Judy Montero

One of the promised dividends of the FasTracks system is transit-oriented development, or TOD. According to RTD’s web page on the subject, “TOD is characterized by a pedestrian-oriented environment that allows people to live, work, shop and play in places accessible by transit.” The page goes on to say: “RTD’s TOD mission is to create and facilitate opportunities to preserve or expand RTD’s transit and property investments through private development, capital expenditures and/or joint development for land use that encourages transit ridership . . . .”

Unfortunately, that mandate will be undercut if the RTD Board adopts diesel technology on the Northwest and North Metro lines. Judy crossed paths not long ago with Tony Salazar, an executive with the national urban-development firm McCormack Baron Salazar. He’s president of West Coast operations for the firm, which has built urban communities in 18 states. In Salazar’s view, transit-oriented development suffers when diesel is the chosen technology.

“In terms of the pollution and the noise, diesel lines are less attractive to a developer than a quieter, cleaner line,” Salazar told me in a phone call this morning. ”We have found that diesel is a greater spewer of pollution and a louder type of train. It’s more difficult to create residential environments around the transit stops when you have those two factors. The technology needs to fit the type of use that you want to develop. That’s one reason why most cities are building systems that are quieter and cause less pollution.”

Salazar says that diesel may be workable for long-haul commuter lines, as long as all the stops are in industrial areas. “But when you’ve got residential uses in mind,” he says, ”it’s far less attractive.” Salazar’s bio is here.

Please remember to attend tonight’s FasTracks workshop at Bruce Randolph Middle School, 3955 Steele St., from 6 to 8 p.m. It’s very important to have a good turnout.

Busy week / weekend in District 9:

• First and foremost, Thursday night (9/27) is the EMU/DMU workshop for the North Metro line. The turnout at last week’s workshop on the Northwest line was pretty meager; a large turnout tomorrow night will help show the RTD board that the public cares deeply about this. It’s at Bruce Randolph Middle School, 3955 Steele, from 6 to 8 p.m.
• Tonight (9/26), the Downtown Denver Residents Organization (DDRO), the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association (LoDoNA), and the Lower Downtown District, Inc. (LDDI) are co-sponsoring “Building a Better Denver,” a forum about the series of infrastructure bonds that will be on the November ballot. It’s at the Mercantile Room of the Wynkoop Brewing Company, 18th and Wynkoop, from 5:30 t0 7:30 p.m.
• Tomorrow night (9/27) at Duo Restaurant, 2413 West 32d Avenue, Amigos de Sandoval will host a $100-a-head fundraiser, with proceeds supporting various programs (teacher training, student scholarships, gym classes, art classes, etc.) at the dual-language Academia Sandoval elementary school. Tickets available at the door.
• Also on Thursday (9/27), Front Range Earth Force will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Walnut Foundry (3002 Walnut) from 5 to 8 p.m. with a showcase of youth-created murals. Judy is one of the sponsors of this event. Tix are $50 per, and the proceeds benefit Front Range Earth Force, which supports youth-driven service learning programs that encourage youth to identify and solve problems in their communities.
• Friday and Saturday, the Latina Initiative will host the 3d annual Serious Women, Serious Issues, Serious Action conference. The conference is designed to provide women of color, low-wage women, and young women with information, resources, and tools to positively develop an agenda about economic self-sufficiency and other issues.
  It takes place on the Auraria campus.
• Saturday night (9/29), the Ascent Foundation is hosting its 6th annual Urban Cowboy fundraiser. This year’s beneficiary is Colorado Youth At Risk, a mentoring program that tries to keep adolescents in school, out of trouble, and off the streets. The Urban Cowboy will be held at the Walnut Foundry, 3002 Walnut Street; tickets are $70 a head (for information, click here).
• Finally, on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m. the new Goldyn boutique will host a fashion show in the Riverfront Park Plaza as part of its grand-opening festivities. The gig includes a live DJ and wine tasting.

The North Metro project team announced today that it will recommend the adoption of diesel technology (DMUs) on that commuter-rail corridor. The announcement came this morning at a meeting of representatives from all the local governments situated along the line, including Denver, Commerce City, Federal Heights, Northglenn, and Thornton.

The recommendation flies in the face of public opinion, which overwhelmingly favors electric trains (EMUs) — more than 80 percent of the comments submitted during the EIS process supported EMUs.

Not surprisingly, the primary rationale for this recommendation is cost: The project team estimates that it will cost about $175 million more to build the line with EMU infrastructure than to build it for diesel vehicles. I haven’t seen the figures on the project-life cost, which might favor the EMU technology; I’ll post those as soon as available.

This is far from the end of the process. The RTD Board won’t make a final, official selection on these corridors until October 16, and there’s a lot you can do between now and then. Stay tuned.

Belated thanks to everyone who attended the FasTracks workshop last Thursday at the Masonic Temple. Kevin Flynn wrote it up in the Rocky on Friday in an article that neatly sums up Judy’s objections to the diesel recommendation:

“RTD’s environmental analysis of the two types of self-propelled commuter cars shows the electric model produces less noise and vibration than the diesel cars. Some Denver officials and residents in the neighborhoods north of downtown . . . say [the diesel] alternative produces more pollution.”

The Denver workshop for the North Metro line takes place this Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bruce Randolph Middle School, 3955 Steele St. Be there.

Meanwhile, tomorrow the North Metro folks will meet with representatives of all the local governments (including the City and County of Denver) that lie along the line. We’ll find out then what technology the corridor project team is recommending. Very, very big decision with far-reaching implications. Come back here at midday tomorrow; the recommendation will be posted.

Just a quick reminder about two important events tonight in District 9:

1. Public meetings about the Northwest Corridor commuter-rail line of FasTracks, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Masonic Temple; details here.
2. The mortgage / foreclosure workshop at the Lumber Baron Inn, 6 to 8:30 p.m.; more details in Monday’s post.

With summerlike weather on tap for this weekend, set aside some time to drop by the Osage Mercado in La Alma / Lincoln Park. It’ll be one of those sun-splashed music ‘n’ merchandise scenes — home-cooked dishes, fresh produce, and handmade crafts in the booths; local dancers, singers, and bands on the stage. The Osage Mercado runs Saturday and Sunday just south of the 10th/Osage light-rail station, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This is part of a long-term effort to establish a permanent market district in the neighborhood, creating economic opportunity for La Alma / Lincoln’s low-income families while celebrating the district’s cultural diversity. The City and County of Denver, RTD, the University of Denver, the Piton Foundation, and Making Connections Denver are co-sponsoring the event. You can get more information at the Osage Mercado Coalition’s website, http://osagemercado.org.

The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs chose Articles of War, a novel by local author Nick Arvin, as this year’s One Book, One Denver offering. Here’s the book’s page at Amazon, and here are a few review snippets:

• Esquire: “At its existential best, Articles of War makes you wonder how you would handle yourself in a ditch, surrounded by snipers, and under orders to kill.”
• Publishers Weekly: ”Arvin’s first novel is an elegant, understated testament to the stoicism, accidental cowardice and occasional heroics of men under fire.”
• Booklist: “Arvin’s understated prose shows the dreadful consequences of even a ‘good war’ in this accomplished and timely literary debut.”

Judy will get to Articles as soon as she’s done with her current, slightly less enjoyable reading project: the city budget. One section she’ll be poring over is Parks and Rec. Budget cuts are forcing that department to adjust the hours of operation at various rec centers — reduced hours at some, increased hours at others — and Judy doesn’t want District 9 centers to bear the brunt of the cuts. She’ll also be taking a close line-by-line look at the Department of Safety’s allocations to ensure that anti-gang and anti-graffiti initiatives are getting the resources they need.

City budgets rarely get four-star reviews, but we remain ever hopeful. I’ll have Judy’s critique some time next week.

From this morning’s Denver Post:

RTD’s FasTracks planning team is recommending that diesel-powered rail cars instead of electric ones be used on the 41-mile Northwest line from Union Station to Boulder and Longmont, officials told Denver City Council members on Monday.

Using diesel trains will allow the Regional Transportation District to avoid the extra $177 million it would cost to install overhead electric wires along the route, Northwest rail project manager Chris Quinn told council members.

Strictly a dollars-and-cents position. It’s a given that the dollars and cents have to work; the line has to be affordable. But Judy’s position all along has been that there might be other ways to make an electric-powered line economically feasible, as opposed to simply opting for diesel. We haven’t exhausted every option; indeed, the options haven’t really been debated very thoroughly. That’s too bad, because the public comments taken during the EIS process were decidedly in favor of electrifying the line; people living along the Northwest Corridor don’t want diesel trains running through their communities and might be willing to consider compromises. What compromises, you ask?

• There is such a thing as a hybrid EMU-DMU vehicle; if the line were built for that technology, RTD could electrify part of the line while using diesel on the other part. There would undoubtedly be some hard-fought decisions about which portion of the line to electrify; maybe it wouldn’t be possible to achieve a fair reconciliation on that issue. But we won’t know if the option isn’t given a full public hearing.
• It might be cost-feasible to build an all-electric line to Boulder, and defer construction of the Longmont extension until funds later become available. That option wouldn’t be universally popular either, but then neither is the option RTD is recommending.
• Public-private financing arrangements might offer a way out of the impasse. Such arrangements have yielded great financial benefits on other parts of the FasTracks project.

If, after thorough public exploration of these and other options, a superior alternative to diesel didn’t emerge and gain consensus support, then it might go down easier if the RTD Board accepts this recommendation and authorizes construction of a diesel line. But the alternatives aren’t being given a real chance.

Join Judy, District 1 Councilman Rick Garcia, and HUNI President Bill Rodriguez this Thursday, September 20, for a free seminar titled “Is Your Home Loan Sinking You?” It’s designed for homeowners, both current and prospective, and will address questions and concerns about the loan market, the mortgage crisis, and the threat of foreclosure. Judy sees foreclosure as a serious issue that threatens the quality of life in Denver, and financial education is one way to combat this problem. The workshop will be held at the Lumber Baron Inn, 2555 W. 37th Avenue, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. If you’re interested, RSVP to Bill at (303) 877-6323.

Thursday also is the registration deadline for next week’s workshop on transit-oriented development, sponsored by the Urban Land Institute. The second of a three-part series on financing TOD projects, this DRCOG-sponsored event runs from 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 27, at the Denver Athletic Club. Go to the ULI’s website for details and a registration link.

In today’s letters-to-editor section, Judy responds to the Tuesday editorial in the Denver Post advocating DMUs on the Northwest and North Metro corridors. Pretty much the same argument laid out here in Tuesday’s post — i.e., it’s not about the money, it’s about quality of life.

On that subject: the project teams for both corridors have scheduled public workshops for September. The Northwest Corridor workshops will take place next week, including one in District 9 at the Highland Masonic Temple, 3550 Federal. It’s scheduled for Thursday, September 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.; it’s an open-house format, so drop in at any time. The North Metro meetings won’t occur for a couple of weeks; the one in Denver is set for Thursday, September 27, at Bruce Randolph Middle School (3955 Steele).

Since it’s Friday, a couple items from the food n wine beat:

• The Food Network has noticed Zengo and showed up not long ago w/ a film crew. Look for the segment next month. (Hat tip to riverfrontpark.com.)
• Sunnyside’s Bonacqisti Wine Company has launched a blog and will be blogging the entire production process for one of its wines, from crushing to bottling. The featured wine will be chosen by the readers; head over to the blog and cast your vote. Vinny No Neck, a merlot/petite sirah blend, currently leads the poll.

Within the last week and a half, the local dailies have taken favorable note of both DPS high schools in District 9. On September 5, the Denver Post detailed West High School principal Pat Sanchez’s door-to-door search for absentees enrollees. A followup editorial the next day praised Sanchez for “his efforts and his tenacity. If he can lure his students back, we’re hopeful his commitment to them will benefit them and the school.”

Then this past Monday (September 10), Rocky Mountain News columnist Tina Griego told the story of two new North High School teachers who came to the school as graduates of the Teach for America program. While her piece inspires admiration for these two idealists who’ve come to teach in the inner city, it also captures how difficult, even desperate, conditions are in many urban classrooms. 

Judy took note of both articles because she’s been meeting, one by one, with every DPS principal in District 9 — North High’s Joann Trujillo-Hays, West High’s Pat Sanchez, and the dozen or so others at the middle-school and elementary-school levels. She’s been asking what she, as Council representative, can do to support them and make their jobs easier. While expressing pride in their students and the diversity they represent — there are kids from Somalia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Bosnia, and many other places in the District 9 schools — the principals are concerned about various issues, including dwindling enrollment; shortages of basic supplies; heavy reliance on subsidized lunches and other services; speeding / parking issues on the surrounding streets; and overall school safety.

All those issues are now on Judy’s radar, and her agenda.