Reader: Are cyclists the enemy?

We do have your next slogan for the area, though: 16th Street Mall — The Land Without Dentistry.

Greg Hufnagel
Denver

I enjoyed Alan Prendergast's memories of 16th Street before the mall was built. My children always got a kick out of the Denver Wig Shop, especially the one male mannequin head with the cheesy mustache and Afro wig that was in the window. I told them that shop was there when I was a kid, and that same mannequin was there back then. My daughter and I happened to be on the mall when the wig shop was having its "Going Out of Business" sale, and we purchased that head and the Afro wig as a gag gift for my son's 21st birthday. "Porn Dude," as he was nicknamed by my son and his friends, is in storage at this time. I think it is a great piece of Denver history.

Mary O'Neil
Denver

Patricia Calhoun states that 16th Street vendors collected $10.8 million, which she claims is "nearly 32 percent of Denver's total sales-tax revenue." Denver's online budget document lists anticipated 2012 sales and use taxes of $475.99 million. The $10.8 million would be 2.3 percent of the total. Calhoun's math is pretty bad, even by Westword standards!!

Ken F. Kirkpatrick
Denver

Patricia Calhoun responds: When that stat was sent over by the Downtown Denver Partnership, it lacked a critical word. Those businesses actually "collected nearly $10.8 million in sales tax revenue in 2011, representing nearly 32% of downtown Denver's total sales tax revenue." But, yes, if I'd done the math, I would have realized that something was amiss. My apologies.