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THE BACK FENCE NEWSLETTER
Will Cease Publication on April 25, 2013.
There Are 7 Editions Left. |
THE BACK FENCE NEWSLETTER
The Newsletter Featuring Livable Community Items That Readers Value and Highlights of Happenings Along the West Corridor on the RTD W Rail Line Serving Golden, Lakewood & Denver, Colorado. |
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The "W" Line Opens in:
50 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 the Weekly Edition, March 07, 2013. |
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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TheDenverPost
5-Year Contract Gives RTD Workers Bonuses, and Wage and Benefit Hikes
By Monte Whaley, Mar 06 2013
Regional Transportation District and the 2,300-member Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001 have agreed on a five-year contract that gives workers annual bonuses and pay and health-plan contribution increases, while preserving retirement plans.
TheDenverPost Denver Mayor Hancock Seeks $70 Million for New Downtown Development By Mark Jaffe, Mar 05 2013
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Tuesday proposed extending urban renewal financing mechanisms to raise up to $70 million for downtown projects, including a school, a park and an upgrade of the 16th Street Mall.
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National
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GristDotOrg
Meet Obama's Energy Secretary Pick: Ernest Moniz By Grist Staff
Today President Obama nominated Ernest Moniz to head the Department of Energy, as widely expected. If confirmed, he'll replace outgoing Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Moniz, like Chu, is a super-brainy physicist.
TheAtlanticCities
Why Obama's New Pick for the EPA Will Be Good for Cities By Emily Badger, Mar 05 2013
President Obama yesterday nominated Gina McCarthy to be the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency as Lisa Jackson prepares to step down. Until now, McCarthy has lead the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation... READ MORE...
TheEconomist
A River Runs Through it: a Natural Experiment in Infrastructure
Print edition, Mar 02 2013
In 1969 Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon; the Boeing 747 took its maiden flight and the states of Indiana and Kentucky set their sights on building a new crossing over the Ohio river. Planners wanted a better connection between southern Indiana and the city of Louisville in Kentucky. Yet federal and state governments are notoriously slow to make such investments so it is not surprising that it has taken America four decades to reach a point where construction is imminent.
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities
3 Charts That Explain Why You Spend So Much on Transportation
By Eric Jaffe, Mar 04 2013
It's no secret that conventional city planning emphasizes the automobile. The focus placed on metrics like car level-of-service lead to decisions that remove any obstacles to automotive speed and mobility - even a crosswalk can slow down traffic too much for a planner's liking. The upshot of this approach, of course, can be seen on any of America's congested city roads.
READ MORE...
SwitchBoard.nrdc
Goosing the Gas Tax
By Rob Perk, Mar 05 2013
California has done it. Wyoming just did it. New Hampshire is poised to do it too. And Minnesota is looking to do it again. Those states realize that declining revenue for transportation infrastructure requires bold legislative action to raise their state motor fuel tax.READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities
How Free Transit Works in the United States Eric Jaffe, Mar 06 2013
Earlier this year the Estonian capital of Tallinn became the largest city in the world - with a population exceeded 400,000 - to make its transit system free. Tallinn marks the latest in a growing trend toward fare-free transit on the Continent. The city is joining others to form the Free Public Transport European Network in an effort to spread the idea even farther.
TheAtlanticCities
A Subway Map for Pedestrians By Emily Badger, Mar 04 2013
The Polis Blog points us to the smart map above from the Spanish city of Pontevedra. It looks like a transit map, with those universally recognizable black nodes of subway stops and the colorful connecting lines associated in most cities with rail corridors. These routes, however, are intended for pedestrians, and they come complete with walking distances and travel times between just about anywhere in Pontevedra a pedestrian might want to travel. READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities
The Great Senior Sell-Off Could Cause the Next Housing Crisis
Emily Badger, Mar 5 2013
Demographers often describe the baby boom generation as if it were an indigestible mammal - maybe a pig, or a rabbit, or a really big rat - slowly moving through the python that is America's population. As this generation has aged, the baby boom bulge has remade society in its image, first as a massive class of toddlers, later as rabble-rousers in the 1960s, then as solidly middle-class heads of household and, soon, as the largest class of retirees the country has ever seen. READ MORE...BaconsRebellion
Bicycles and Economic Development By James A. Bacon, Mar 01 2013
Richmond is gaining traction as a bicycle-friendly region but it is a slow and arduous process. Public and private investment in biking infrastructure remain limited, almost non-existent outside the City of Richmond. It is commonly said among cycling enthusiasts that if you build the biking amenities, the cyclists will come. The challenge is persuading government, business and civic decision makers to put money into bicycle amenities at a time when resources are scarce and public needs are many. READ MORE.... TheAtlanticCities
Share Everything: Why the Way We Consume Has Changed Forever Emily Badger, Mar 04 2013
The "equipment library" at Union Kitchen in Northeast Washington, D.C., contains some of the more mundane artifacts of the modern "sharing economy": an oversized whisk, a set of spatulas, ladles, chopping knives, sheet pans and tongs. "Collaborative consumption," as it's also known, is more often associated with the big-ticket items that have given the concept such bemusing cachet. READ MORE...TheAtlanticCities
The Decline of Communities Could Explain America's Health Problems By Lindsay Abramsm, Mar 06 2013
Suburbanites, as compared to urban and rural dwellers, are most certain of their access to community resources. They also care least about their neighbors. As such, their safe, affordable housing in unpolluted environments, with nearby health centers and plentiful recreation space, are good because they benefit them individually; that their fellow suburbanites benefit as well is almost incidental. READ MORE...
GristDotOrg
Top Four Reasons the U.S. Still Doesn't Have a Single Offshore Wind Turbine
By Tim McDonnell, Mar 02 2013
Despite massive growth of the offshore wind industry in Europe, a blossoming array of land-based wind turbines stateside, and plenty of wind to spare, the U.S. has yet to sink even one turbine in the ocean. Not exactly the kind of leadership on renewables President Obama called for in his recent State of the Union address.
READ MORE...
TheAtlanticCities
Why Are There No Big Cities with Municipal Broadband Networks?
By Emily Badger, Mar 04 2013
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance recently compiled this map of all the communities in the country that control their own access to the Internet. At best count, there are about 340 of them with publicly owned fiber-optic or cable networks, serving either all or parts of town. In these places, those residents and businesses served don't have to spar with telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast. They get their Internet instead - like many communities do their electric utility - straight from the city.READ MORE...
UrbanTimes
Bicycle Revolution or Urban Fad?
By Tom Payne
The rise of the car in the 50s and 60s completely transformed cities - first across the USA, and then the world. Once centred around walkable shopping districts and train lines, cities began to spread into vast suburbs and homogenous landscapes. Cars didn't only change our cities, but they also changed our way of thinking. The car became a symbol of freedom, a symbol of maturity and a form of identity in the western world.
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International (When available)
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Standard.co.uk
Smart cities: What Urban Life Will be Like in 2050 Jasmine Gardner, Mar 04 2013
If you work for a young web company, you probably think your office is pretty cool. Maybe it has a pool table or even a roof terrace. Pah! Give it 37 years and, according to engineering company Arup, our office blocks will contain working farms, produce their own energy, be linked together by suspended green walkways and sections of each floor will be removable, upgradable and replaceable.
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Weekly Film (If available)
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YouTube
RTD FasTracks Eagle P3 Construction Progress Spring 2013 This new video shows you just how much progress is being made on the new line from Denver Union Station to Denver International Airport.
ABCNewsDotCom
Japan's Micro Apartment Boom Limited space and tight budgets have caused a boom in tiny, cramped living.
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Things you need to know along the West Corridor
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>Lakewood, Wednesday, March 13 2013, 7:30am to 8:30am
City of Lakewood, Colorado City Council members Cindy Baroway and Scott Koop for Ward 2, will meet with residents and considerate guests for their monthly outreach meeting. The future light rail line runs through the northwestern section of their ward. 40 West Arts District Office, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood Co. 80214
GRAND RE-OPENING GALA FUNDRAISER
Join us on March 15, 2013 for our gala fundraising event for the RE-OPENING of The Edge Theater
7:00pm Catered Reception and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
8:30pm The Regional Premier of David Mamet's Race
10:00pm After Party
DenverInfill's Union Station Walking Tours to Resume March 16 2013
After leading 17 walking tours of the Denver Union Station project in 2012, I decided to take a break over the past few months. However, I'm now ready to get our 2013 tours underway. There is a LOT going on at Denver Union Station, so 2013 should be a fun year and the last full year of construction before the project opens in 2014! Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 16 at 10:00 AM for our first tour of the new year. A few days before then, I'll post an official tour notice here on the blog.
As always, check the DenverInfill blog on Monday or Tuesday of the week in question for a post confirming the next tour date and time. Again this year, the tours are free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted at the end of the tour, with all proceeds going to the non-profit Student Chapter of the American Planning Association at the University of Colorado Denver.
>Lakewood, Saturday, March 16 2013, 9:00am to 10:15am
City of Lakewood, Colorado City Council members Ramey Johnson and Karen Kellen for Ward 1, will meet with residents and considerate guests for their monthly outreach meeting. The future light rail line traverses the northern section of their ward. The Council Members will host Colorado Transportation Commissioner Ed Peterson. 40 West Arts District Office, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood Co. 80214
>Lakewood, Tuesday, March 19 2013 6:00pm to 8pm
Cops, Council, and Community
The Lakewood Colorado Police will co-host a Cops, Council, and Community outreach discussion and talk. All are invited. Subject for this month? Traffic Engineering & Lakewood Police Department Traffic Team.
Clements Community Center, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood Co. 80214,
 | RTD's FasTracks Freddy is ready to Par-Tee for the W Rail Line's
Opening Day
Click on his logo to learn more!!!
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[Note to below: I'm enclosing the full text of one section from a Friday Report from the City of Lakewood 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.orgAdded Information. See the short video below
How to use a roundabout Michagan DOT Aug 10 2011  | |
How to use a roundabout
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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 St. Complex - Sold
>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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Residential Real Estate Agents
who get the "big picture" of
transit-oriented living of
walkable, sustainable
neighborhoods.
JIM SMITH REALTOR, GOLDEN
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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National Adaptation Forum
Action Today for a Better Tomorrow
Denver Marriott City Center, Denver Colorado, April 2-4 2013
You are invited to be a part of the Inaugural National Adaptation Forum: Action today for a better tomorrow. Please join us as we kick-off the inaugural convening of adaptation practitioners and experts from around the country focused on moving from adaptation planning to adaptation action.
What is the National Adaptation Forum?
The National Adaptation Forum is a national event on climate change adaptation at which the latest scientific knowledge about climate adaptation and state-of-the-art practices will be presented. It combines professional development training, individual presentation, peer networking, and working group innovation opportunities, in order to create the most productive event possible in three days!
Click Here to Learn More & Register
Colorado Foundation for Water Education - 2013 Tours!
CFWE hosts tours of Colorado's agriculture, river restoration and much more! Save the date for this upcoming tour - registration will be available two months before tour date. To be placed on a priority list, send your interest to Kristin Maharg at kristin@yourwatercolorado.org to be notified as soon as registration becomes available.
May 2 and 16: Explore how waterways are managed, restored and protected on an Urban Waters Bike Tour in Denver.
For more information: Click Here
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| The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of William A. Spriggs and no one else. |
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