We’re Number Two!

The love affair between the Central Platte Valley and Ken Schroeppel over at denverinfill.com goes on.  Our neighborhood already made one appearance on his countdown of the top ten urban achievements here in Denver in the past ten years.  Today, he named FasTracks and the redevelopment of Union Station his number two.

Ken had two pretty interesting things to say.  The first was about downtown Denver:

“If FasTracks alone wasn’t enough, we have the whole Union Station redevelopment to celebrate as well. Many cities destroyed their historic train stations or converted them beyond repair into shopping malls or festival marketplaces or whatnot. Fortunately in Denver, our Union Station remains intact and is now poised to once again serve as the rail hub for the city and region. Along with its associated private sector development, the Union Station project will complete the transformation of the Central Platte Valley as a dynamic transit-oriented extension of Downtown. Downtown Denver just keeps getting better and better…"

Those are high words of praise.  Click through for more.

[The photo source is odd, to say the least.]

Ken also had this to say:

“Cities around the world have wisely built and maintained balanced transportation systems that include rail transit, cars, busses, bicycles, and a variety of contraptions in between. In the United States, we started out well, with streetcar systems (first horse-drawn, then electrified) running on the streets of just about every major city in the country. But then we abandoned all of that after World War II and went on an automobile binge that we have come to realize may not have been all that wise. Cars are awesome machines and the personal freedom they provide is phenomenal. But just like so many other things in life… too much of a good thing can be bad. So better late than never, cities across the US, including Denver, are bringing back rail transit to provide some balance to our transportation systems. It’s called having a diversified portfolio of transportation assets. I am proud of Denver for taking such a bold step in the right direction."

I think this is right.  And, I’m certainly a proponent of the idea of putting a streetcar down Colfax and to other points throughout the city.  I also think this is one of the real accomplishments of Union Station - it’s not just about the trains.  It’s also about the buses.  For those of us living in Denver proper, the bus network will continue to be a huge part of our transit solution.  Union Station creates a truly world class station for the buses, and I generally hate using the phrase, “world class." Elsewhere, buses are an afterthought and their central hubs are secondary, at best.  In New York, for example, trains get Grand Central.  Buses get the Port Authority.  The new station’s bus terminal is on par with the terminals at Denver International Airport.

[You can look at this image in a pretty big format if you follow this link.]

Pretty, cool, no?