Denver's missed opportunity (Parker, Williamsburg: apartments, home, neighborhoods)

[AmFest]

https://medium.com/@nateragolia/denv...y-7298fcdfbb73

Quite thought-provoking about the future of Denver. Thought I'd share.

[davebarnes]

What a waste of electrons.
Not one word about schools.
Not thought provoking, but vomit inducing.

[Lafleur]

Originally Posted by AmFest

https://medium.com/@nateragolia/denv...y-7298fcdfbb73

Quite thought-provoking about the future of Denver. Thought I'd share.

Personally, I thought it was a very insightful piece.

I know that nobody particularly wants to subscribe to my views that Denver is becoming vastly overpriced. But here it goes anyway...

One of the key points is affordable housing. This is almost non-existent here, regardless of which part of the metro area you live in. You can live 30 miles outside of the city core (Parker) and still end up paying an outrageous amount for an apartment. I'm sorry, my lavish West and East Coast counterparts, but $1200/mo for an outdated 1-BR is not affordable in this city. There are a lot of working class folks who don't make that much money and are struggling to stay ahead of the curve, build savings, and try to save for down payments, future investments, or educational pursuits. Denver is quickly becoming a metro area strictly for the affluent, or for those who don't make much money, but got in at the right time. Working class neighborhoods (Wash Park, Baker, Cap Hill, etc.) are being torn down in favor of the mega rich. Without the help of federal subsidies, working class people should be able to find an abundance of apartments that are less than $900/mo. But the entire metro has become composed of 1-BR apartments, new and old, that are hovering near the $1500/mo range. That is truly disgusting.

Public transit here is a joke. It costs me $8 round trip to get from my closest light rail to downtown. Where as I can go anywhere in the city of Chicago on their train system and it only costs $4 round trip. Chicago is a world class city. Denver is not...yet. There's no excuse for this outrageous pricing scheme.

BTW, this was an exceptionally good paragraph in the piece:

Boomtowns come and go. They only thrive for as long as wealthy folks fund them, but make no mistake: they will take their money and run when the next boomtown comes along. Great cities are built on the love and community of their people. Great cities are built on lifelong residents, artists, local businesses and local culture. Great cities embrace the parts of them that aren’t polished, understanding that all that glitters is not gold. Denver still has a chance to be a great city, but time is running out, and new developments filled with legacy-free residents are overloading our city with fool’s gold.

[Lafleur]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

What a waste of electrons.
Not one word about schools.
Not thought provoking, but vomit inducing.

The schools in Denver or CO? Are you talking about colleges? NONE of the local or state schools here top the top-50 on most nationally recognized lists.

Oh, unless you're talking about party schools. Then go CU and go CSU!!!

[ayoitzrimz]

Keep in mind that the same exact thing is happening in NYC. It's happening in SF. It's happening in many cities. Gentrification is happening all across the US. Millenials are moving out of the suburbs and into the cities. Those with less money are being pushed out to the suburbs while the inner cities cater to the rich who will definitely take their money elsewhere when the next boomtown comes along. I have no specific ties to Denver. I love living here now, but if an opportunity comes along and I find a better deal elsewhere I'll move there too. Young people move, until they find the place where they settle down.

None of this is grounbreaking.

Now, I bet if the author lived in NYC (which he gushed about - the culture, the mixed classes, the authenticity!) I bet he would live in Williamsburg along with all the gentrifiers that came from the midwest. I bet he would sit at a starbucks and write about the woes of NYC while living in some converted factory loft. I bet he hasn't been to NYC in years. It's a known problem that NYC has swept the grime under the rug and is now a disneyland for the wealthy. (using NYC as an example because I lived there for 13 years and watched the changes. 10 years ago you wouldn't be out in Flatbush or Williamsburg at night now you got drunk girls walking home by themselves at 4AM)

It's not happening in Denver, it's happening in other cities as well. It's a cultural phenomenon due to changing times and the once undesirable being desirable rather than a local one to Denver.

Don't be surprised if within the next 10-20 years Detroit becomes the mecca of young professionals and the locals get priced out or make bank on selling their home.

Nothing new here....

[ayoitzrimz]

Originally Posted by Lafleur

Public transit here is a joke. It costs me $8 round trip to get from my closest light rail to downtown. Where as I can go anywhere in the city of Chicago on their train system and it only costs $4 round trip. Chicago is a world class city. Denver is not...yet. There's no excuse for this outrageous pricing scheme.

That is outrageous... NYC subway system costs $2.50 a ride and can take you anywhere in the city. It's a complex system, and tourists often get lost, but if you live there it is very convenient. Although it is 100+ years old and crumbling.

Never been to Chicago, so can't comment on their system, but I know it's another world famous one. Denver is making progress with light rail but not fast enough.

[brown_dog_us]

Why does the future of Denver hinge on affordable housing? I understand why people desire affordable housing and how the price of housing is pushing a lot of good people out of Denver, but cities like LA, NYC, and SF are incredibly expensive and seem to thrive. Most medium sized cities would love to have Denver's problems.

[ayoitzrimz]

Now if you guys think we are difficult on the Denver forum, here's a similar thread about gentrification of NYC - entertaining to say the least:

Gentirification in NYC

[Lafleur]

Originally Posted by ayoitzrimz

That is outrageous... NYC subway system costs $2.50 a ride and can take you anywhere in the city. It's a complex system, and tourists often get lost, but if you live there it is very convenient. Although it is 100+ years old and crumbling.

Never been to Chicago, so can't comment on their system, but I know it's another world famous one. Denver is making progress with light rail but not fast enough.

Indeed. Maybe they lower the costs when the rail system gets bigger. But at this point in time, it doesn't seem like it was designed for the working class people. Ironic, considering it's public transportation.

My co-worker was saying that when he had a pass, to get from Parker to Downtown Denver, it cost him $163/mo. They have different zones for the light rail, which have varying rates. I think if you're only traveling through a couple zones, it's $2 per ride. I'm just outside of zone 2, so it costs me $4 per ride to get to almost anywhere I'd need to go. But I'm only like a 20 minute drive from downtown and often times it's cheaper to drive and park downtown, on the weekends at least.

And that's my biggest beef with Denver and why I think this article is spot on. This entire metro area is becoming unaffordable for working class individuals, or those who aren't pulling in that nice six-figure salary. I feel like I live minimally comfortably now, and I'm making in the mid-$60k range. I don't think I could move here like I did in 2008 after college, because I was making about half that. There just aren't many affordable options here anymore for people making less than $50k, and trust me, there are a lot of them out there (at least 50% of the population makes less than this). That certainly wasn't the case just five years ago, when I first moved here. I could find a nice 1-BR in Cap Hill for about $600/mo. I lived in several places in Cap Hill and Congress park for under $700/mo. Now, those same units, completely left as they were, are going for closer to $1,000/mo. In just five years!!! Denver Metro is becoming a region for the affluent.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Lafleur

Indeed. Maybe they lower the costs when it gets bigger. But at this point in time, it doesn't seem like it was designed for the working class people. Ironic, considering it's public transportation.

My co-worker was saying that when he had a pass, to get from Parker to Downtown Denver, it cost him $163/mo. They have different zones for the light rail, which have varying rates. I think if you're only traveling through a couple zones, it's $2 per ride. I'm just outside of zone 2, so it costs me $4 per ride to get to almost anywhere I'd need to go. But I'm only like a 20 minute drive from downtown and often times it's cheaper to drive and park downtown, on the weekends at least.

Taking the train in from one of the Chicago suburbs to the city is about $6. I just rode from Deerfield to Union Station a few weeks ago and that is what it cost.

Dave's comment regarding schools was that all this article did was complain about cost of living, and said that cheaper housing was the backbone of a great city. He doesn't address making schools better or any of the other things that most people would agree make a city great.

While he may have some points on cost of living, the idea that an expensive city isn't a great city seems to be proven wrong by his list of what he considers great cities. New York and Paris are his examples of what we should strive for, yet are two of the most expensive cities in the world. I wonder how he missed the irony.