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Denver’s West Line Grand Opening: Celebrating Regionalism

Posted by  on April 30, 2013

For my last contribution to our DenverUrbanism series celebrating the grand opening of Denver’s new West Line transit corridor, I’m going to stick close to home and feature some of the activity surrounding Denver Union Station during the big opening weekend. Ryan Mulligan will wrap things up tomorrow with the eleventh and final post in our West Line opening commemorative series.

 

During the fare-free Saturday that featured spectacular weather even by Colorado standards, over 30,000 people rode the “W” somewhere along its 12-mile route, according to RTD. My fellow DenverUrbanism blogger Derek and I ventured west from Union Station on Saturday morning out to Jefferson County and, after a lunch trip to Downtown Golden via the City of Golden’s new free shuttle, we headed back to Union Station on Saturday afternoon. What struck me was the interaction between residents of the West corridor communities, solely because of the new transit line.

 

 

It was easy to see that there were a lot of people experiencing beautiful and vibrant Downtown Golden as visitors from elsewhere within the metro area. The sidewalks and restaurants were full of people, including a few that I recognized as Denverites. Similarly, after returning to Downtown Denver, I observed crowds of people spending part of their West Line adventure exploring the area around Union Station and the “three bridges” part of 16th Street between LoDo and Lower Highland. On several occasions I overheard people expressing interest and delight in discovering a part of the metro area they hadn’t really experienced before.

 

 

The new West Line does more than just give people another option for traveling between Point A and B. The increased interaction between people from Denver, Lakewood, and Golden due to the new West Line has broader implications, as it brings us closer together as a metropolitan community. Dotted lines on a map demarcating municipal boundaries become less important. If, through increased transit connections, we can view the Denver region not as a collection of 40-plus separate municipalities and counties, but as a single community of 3 million people that serves as the leader of the vast Rocky Mountain region and as a model for the rest of the nation, then we will all benefit.

What I experienced this weekend of West Line festivities was not just new transportation infrastructure, but another critical piece of cultural, economic, and political infrastructure that will allow the Denver region to prosper well into the future, and to maintain a competitive advantage over cities elsewhere in the country that just can’t get their act together.

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Filed under Infrastructure, Transit.
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The Business of Urbanism: West Line Edition

Posted by  on April 28, 2013

By Ian Harwick

If you build it, will they come?

I am going to highlight one particular Denver neighborhood along RTD’s new W Line that I think will be an interesting barometer of economic development with regards to TOD (transit-oriented development) and low-income neighborhoods.

I chose Villa Park to highlight as this is an interesting neighborhood because it has all the things that developers, businesses and future residents look for in new places to live or invest. Within a few blocks of the Knox and Perry light rail stations are spaces for expanded retail, nice parks and greenways, a bike path, and plenty of housing stock costing well below the local average.

 

This is a neighborhood that has been fairly neglected for the past 50 years; it has all the makings for one of Denver’s next up and coming neighborhoods. The question is: who will start the trend of buying in this neighborhood? Will it be a developer taking an old building and crafting a new mixed use development? Will it be smaller developers taking old housing stock and bringing it into the 21st century? Or, will the neighborhood continue to be an underutilized gem just outside of downtown?

 

I personally think this neighborhood will become an increasingly vital part of Denver’s unique neighborhood fabric and I look forward to seeing the way that it develops.

For more information about the neighborhood check out: http://www.zillow.com/homes/Villa-Park-Denver-CO_rb/

~~~

Ian Harwick is a Denver native and serial entrepreneur who’s been building businesses for twenty years and helping others do the same for the past five years.  Currently, Ian runs Harwick Consulting, working with businesses of all sizes—although he has a special spot in his heart for mom and pop shops—and utilizing his abilities to connect objects, ideas and people and organize them in a way that fosters creativity and collaboration. Ian is also co-founder of CityCycle, a mobile app for smart phones that changes the way cyclists interact with Denver’s bicycle infrastructure and the community that it supports. In his spare time, you can find Ian writing a book on community building, drinking coffee at a non-chain establishment, or building something new in his home.

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Filed under Entrepreneurship, Parks & Public Spaces, Revitalization, Transit, Transit-Oriented Development.
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All Aboard! RTD’s West Line Opens

Posted by  on April 26, 2013

RTD’s newest rail line and the first completed transit corridor under metro Denver’s FasTracks program opened this morning after the grand opening ceremony for the West Line: light rail service from Downtown Denver’s Union Station to the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden.

 

Under an absolutely perfect Colorado spring morning sky, the ceremony at the Jeffco Government Center included the usual speeches, bands and balloons. Several hundred people were on hand to listen to comments from various elected officials and other dignitaries including RTD General Manager Phil Washington (left). After making a short speech, Governor Hickenlooper signed two bills (right); one that allows Colorado cities to use their allotment of the gasoline tax for not only roads, but for transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure too, and another bill that allows RTD to partner with private developers to build and manage parking facilities at RTD stations.

 

After the ceremony concluded, big crowds jammed the trains, as thousands of Denver metro residents took advantage of the sunny Friday afternoon to take a free ride on the W.

 

 

Today, the W Line was free, and tomorrow (Saturday, April 27), RTD’s entire light rail system is fare-free to celebrate the opening of the West line. Saturday, RTD is also planning parties at every W Line station, from Union Station to Golden. Go here to find out more about the station parties. They run from 10 AM to 4 PM. If you plan on attending Saturday’s free ride, be prepared for standing-room-only trains and some longer-than-normal waits. While today’s huge crowds caused the trains to run a little behind schedule, no one seemed to mind. The atmosphere was downright festive, with people oohing-and-awwing when the train went over the big 6th Avenue bridge, and people applauding when the train arrived into Union Station.

 

Congratulations to Denver, Lakewood, Golden, and the rest of the Denver region! We now have 47 miles of rail transit in metro Denver, with another 51 miles under construction.

DenverUrbanism’s coverage of the West Line opening continues for five more days with photos and highlights from this weekend’s festivities!

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Filed under Infrastructure, Sustainability, Transit.
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The Business of Urbanism: Battery 621

Posted by  on April 13, 2013

By Ian Harwick

Let’s take a look at evidence of investment and entrepreneurs changing the face of Denver: Recharging the sports community with Battery Power.

At the corner of 6th and Kalamath stands not just a building, but a catalyst for community. In a structure that had been vacant for years prior now stands a home for twelve different, innovative companies. This incubator of sorts has added personality, people, and long-term community investment.  Battery 621 has been here for three years now and as one can see from the photo (below) they are investing further into their space. As I toured this creative space, I found myself immersed in a new brand of business; one bursting with energy, community, fun, and the feeling that something awesome was around every corner.

Photo is Battery 621 and the build-out of their new rooftop deck.

The companies within the building have a focus on alternative sports and the accompanying infrastructure. Companies range from ski and snowboard companies, a staffing agency (bwbacon, my host for the afternoon) and a company dedicated to telling the stories of small businesses throughout Colorado, among many others.

These diverse companies all share the desire to create, innovate and invest in their surroundings and their community. The goal of the building owners was to take a prominent corner of Denver from something of shame to a place that inspires creative spirit.

In my opinion, they have done just that and more; they have taken a building and created a place to build, create and experience a deeper, richer Denver.

~~~

Ian Harwick is a Denver native and serial entrepreneur who’s been building businesses for twenty years and helping others do the same for the past five years.  Currently, Ian runs Harwick Consulting, working with businesses of all sizes—although he has a special spot in his heart for mom and pop shops—and utilizing his abilities to connect objects, ideas and people and organize them in a way that fosters creativity and collaboration. Ian is also co-founder of CityCycle, a mobile app for smart phones that changes the way cyclists interact with Denver’s bicycle infrastructure and the community that it supports. In his spare time, you can find Ian writing a book on community building, drinking coffee at a non-chain establishment, or building something new in his home.

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Filed under Adaptive Reuse, Entrepreneurship, Revitalization.
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Denver County Remains Population Growth Leader in Colorado

Posted by  on March 31, 2013

For the fourth time in the past five years, Denver County has led the state in population growth according to the US Census Bureau. The Census Bureau’s recently released 2012 population estimates show that Denver County (the City and County of Denver) had a population of 634,265 on July 1, 2012, an increase of 14,980 over their July 2011 estimate of 619,285. Denver’s 2010 Census population count was 600,158.

Every year following a decennial census, the US Census Bureau releases its county population estimates for July 1 of the preceding year, known as their annual postcensal estimates. This process continues annually until the next decennial census occurs, after which the Census Bureau then prepares what they call their intercensal estimates for the just-completed decade. This involves recalculating all of the annual postcensal estimates for that decade so that those estimates fit between the two decennial census counts in a relatively smooth and logically distributed manner. Here are two tables I’ve prepared showing the “Vintage 2012” postcensal estimates for the Top 10 Colorado counties in both numeric and percentage population gain between the 2011 and 2012 (click to embiggen):

Denver led the state in both numeric and percent gain for 2011-2012. The fact that Denver led the state in numeric population gain this past year isn’t particularly surprising statistically, considering the size of Denver’s population relative to other Colorado counties, but it is rather impressive that Denver led the state in percent population gain from 2011-2012, given the high population baseline from which Denver starts. But Denver’s population growth is particularly notable historically, considering the extent of suburbanization over the past half century and that Denver lost population in the 1970s and 1980s.

Denver’s gain in population is due primarily to several factors: the ongoing development of large infill sites like Stapleton and Lowry, the buildout of the city’s few remaining greenfield communities like Green Valley Ranch and Gateway, and the substantial densification and infill developments occurring with the city’s urban core. As noted in my recent post on Downtown Denver’s multifamily housing boom, over 6,000 residential units within the Downtown Denver area have been completed or are under construction since 2012, and over 10,000 residential units were completed in the Downtown area during the 2000s.

Finally, let’s take a look at the ten central/northern Front Range counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld), which account for the vast majority of the numeric population growth annually statewide over the past twelve years. In the chart below, I’ve tracked these ten counties based on their Top 10 statewide ranking by annual numeric population gain. Population figures used for 1990, 2000, and 2010 are the actual decennial census counts. All other years represents the US Census Bureau’s intercensal estimates, except for 2011 and 2012, which are from the just-released 2012 postcensal estimates. The missing values reflect annual ranking positions where Eagle, Fremont, Garfield, Mesa, and/or Pueblo counties entered the Top 10. If a county’s colored marker disappeared, that means it wasn’t in the Top 10 statewide for that year (click to embiggen):

A few trends are evident:

Douglas County ascended as the county with the highest population growth in the state from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s. However, since the 2008 recession, the county’s growth has noticeably slowed.

Adams, Arapahoe, and El Paso counties have generally maintained a steady presence at or near the top of the chart, with some periodic ups-and-downs, over the past 12 years.

Weld County, which didn’t become a significant growth leader until the early 2000s, has also experienced a growth slowdown like Douglas County since the 2008 recession.

Boulder and Larimer counties show steady growth, but consistently in the bottom half of the Top 10.

Jefferson County saw a dramatic slowing of growth in the 1990s and early 2000s, but is making a bit of a comeback of late.

The Denver metro area generally slowed in growth during the “dot com” mini-recession of the early 2000s, during which some of the non-Front Range Counties occupied slots within the Top 10.

Denver County saw erratic but generally strong growth during the 1990s as the city’s renaissance started taking hold, but then disappeared from the Top 10 for several years during the “dot com” bust days, only to reappear and occupy the top slot statewide for four of the past five years.

In conclusion, Colorado’s Front Range continues to show steady growth in the post-recession era, with the most urban counties showing the strongest population growth.

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Filed under Demographics, General Urbanism, Sustainability.
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