Going to work, talking with friends, reading the news, you can feel the dynamism: Denver changes fast. Living here, we get to watch our city growing, certainly getting taller! Do you enjoy how 17th and 18th Streets don’t look the way they did 5 years ago? Bit more room for anyone not in a private vehicle. Do you like seeing all the new housing, or all the new affordable units going up? More is coming, all the time. Do you welcome new neighbors, do you want to take them on a bike ride of their new home? Or perhaps you were new not too long ago, and wish someone would have done that for you! Denver has changed fast in the last ten years, and there are real challenges to good city building here in Denver. Recognizing those challenges should involve considering the policies that created a problem or policies that might create a brighter future. Rather than just tweet about it (is that a verb anymore?), James Warren and Andy Cushen want to pull the conversation into a more stable, long-form space.

To dedicate space to some of the more complicated challenges to urbanism in Denver, Andy and James have started a podcast on the topic. Our inaugural episode is dedicated to the plainly, thunderingly idiotic decision to close Fairview Elementary School in the midst of a transformation in Denver‘s poorest neighborhood, Sun Valley. We hope it contributes to your understanding of both the city at large, and one of its not-well understood neighborhoods. More to come on such topics as funding RTD, the place of drive-thrus on Denver’s main streets, state-wide land use reform, and so much more.

Editorial note: Andy misspeaks mid-podcast regarding Denver Public School Board’s small school resolution. This passed in 2021, not 2011.

Download the Podcast here: DenverUrbanism Podcast Episode 1: A Fair View of Fairview