Denver's future growth Eastward

[steveco.]

There is also plenty of research that shows that a home on a quarter acre of land squanders far more resources than any high density type of development (no matter how many tomato plants are in the back 40). And I find that the social aspect really just depends on your own personal social background. I work in an office where many of the people live in condos and high rise apartment buildings. I don't find them any less or more friendly than a suburban mom of 4 at the grocery store.

[bullfish15]

Katiana, I need to spread some rep around before giving you a point, so I will publicly give my thumbs up to you on this topic!

[Katarina Witt]

Thanks bullfish15, from one yinzer to another!

[steveindenver]

). There is plenty of research that shows when you increase density, people become less, rather than more, social.

Really? Where? Just saying something does in fact not make it true. I really wish this approach had worked in University it would have saved me days of research.

higher density. Some of us aren't crazy about it. A high density enviroment is high density, no matter how you cut it. The courtyards, parks, etc, have to be shared by more people. Some of us (me) like to have a garden in the back yard, not down the street or down the road. When we lived in an apt in Champaign, Ill we did have a communal garden for a couple years, but then you had to drive to the garden! I guess the point is, I've done these things. I prefer a single family house with a yard.

This seems to be a constant theme with you. In your world urban Denver is all apartment buildings? Again, your average lot downtown is in many cases larger than those in the exurbs, in particular the developments springing up east of E-470. If we expand the urban area to include close in housing in areas like old Arvada, Lakewood, Aurora etc we again run into a situation where people can live intelligently, i.e. within close proximity to services and have yards.

Any way you cut it, there is no way to justify the exurbs. A system that requires the use of a car for every service, the creation and maintenance of additional infrastructure to support a small number of people is a broken system, created by and caring for selfish people which will in the end kill itself; the only question is how expensive our natural resources must be before this happens.

[Katarina Witt]

Here are some links. There are lots more, on google alone. Some are abstracts, meaning in many cases you have to pay for the articles.

Urban Density, Household Crowding and Stress Reactions -- Collette and Webb 12 (3): 184 -- Journal of Sociology

How to Save the World (http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2004/03/02.html - broken link)