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.
GREAT! Thanks so much for your dedication!
Awesome, awesome work. Thank you for keeping up with all the new development around Denver and creating a great community to track and discuss the changes. DenverInfill is one of my daily links. 🙂
I agree.
it will be nice to have new updated maps. color is even better!
There are so many of us out there who appreciate all the work you put into this wesbite. THANK YOU!!
Denver Infill is marvelous, and your improvements make it even better. Thank you for your continued wealth of information, you remain one of the top resources for development in our city.
The new site maps look awesome! One question/comment though. I thought I had read that Arapahoe Square was going to begin in the alley between Lawrence and Arapahoe (both sides of Lawrence would have Ballpark zoning req.) I could have misunderstood this when I read it though.
Thank you for all your hard work and the frequent updates! You've got me hooked!
Ken, your site rocks!!! Thanks for your love of Denver and all your hard work to keep improving our great city. I tell people all the time to check out Denverinfill.com
Awesome job Ken! Thanks for commitment to this project. I look forward to it.
Ken – I check this site at least once a day and love reading about all the new development that is changing our city quite rapidly, for the better. I'm a big fan! However, I think what excites most people is seeing a trend to a more sophisticated urbanization that will turn Denver into a vibrant city that we can all take pride in. At the end of the day, we all want to live, work, and play in a city that provides things like mass transit, entertainment options, functioning parks, interesting architecture, and a mix of socio-economic people who all share it together. Kumbaya everyone..!
If I could only make one request – it would be great if we could make posts and discuss "Infill" topics aside from your sequential list of blogs. For example, I want to share some insight into new Ballpark development, but have no place to share it.