Front_Range_Guy

Lake Isabel. Located about 40 miles Southwest of Pueblo on the Pueblo/Custer County line.

Adding to something I said in another thread about the support downtown gets from residents here... I should say that downtown business owners and residents have proven more than willing to invest in themselves. Last year they approved the Downtown Development Authority tax, and while I question the Downtown Partnerships effectiveness, the fact is, downtown is a better place because of the work they do, and they seem to be getting better all of the time. downtown80903 is the downtown partnerships website, and gives a pretty good idea of the work they do.

Yes. Monument Valley Park. from springsgov.com

That would be nice... citizen support for downtown Colorado Springs goes something like this: "I agree, we should make downtown better, as long as it doesn't cost us anything." Despite the city and county governments collapsing under their own weight, the extreme conservative majority here are convinced they are over taxed, and refuse to be taxed any further. It's one of my biggest frustrations. Why all of these people think they can move here from other states to escape high taxes, and not be expected to pay for the infrastructure that we had to build to support their being here is beyond me. When did moderation and rational thought go out of style? So... it's really up to the private sector right now. The city council is helping where they can, but in a town of libertarians who think the government is out to get them at every turn, the city's hands are largely tied. The Downtown Partnership has entertained the idea of a pedestrian mall. They say you have to have a certain critical mass of people living and working downtown for that to work, and our downtown doesn't have it.

This is becoming more of a blog than a discussion. Anyway, I don't know if I've mentioned 2-way Tejon on here yet. Our desperate downtown partnership decided one way to bring more shoppers into downtown would be to switch Tejon Street from a 1 way street to a 2 way street. It had been 1 way since the 70's, and last month they made the switch. I'm fairly indifferent... I don't think this type of change will help downtown business any. I don't think people are saying "oh boy, I can't wait to go drive in 2 DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS on Tejon Street! REVOLUTIONARY!." That said, it is nice to be able to exit I-25 at Tejon and drive northbound through downtown, rather than having to weave my way east to Nevada or west to Cascade. Anyway, people on the Gazette's comment section are predictably beotching. They claim it is causing extra congestion. A... I doubt it. B... take Nevada or Cascade if you don't like Tejon, and C... you're downtown, of course there will be some traffic... unless the city is completely dead. Whiners. The state democratic convention will be at the Colorado Springs World Arena next weekend. About 10,000 delegates are expected to attend. It should be a nice boost to the economy, but we'll see if any protestors cause trouble. After the St. Patricks Day parade debacle in 2007, you never can tell. Oh... a local television station reports Colorado Springs economy is in the worst shape it's ever been in... at least since they started keeping records. That's nice.

Another one of mine.

I live about 3 blocks east of the tracks. Coal trains are constantly passing through. Honestly, I'm so used to the blast of the horns that I hardly notice it anymore. It's comforting in a way. Side note - There is actually a study planned to explore the impacts of moving the tracks east of the I-25 corridor. There have been past proposals to use the tracks for passenger rail between Fort Collins and Pueblo. Read between the lines. I don't necessarily see that it's necessary, though I would use it... but it seems the idea is getting some real consideration. They need to do something about I-70 between Denver and the ski resorts first. Anyway, here's a website for the primary group pushing for passenger rail on the Front Range. Looking at the map, it seems their plan has become more ambitious since I last checked in.

Do you guys have any personal guidlines for posting renderings. I used to do it all of the time, but then I got... well... scolded by the artist of one of the renderings I posted for not clearing it with him first. I don't really see the problem with using a rendering for our purposes as long as we credit the source. It's not as if anyone is making any money here. Still, I'm uneasy everytime I link to a rendering. Thoughts?

Colorado Springs, Fall 2007 Photo taken by me.

This article in this weeks Independent caught my eye. I have mixed feelings. This stretch is on the southern edge of downtown. It's one of the few parts of town that feels urban with an eclectic mix of businesses and low income housing options, bright flashing lights, and people walking up and down the streets 24-hours a day. It does have a lot of crime... and it does probably look seedy to out of towners. My biggest fear is that this will be yet ANOTHER case of a developer coming in and closing down a business with big promises, only to have the project not go forward. As bad as it is now, a corridor of empty buildings would be so much worse and it's a situation we are starting to see in some of the city's other "urban renewal" sites. In fact, I'd say I'm downright gun shy when it comes to grandios proposals. I'd much rather hear about plans for a modest project that has a chance in hell of getting built than another pie-in-the sky fantasy. There is, by the way, a big crane hovering over the south part of downtown. I'm not postive, but I'm fairly certain it's just there to work on the expansion of the county garage. Which is funny, because the county is 8 million dollars over budget for the year. The people in this county aren't willing to pay taxes. We get what we pay for and in the coming years, I'm afraid we are going to be getting a lot less out of local government. I'm prepared to deal with it, I hope the whiners who aren't willing to fund government but expect five star service are.

What bothers me about what is happening now is that these businesses aren't leaving abandoned neighborhoods... they are just moving out into new sprawl. People living in the older subdivisions have to drive further now, but it's not as if the older subdivisions are emptying out.

Adding to my previous post... There has also been an insane amount of development northeast toward Falcon and in the tri-lakes area... but yes, Powers is really the problem area right now. Another example is the Penrose-St. Francis hospital system. I was born at St. Francis Hospital downtown in 1983. It closed and moved east to Penrose Community Hospital on Academy Blvd. That's where my sister was born in 1987, and where my nephew was just born. Now, Penrose Community is being shut down in favor of a brand new hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, at Powers and Woodmen. It's a text book study for "cancerous sprawl." The growth spreads, thrives, sucking away all of the areas resources, then moves on, leaving death behind it. I'll give city council credit for actively working to fill in the gaps. Hopefully it isn't too little too late. In other news that I find entertaining, the El Paso County District Attorney is in a bit of hot water.

This past weekend, someone flipped the switch and spring started. One week ago today we had heavy snow. This morning was truly odd and wonderful. Driving into work at 6:30 this morning I saw the most spectacular lightning show. At 6:30 in the morning! We don't have thunderstorms at 6:30 in the morning in Colorado. It's really unheard of. It was great though. Watching the lightning driving into town, eventually driving into the heavy rain. It's fair to say we had our first widespread thunderstorm event of the season today. Denver reported flooding that shut down the offramp on I-25 at 6th avenue, the hail piled up so deep that Manitou Springs called out the plows. Manitou recorded nearly 2" of rain today, and Elbert County east of Colorado Springs was under a tornado warning for a time. I'm a bit of a weather nerd, and I am darn glad to see the winter come to an end. I planted a couple of plum tree's in backyard this weekend. I think the threat of hard freeze has passed, though I wouldn't be surprised if we get down to 32 one or two more times.

With RT moving to Colorado and a couple of other people posting regularly, I guess now is a good time try to give up SSP cold turkey again. I'm addicted to that place, but it's so bad for me. Anyway, let's see what's worth mentioning out of Colorado Springs today. Los Angeles based Rancho Liborio has opened a store in Colorado Springs. In addition to providing service to an underserved market, this store is also good because it brings new life to one of dozens of dying strip malls in the east central part of the city. Colorado Springs is scrambling to fill empty shopping centers as businesses "follow the roof tops" east and north, out of city limits, taking tax revenue with them. Yes, city council, there is a down side to unchecked suburban sprawl. They... whoever "they" are... have hung a sign up on the I-25 bridge as you cross under the interstate from Downtown Colorado Springs to the west side, welcoming you to Old Colorado City. I'm not sure what the implications are... Old Colorado City doesn't actually start for several miles west of Downtown. The West Colorado corridor is old, historic even... and very eclectic. One of the only legitimately urban areas in Colorado Springs. I'm not sure what the ultimate goal is in lumping it in with Old Colorado City? Maybe a scheme to attract tourist dollars? Still no movement on Cooper Tower or the Embassy Suites. With the economy in the crapper, that's no big surprise. We should see a 10-story hotel rising in the far north suburbs this year... possibly very soon. We should start to see work on the Olympic offices accelerating now too, with that deal inked.