Best Key to the City

In the big picture, a CashKey may seem like relatively small change -- but it can certainly change the lives of those who always have trouble finding a quarter (much less eight quarters) to feed Denver's ever-hungry parking meters. A $15 deposit nets you a programmable key from the Denver Department of Public Works; you buy $5 increments of parking that are loaded into the key. (The limit is a hundred bucks a shot.) And then you're good to go, and stop: Every time you insert the key in a meter, 25 cents is deducted; when you run out, you can just reload. The CashKey is available at five city locations (check out www.denvergov.org for addresses and payment information); it may be coming to a few more convenient spots, too.