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Re: Denver

Posted: May 23rd, 2016, 6:53 am
by EOst
A single anecdote isn't data, of course, but an LRT line you can build greenfield houses within a couple miles of isn't something we want to emulate, no matter how pretty it makes the system map.
I actually don't think there's anything wrong with that in principle, as long as it's smartly developed (grid, density near the station, etc.). That's how places like St. Louis Park got their start, after all.

Re: Denver

Posted: May 23rd, 2016, 4:16 pm
by mnmike
When I was out there last month...I was told that one or two of the original "fast tracks" lines were switched to BRT. Not sure there is any truth to that at all?

Re: Denver

Posted: May 24th, 2016, 7:24 pm
by MountainDude
No lines were switched to BRT. Original plans had a BRT line running to Boulder (along with a rail line not built yet). The BRT line started in January...but it's more BRT-lite...no dedicated lane the entire way (mostly uses HOV), but has dedicated freeway stops.

Re: Denver

Posted: August 8th, 2016, 1:42 pm
by intercomnut
Just got back from Denver. I was stuck in their convention center the whole time, so I didn't get a whole lot of chances to explore the city.

But from what I saw, the standout feature was the 16th Street Mall. I've got to say, it blows Nicollet Mall out of the water in almost every way. It's got active street frontages for most of its length. The space in the middle is very attractive, with a lot of dense trees, and (from what I could tell) was decently programmed. I especially liked these chairs that roll/spin around.

The layout is far more pedestrian friendly, with bus lanes separated by a median so they don't feel like an anti-pedestrian barrier.

Image

Also, the free MallRide bus service is great. It's the only service on the mall, making it much less confusing than the current Nicollet Mall Free Ride service, and it comes every 3 minutes. The buses stop at every block, but they seem to move much more quickly than the buses on Nicollet do. They're also custom designed, with each 40-foot bus having 4 doors, lots of standing room, and the driver positioned on the right (providing better sight lines of pedestrians). Their automated announcements, even though they're announcing a stop every block, are right on time.

Re: Denver

Posted: August 9th, 2016, 8:55 am
by mattaudio
16th Street Mall. I've got to say, it blows Nicollet Mall out of the water in almost every way. It's got active street frontages for most of its length.
But do they have skyways?

Re: Denver

Posted: August 9th, 2016, 9:45 am
by intercomnut
16th Street Mall. I've got to say, it blows Nicollet Mall out of the water in almost every way. It's got active street frontages for most of its length.
But do they have skyways?
During my limited time, I don't remember seeing a single one!

Re: Denver

Posted: August 10th, 2016, 7:47 pm
by TroyGBiv
They have a couple open air walkways - they aren't climate controlled.

Re: Denver

Posted: August 11th, 2016, 9:22 am
by MNdible
Crazy! It's almost as if Denver has a more temperate climate than Minneapolis!

Re: Denver

Posted: March 19th, 2017, 10:00 pm
by BBMplsMN
Article titled "Denver Battles with Its 'Fugly' New Housing."

http://www.citylab.com/design/2017/03/d ... ng/519333/

A takeaway from the article:
While some might say these critiques of Denver’s new buildings are just reactionary responses of people afraid to change, Franck disagrees. When NIMBY concerns of population density are voiced, she says, “If you really drill down, it’s not density. It’s not development. It's that these new buildings don’t reflect the identity of the place that exists.”

“I believe firmly that when normal people respond negatively to new development, they often do so with worries about increase in traffic, lack of parking, [and] school crowding. But, when I dig down into their concerns, they often do not realize how dense their neighborhoods already are, and when pressed, they will finally say, in exasperation, ‘well, it just doesn't look much like Denver,’” she says. “Neighborhoods that have Design Overlay Districts, or Historic Districts and design review or that developed a neighborhood plan seem to have [fewer] new ugly buildings and less protest.”

Re: Denver

Posted: June 29th, 2017, 5:13 pm
by MountainDude
Denver's primary infill development website just posted bi-annual updates of downtown residential and non-residential developments since 2010. Local infill geeks love the June and December posts. Mmmm...data-licious.
http://denverinfill.com/blog/2017/06/do ... -2017.html
http://denverinfill.com/blog/2017/06/do ... -2017.html

Re: Denver

Posted: September 28th, 2017, 8:47 am
by canyoudigit

Re: Denver

Posted: September 28th, 2017, 9:38 am
by grant1simons2
Tall buildings are cool but this looks like something I made in high school playing around in Sketchup

Re: Denver

Posted: September 28th, 2017, 10:58 am
by Nathan
You weren't quite that good grant ;)

In any case it would be the most interesting building in their skyline (yes, that's shade) ... and yet also more interesting than our last 90 story proposal...

It would be cool to see some mid sized cities getting some landmark towers again. That might encourage something up here!

Re: Denver

Posted: September 28th, 2017, 12:32 pm
by grant1simons2
It's just a lot of angles and glass. Like, I like both of those things, but it's sharp and edgy and gives me a bad taste.

Re: Denver

Posted: September 29th, 2017, 8:35 am
by alexschief
From an east coast eye, better than the towers going up at Hudson Yards, but not as good as One Vanderbilt, 9 DeKalb, or Foster's new Comcast tower in Philadelphia.

See the links in that article though. The double tower from the same developer is extremely bad. Looks like it should be in Brickell, Miami.

Re: Denver

Posted: September 29th, 2017, 10:38 am
by grant1simons2
Double tower kinda looks like the Westin Hotel & Condominiums that was originally proposed for the Powers block

Re: Denver

Posted: October 2nd, 2017, 2:42 pm
by twincitizen
This article explains the delay on the G-Line commuter rail and the ongoing signaling issues with the A-Line: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/28/rt ... f=obinsite

Re: Denver

Posted: April 15th, 2018, 12:56 pm
by Silophant
So I'm in Denver this weekend exploring before being at a conference downtown this coming week.

A few thoughts:

Lots of residential infill going in on the outskirts of downtown, but instead of the Minneapolis standard 5+1 construction with a level of underground parking, it seems to almost all be 6-10 stories of residential on top of parking podiums. I can't tell if it's just a symptom of more demand driving more units per block, or if it's a code thing. Maybe they're only allowed to do two or three stories of wood construction, which wouldn't be worth it, so since they have to go concrete anyway they just go significantly bigger? Kinda like how Minneapolis doesn't have any new 8 story residential buildings - it's a step change from 6 stories up to 11-13 like WaHu or Latitude 45.

There's a good amount of bike infrastructure, and a decent number of bikes on the streets, but as far as I can tell, I'm the only person using the bikeshare system this weekend. The B Cycles and their huge front baskets should stand out almost as much as the lime green Nice Rides, but I haven't seen a single one not being ridden by me.
Update: just saw a couple riding them to the zoo. Still weirdly rare, though...

I'm... less convinced that the skyways are actually killing DT Minneapolis. There's very few here, (though there are some!), and there's definitely more storefronts on the downtown streets, but in my day and a half of anecdotal experience, there's not a lot more people walking on the downtown streets than there would be on a Minneapolis Saturday or Sunday morning. (Assuming it was 50 and sunny in Minneapolis. I'm sure there's practically no one outside on Nicollet today. ;) ) This opinion subject to change after I'm out and about over the next few weekdays, of course.

Re: Denver

Posted: April 15th, 2018, 4:16 pm
by FISHMANPET
It was much warmer when I visited around this time of year 3 years ago, and there was plenty of activity on the Mall. But off the Mall the activity dies down a bit.

Re: Denver

Posted: April 16th, 2018, 9:37 am
by xandrex
My limited experience with Denver's CBD made me think in many ways that it's less impressive than Minneapolis' in a lot of ways. But I would say that many of their immediately adjacent neighborhoods seem to be a lot more lively than anything we have (with perhaps the exception of CenHenn).