DenverInfill Blog

This morning at about 10:30, this happened at 16th & Central near the Highland Bridge:

Here’s what I understand happened: the driver parked along the northwest side of Central Street and left his car in neutral (and without the parking brake on) to run into Masterpiece Deli to pick up a to-go order. The car started rolling, turned ninety-degrees, jumped the curb, rolled down the embankment, and–smash!–right onto I-25. Or something like that.

I’m happy to report that I’ve just completed the upgrade to the Upper Downtown section, complete with the new color aerials and updated project data. One left to go: Civic Center. Please let me know if you spot an error or a broken link or something. Gracias.

Gotta love it.

In light of the increased comment activity on this blog (which I think is awesome), it’s become a challenge keeping track of who’s who when so many people are named “anonymous.” So, comments now require registration. You can post if you have a Google or Blogger account, or if you have an account with any of the services provided through Open ID.

Remember, keep it civil and no personal attacks.

Thank you everyone for your enthusiasm for Downtown Denver!

I’m happy to report that after a month of working away at it in my “spare” time, I just uploaded the new-and-improved Central Downtown section. Like Arapahoe Square and Lower Downtown before it (plus all the Center City districts), all of Central Downtown now has the new page layout and the larger 2007 color aerial photos. While I was at it, I also incorporated all the latest project information, renderings, construction photos, etc.

Only two to go: Upper Downtown and Civic Center!

The headline says it all. I’m happy to report the Lower Downtown section on DenverInfill has now been given the full upgrade treatment. Up next: Central Downtown. By the way, if you spot a broken link or a missing image or something, please let me know. Thanks.

It was Spring 2004 when I started building DenverInfill. I didn’t finish it until July 2005 with the launching of the blog, but some of the earliest block pages and street photos are now four years old. At that time, the 2000 black and white aerials were not only the only ones available to me, but I liked the fact that they were taken in the same year as my baseline year for tracking infill projects.

But by 2007, I had grown tired of the black and white aerials, so I knew it was time for an upgrade. In January of this year, I started replacing the Center City district aerials with color aerials from 2004 and mentioned my progress in doing so several times in the blog. I got about three-quarters of the district maps converted, then I stopped. Those 2004 aerials were taken in the winter where everything is a glorious shade of brown, but along came new 2007 aerials taken in the spring of that year, where everything is nice and green. Much better! So I started over, using the new 2007 aerials instead. Here’s a comparison of the 2000, 2004, and 2007 aerials:

As part of the process of integrating the new aerials, I also made a few other changes. I added existing and future transit lines to the maps wherever applicable. I also tweaked some of the boundaries to my Downtown and Center City districts–most notably, I moved the blocks between Larimer and Blake, 20th and Park Avenue, from Northeast Downtown (now called Arapahoe Square) to the Ballpark district, and I created a new Union Station district from part of the Central Platte Valley. With the pending Union Station redevelopment and projects like 1900 16th Street, it’s clear that the area behind Union Station is really not a Downtown-adjacent, primarily residential district like Highland or Curtis Park, but really an extention of Downtown proper. So Union Station is now its own Downtown district and the Central Platte Valley district is now just the area between the railroad tracks and I-25. You can see it all here on the new Center City District and Downtown main maps. For now, the Union Station page is still in the format that I use for the Center City districts, but eventually each block in the Union Station area will get its own page, just like the rest of Downtown.

Another change I made is in the page design itself. I’ve taken the vertical black text box on the left and have switched it to a horizontal black text box at the top. This allows me to use the entire page width for the aerial photo which, along with the switch to the new color aerials, dramatically improves the overall experience. I’ve even changed the Downtown block pages. With some rearranging of the page elements, the aerial photo is now nearly twice the size as before. Here’s a comparison:

So anyway, over the past couple of days when you weren’t paying attention, I uploaded all new Center City district pages, overview map, and Downtown main map, and all new block pages for Arapahoe Square. The block pages for Lower Downtown, Central Downtown, Upper Downtown, and Civic Center still have the old black and whites, but those will all get converted over the next month or two.

Just like Downtown Denver, DenverInfill is a work in progress.