Month: September 2018

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Rapid gentrification

restaurant out-of-business sign

I was sad to say goodbye. I didn’t even know they were leaving.

The Baker neighborhood of Denver is rapidly changing. I knew that – but when I tried to find a cheap place to grab a quick lunch on a recent Saturday, I discovered that all the inexpensive non-chain restaurants were now out of business. Every one had shuttered their windows within the last six months.

A small New Mexican restaurant – gone. Famous Pizza – gone. Several other small independent eateries disappeared, all to be replaced by empty storefronts, while their owners await increased rents from more upscale establishments.

I daresay those landlords won’t be looking for tenants who will provide cheap eats.

My tummy is sad.

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The useless balcony

the traffic on East Belleview Avenue

Across the street from my office is a relatively expensive apartment building.

We’re not talking NYC levels – but the rent is similar for one of those Greenwood Village 2-bedroom apartments to that of a suburban Denver 3-bedroom house.

Yes, there’s location – I could walk to work if I lived there.

But I am not questioning the residents’ decisions to live there – I can understand some of the charms.

Rather I’m questioning the residents who choose to put patio furniture on their small balconies. You see, there’s a steady flow of traffic during all waking hours. Noise and diesel fumes are part of the experience a resident would enjoy by sitting on their balcony for a glass of wine at sunset.

What’s different about watching and listening to waves crashing on the beach? Those sounds also ebb-and-flow. Water flows past your feet, just as compact utility vehicles do along East Belleview Avenue.

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Plan a-h-e-a-d

worn-out street name letters on a sidewalk

Reminder to self… plan ahead.

At one intersection in downtown Denver, what were once beautiful street names are rendered in sunken brass letters.

As you can tell, most of the numbers either got stolen or simply knocked off through wear-and-tear.

The solution would have been for the street-name sign creators to have made the letters about three times deeper, so the surrounding concrete could have more firmly held onto the letters. Or for the letters to be made of a different material that would wear at exactly the same rate as the surrounding concrete.

But they were thinking the concrete was sticky enough and permanent enough to hold the letters in place for years to come.

No.

The obvious analogy is for me and you to build our efforts and things to last.

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