Welcome Streetsblog to the Mile High City!
The Streetsblog network is a national source for news and information relating to sustainable transportation, with certain cities (e.g. New York, DC, San Francisco) having their own dedicated Streetsblog site and reporters. Fortunately, Denver has just joined the ranks of those select cities!
Streetsblog Denver’s mission is to advocate for more bikeable and walkable streets, better public transportation serving Denver’s urban neighborhoods, and to help Denver continue to grow and prosper with an exceptional transportation system designed for people, not just cars. That is DenverUrbanism’s mission as well, so I am thrilled that Streetsblog Denver is here and I am looking forward to working with David Sachs, Streetsblog Denver’s editor and main reporter, on advancing our shared goals for our city. Click here to view the press release (PDF) from a few days ago introducing Streetsblog Denver.
David has a journalism background in covering urban transportation issues and will be a strong ally in hastening Denver’s cultural and physical transformation from a city over-reliant on the single-occupant automobile to one that offers a robust mix of transportation options. I’m particularly excited by the fact that Streetsblog Denver isn’t just about sharing valuable information about livable streets, but that their goal is to “provoke action” to make things happen. Streetsblog Denver is a great complement to DenverUrbanism and DenverInfill and our allies like BikeDenver and WalkDenver.
Congratulations to David and the rest of the Streetsblog team on the launch of Streetsblog Denver!!
This is good….. and all the best that this will help to promote convenient public transportation in the area, especially within the City and County of Denver, where it seems that there are quite a few areas (not just TODs) that can be better linked.
I looked at the website, a lot of good information. But at this time I’m unable to find our from there what cities, besides NYC, LA, SF and DC, have their own dedicated sites? I may eventually find the info on my own, but if anyone can help with answering this, much appreciated.
Ardyess, today several dozen people attended the I-25 & Broadway Station Area Plan workshop presented by Denver agencies, lead by Community Planning and Development, where the door to an eventual Broadway-Lincoln streetcar loop was cracked open just a little bit. What’s lacking, according to key city officials, is a street rail interest group in Denver.
Clearly, there are core groups for pedestrians and bicycle riders and affordable housing and open spaces and retailers and landowners and neighborhoods — but no recognized streetcar interest group. So today, fascinating round-table discussions with city officials about what the Broadway Station transit hub might look like did not include ideas about street rail linking the Broadway Station to Downtown.
Agree with you, Ardyess, Streetsblog is a good start, but not enough yet to get the city and RTD factoring in how streetcars might be a key part of the transportation equation.
Does anyone else find that Streetsblog Denver posts are very heavily skewed towards bicycle transportation with what seems to be lip-service paid towards transit? Granted, cycling infrastructure is the low-hanging fruit that’s easy to implement but transit is the mode that carriers far more people and is the one that has the far larger effect on the city’s mode shares.
It’s probably the result of cycling having a far larger advocacy than transit in Denver, but it’s still disheartening.
It’s only been a week or so and I think they’re covering the topics that are the most timely, and that’s currently bikes. With the city launching the Denver Moves: Transit planning process later this year and running for about 18 months, there will be plenty of time and topics for discussion regarding transit.
The very top of that page (http://denver.streetsblog.org/) reads:
STREETSBLOG NYC LA SF …
Great news!
That is really wonderful! Welcome, StreetsBlog. I’m excited to see what they have in store for Denver!