Urban Planning

Swallow Hill expansion at Lowry on hold due to lease not being approved. No explanation why

Update, 3 p.m. 4/5/13: We've received a statement from Swallow Hill CEO Tom Scharf and also spoke with Hilarie Portell, Public Relations & Marketing Director for Lowry Redevelopment Authority, who both gave us more insight into the situation regarding Swallow Hill's planned expansion into Lowry. Bet ... More >>

Michael Hancock taps Rocky Piro as his planning director: Let's see what develops

Mayor Michael Hancock's cabinet is finally complete. Late last week, he announced that he had hired a planning director to fill the slot that Peter Park left in mid-2011: Rocky Piro, a native of Denver who's been working in Washington State. And one of the first things Piro should plan to do is sit ... More >>

What has the National Renewable Energy Lab done for the public good?

See also: Top fifteen inventions and innovations of the National Renewable Energy Lab

Denver City Council approves Welton Corridor plan, sparking fears of eminent domain

After a lengthy public hearing where dozens of property owners and merchants in the Five Points area weighed in on the future of the historic neighborhood, the Denver City Council voted to approve a controversial redevelopment plan that deems the area "blighted." Supporters argue that the plan will ... More >>

Welton Corridor plan before Denver City Council: An opening for eminent domain?

Tonight, Denver City Council will vote on a plan to redevelop the Welton Corridor -- and some property owners in the area fear that if it passes, it will allow the city to seize their homes and businesses. But the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, the entity behind the proposal, argues that those conc ... More >>

Denver Tofu will continue -- but not under Spring Keim

Denver Tofu has been providing this city's restaurateurs and consumers with a local source of tofu for forty years. But as we reported last week, Haruhisa Yamamoto, who has owned the company since the 1970s, is closing his factory and leaving the business. "The plant is under eminent domain by RTD, ... More >>

West Highland neighbors plan rally tonight to show displeasure over RedPeak development

Feeling ignored, residents in West Highland have teamed up with No High Rises in West Highland to plan a rally tonight in Highland Square voicing their opposition to a trio of four- or five-story apartment buildings RedPeak Properties plans to build just north of 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard. Ne ... More >>

RedPeak: City council's Susan Shepherd won't fight controversial West Highland development

Denver City Councilwoman Susan Shepherd will not take any action to stop a proposed development just north of 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard that has neighbors fighting mad. Although she had hinted that she might try to change the zoning on the property, she released a letter late last week stati ... More >>

Sunflower Market on Colfax inspires a food fight at Denver City Council

​Unlike so many Western towns, Denver has a wealth of wonderful neighborhoods close to the heart of the city. But with that wealth of neighborhoods comes a surfeit of NIMBY issues that often spill out of their immediate area and into City Hall -- as the fight over a new supermarket on Colfax w ... More >>

Susan Shepherd and neighborhood association make moves in Highland development battle

The controversy surrounding RedPeak Properties' proposed development near 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard has been light on recent action and heavy on letters, motions and press releases. Given that, it's been an busy week for the development, with Denver City Council District 1 rep Susan Shepherd, ... More >>

Susan Shepherd hints at her next step in battle over proposed development in West Highland

No High Rises in West Highland​Neighbors surrounding the proposed site of three, five-story apartment towers just north of 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard have made their opposition to the project clear. RedPeak Properties, the developer planning to build the structures, and Tom Wootten, the ... More >>

Stapleton Brussels sprout is the new urbanist's dream vegetable: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ By arranging compact cabbages in spiral clusters around a thick stalk in an effort to realize maximum nutritional values with minimal land use, the Stapleton Brussels sprout has quickly become the profit-driven urban planner's dream vegetable...

Carolyn Dooling is a Stapleton neighborhood icon: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

Neighborhood Icon #1 of 76: Stapleton​ As illustrated in the graphic above, the control tower from the former Stapleton International Airport has been left behind to serve as the neighborhood's iconographic landmark -- and that's only fitting. Absolutely nothing happens in this neighborhood wi ... More >>

DenverInfill Blog gets a facelift

Ken Schroeppel, urban hero.​DenverInfill Blog, authored by local urban planner Ken Schroeppel, is a true Denver success story. The nearly six-year-old operation isn't the flashiest blog around, but it does one thing incredibly well, and that's cover Denver development. All of us old-fashione ... More >>

Kenny Be's Friday Afternoon Club: Councilman Rick Garcia at Sushi Hai

​ "A toast to City Councilman Rick Garcia for being chosen as a finalist to the post of Regional Director of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development! And may he bring affordable housing to the nation with the same success that he did in the West Highland neighborhood!"

Columnist chronicles Denver's New Urbanism conference on the Huffington Post

Photo by Jonathan ShikesThe new-urbanist enclave of Highlands' Garden Village. Last week, the Congress for the New Urbanism held its annual conference in Denver -- an event we commemorated with examinations of Bradburn Village, Highlands' Garden Village and several other New Urbanist developments i ... More >>

Coors Field again asking for a law to preserve its mountain view -- and maybe get some more parking lots too

Denver Planning DepartmentThe angle city officials are using to determine the proposed Coors Field view plane. The entity that owns Coors Field is pursuing a view-plane ordinance that would prevent the construction of buildings that might block the view of the mountains from stadium seats -- and no ... More >>

Not-So-New Urbanism: Bradburn Village

Church, steeple, but where are all the people at Bradburn? The Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its annual conference in Denver June 10-14, complete with bus tours of our most well-known new urbanist enclaves. But how do you judge walkable, neighborhood-based developments? Is it by the dive ... More >>

Why did Coors Field buy the old Light Bulb Supply building?

2010 Delgany, once a potential view-blocker, was recently bought by Coors Field Rockies fans will no longer have to worry about their view of the mountains from Coors Field becoming obstructed by a possible high-rise condo building. The special district that owns the baseball stadium quietly purcha ... More >>

Tom "The Troubleshooter" Martino's troublesome buildings are still standing

Architect Peter Dominick dead at 67

Denver architect Peter Dominick suffered a fatal heart attack on New Year's Day while he was cross-country skiing near Aspen, where he frequently vacationed. A prominent figure in the local architectural community, he was from an equally prominent family: his late father was a Colorado senator, als ... More >>

West Wash Park rezoning fight gains steam

In October, we introduced you to  the battle over monster duplexes and neighborhood character in West Washington Park. Now, as a December 15 City Council hearing approaches, the controversy is exploding into a debate over the future of development in Denver's older neighborhoods. Some residen ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Buy local, think local December 1-7

Buy local week continues through December 5. And while, with Barack Obama's appointments announcement today, it doesn't look like many Coloradans will be heading to D.C., there's plenty to do here at home. Nothing gets the home fires burning like neighborhood fights, and Denver's Neighborhood ... More >>

In West Washington Park, a battle over monster duplexes and neighborhood character

Letters to the Editor

Letters from the week of 6/5/2008

Hideous Houses of Highland

More is not merrier for Highland homeowners who want to stop construction in their neighborhoods.

Ruby Hill View Plane Lobbyist Switches Teams For The Rockies

A Development Grows in Jefferson Park

Contested Development

Moving On Up

Jefferson Park is being touted as the next Highland, and developers are taking notice -- but not all of the attention is appreciated.

Shoot to Chill

Beyond and Spy are outta here with a bullet.

Building for the Future

Peter Park is in the urban-planning game for good.

Best Imitation of a Small Town

East 29th Avenue Town Center

The Apes of Wrath

It takes a village to raze a Chinese restaurant.

Between a Block and a Hard Place

Not everyone wants Curtis Park to grow up.

Best Alternative to a Strip Mall

Lowry Town Center

Letters to the Editor

From the week of July 18, 2002

Property Values

The feisty Congress Park neighborhood may have met its match in a new developer.

You Can't Go Home Again

Especially when someone has leveled your childhood home to make room for two more.

This Old Housing Project

To save East Village, is it necessary to destroy it?

They're Not Columbine Knolls

Jefferson County struggles to find a place for its sex offenders.

How to Build a Ghetto

Everyone said they wanted homeless people to be invisible at Lowry. So why aren't they?

Don't Be Dense

A Denver neighborhood fights city hall and wins -- for now.

Playtime Is Over

Parents in northwest Denver finally got their school -- or did they?

A Rough Road Ends in Jeffco

A proposed quarry gets bulldozed by irate residents.

Big Boss Man

Jim Hannifin commands a ready-made urban army—and he keeps winning his battles.

Hell, No, We Won't Grow!

A new bill proposes leaving rural areas openand developed areas denser than your average pro-growth legislator.

Worse Than a Pledge Drive

A southeast Denver neighborhood howls about a public-TV station's profit-making development proposal.

Another Fight on Colfax

Plans to spruce up the old street lead to a business squabble.

FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT

THE CITY IS UP TO ITS NECK IN THE OLD ELITCH'S--AND NOW IT'S CLAMMING UP.QUEASY RIDERS THE BATTLE OVER THE OLD ELITCH'S THROWS A CITY COUNCILMAN--AND HIS CONSTITUENTS--FOR A LOOP.