Author Topic: Elements of Urbanism: Denver  (Read 15257 times)

Metro Jacksonville

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Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« on: September 10, 2012, 03:10:17 AM »
Elements of Urbanism: Denver



Metro Jacksonville's Robert Mann goes a "Mile High" to visit a city that has made locating complementing uses within a compact pedestrian scale setting, complete with multimodal connectivity: Denver

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-sep-elements-of-urbanism-denver

Adam W

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2012, 05:52:00 AM »
Great article and awesome pictures, Bob. Nice to see. I last visited Denver in 1998. It has changed a lot, but even then it was impressive.

From your article, it's clear there are a lot of options for getting around: foot, bike, bus, tram, rail or car.

I was particularly impressed by the bike ramp by the stairs. They do that in the Netherlands, I believe, but I've never seen one on that scale.

It's almost as if the City of Denver wants to make things easier for its residents.

Keith-N-Jax

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2012, 07:19:39 AM »
I was in Denver back in 2006, its amazing how some cities seem to be moving forward with projects to improve their citiy. I'm sure they have had some set backs, but for the most part they seemed to be getting the job done.

simms3

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2012, 08:10:55 AM »
Certainly one of the most amazing and progressive cities in America!  Looks like you really captured a great vibe there.  My mom went to DU for undergrad, I'm sure she'd be shocked and impressed at how much the city has changed since she was last there, enjoying the "small town" it once was.
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vicupstate

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2012, 08:51:01 AM »
I went there somewhere around 2000-2002, and indeed it was quite impressive then.  Obviously it has come even further.

Colorado as a whole is just an impressive state. No billboards statewide, lots of scenic landscape everywhere you go.  Historic Western towns that have been completely restored.  I can't remember the name of the one  I went to.  Rocky Mountain National park is great too.   I didn't get a chance to see Boulder but everything I have heard is positive. 
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Captain Zissou

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2012, 09:20:08 AM »
Looks like Mellow Mushroom is slowly ruining another neighborhood.  I can't see a single piece of trash on the ground, but I'm sure that was just clever editing on Bob's part.

I was in Denver last year and I loved it.  We had to kill a few hours while we waited for my sister's flight to get in, so we went downtown.  We had no map, no idea where we were going, but we just parked and walked around for a while.  We ended up having a great time visiting shops and a pub that was better than any i've seen in Jax.  The density and complementing uses made passing the time a joy.  In Jacksonville, I suspect many travelers experience the opposite.

Denver's attention to detail and the end user is easily apparant in these few photos. Imagine what else is there that Bob wasn't able to capture on his brief stay.

finehoe

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2012, 10:04:41 AM »
I first visited Denver in the late-80s and at the time it reminded me quite a bit of Jacksonville.  A lot of the architecture seemed similar, like both cities had experienced growth spurts at similar times.  But boy have they pulled ahead of us!  Just goes to show you what can be achieved when a city wants to move into the big leagues and works to get there, rather than simply churn out plan after plan that goes nowhere.

birdilicious

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2012, 11:52:47 AM »
I grew up just outside of Denver in Aurora.  I loved it growing up, there were always awesome things happening and I got to see a lot of awesome concerts and visit really cool coffee shops (I wasn't old enough for bars).  When I first moved to Jacksonville I really thought it had the same potential as Denver and I can see it growing slowly, but I know we have the potential to be a great city that others admire as well.
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Captain Zissou

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2012, 12:37:29 PM »
Just by looking at the cover photo you can see a number of differences between denver and jax.  The first thing that pops out is the pedestrian bridge.  Regardless of what this bridge is traversing, I don't know of any pedestrian bridge of that scale in Jax.  Second is how well maintained that park is.  I can't think of a single public space in Jax that looks that manicured and well maintained.  Third, the tower crane.  When Baptist took down its crane, Jacksonville's skyline became completely devoid of any tower crane or even a large mobile crane.  The largest cranes in town can be found at the Towncenter.  Finally the most obvious difference is densly clustered midrise urban infill buildings.  Jax is completely devoid of any significant residential density anywhere near the urban core. 

Jax's leaders need to sit down and look at this one picture and they would be able to learn a lot from Denver in just a short time.

JaxByDefault

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2012, 12:45:29 PM »
Used to live there (and up The Hill in Evergreen). Believe me when I say that downtown Denver didn't used to feature much of anything. I find it interesting that the first early investments in downtown rejuvenation-- the performing arts center area, Larimer Square, and the former Tivoli mall--are all now integrated into larger vibrant areas or converted to other uses.

Denver may have started off with a little more than JAX has downtown now, but not much. If they can do it, we really have no excuse.

simms3

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2012, 12:51:43 PM »
Quick research on Denver's taxes.  The average home value in 2011 was $225K, so not much higher than in Jacksonville, and so the average tax bill was $1,277.  Denver combined millage rate was 71.307 mils for ad valorum/school/etc and the actual value was an assessed value multiplied by 7.96% (usually this is about 40%).  For commercial properties it was 29%.

So in Jax I believe the millage rate is around 17 and the actual value is 40% of assessed.  $100K house would be $40K times 17/1000 = $680 tax bill.

In Denver a $100K house would $568 tax bill.

For commercial properties in Jax a $50MM office tower would have a $340,000 tax bill whereas in Denver the same tower would have a $1,033,952 tax bill (3x higher taxes on commercial properties in Denver, the bulk of the tax base).

Chicago has a similar system that probably influenced the Denver system whereby commercial properties are penalized much more than residential properties (has a lot to do with politics and voting, it's kind of corrupt).  Anyway, long story short is that Denver is investing BILLIONS of dollars more than Jacksonville into itself in transit alone and that money is coming from somewhere.
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fsquid

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2012, 12:56:47 PM »
what is the "river" that people are playing in there?  Don't know if that is man made or what

thelakelander

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2012, 01:29:39 PM »
That's the South Platte River.  It's natural.
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CG7

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #13 on: September 10, 2012, 02:36:10 PM »
I don't know of any pedestrian bridge of that scale in Jax.

The Northbank Riverwalk has a fabulous pedestrian bridge, at least it did this weekend when I was walking on it.

Adam W

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Re: Elements of Urbanism: Denver
« Reply #14 on: September 10, 2012, 02:49:26 PM »
It's also nice to see people actually riding buses. I know they get a bit of a bad rap on this forum sometimes and it's great to show how they can form part of a complete transit solution.

It doesn't have to be a buses OR rail conversation. It can (and should be) both.