you need to know along the West Corridor
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>Lakewood, Saturday, Nov 17 2012 9am-10:30am
40 West Arts District, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood Co 80214
Ward 1 Lakewood City Councilors, Karen Kellen & Ramey Johnson will hold their monthly outreach meeting with residents and considerate guests. The future West Rail Line traverses the northern section of Ward.
[Note to below: I'm enclosing the full text of one section from the recent Friday Report from the City of Lakewood Colorado because it involves an important built environment connectivity change along the West Corridor adjacent to the West Rail Line.]
Preparing for a roundabout
The City received funding, including a $1 million grant from the state, to build a roundabout at the intersection of Lamar Street and West 14th Avenue and to add a section of sidewalk and bicycle lanes. The work will improve safety at the intersection and provide better access for pedestrians and bicyclists to the upcoming Lamar Station for the West Rail Line. This intersection has an unusually high rate of accidents, and they are some of the most dangerous kind, which are collisions at a right angle. The roundabout will eliminate these kinds of accidents and slow vehicles in the intersection. Properly designing the improvements to match the surrounding area will require collecting land survey information along 14th for 400 feet east and west of Lamar and along Lamar for 400 feet north of 14th to south of West 13th Avenue. The City needs residents' help by allowing surveyors to collect information on their property. Residents with concerns can contact Ken Nyhoff, Lakewood's engineer for the project, at (303) 987-7939/kennyh@lakewood.org
Denver Union 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 [sold]
Sold, See Press Release
>10th Avenue Light Rail Assemblage
>1010 Sheridan Blvd TOD Site
>5310 West 10th Ave TOD opportunity
>13th Ave & Newland, Ideal TOD property
>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
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| Real Estate Agents who "get" Transit Oriented Development and the concept of walkability.
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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| The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of William A. Spriggs and no one else. |
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