How do we save our neighborhoods? Our communities? Not just landmark buildings, but the established, interesting neighborhoods with houses of varying ages, styles, shapes and sizes, knit together by scale, by yards and spaces between the houses. The neighborhoods define urban character and make a city distinctive.
Must we let the forces of speculation shape our cities? Let market potential determine what our neighborhoods look like? Stand by while developers come in and raze buildings, replace them with oversized structures that go from lot line to lot line, then take the money and run?
That’s the No. 1 question rallying citizens in parts of Denver (Hilltop, Washington Park, Highland, Park Hill, Platte Valley and others), Aspen and Vail. Scrape- offs are a frustrating problem everywhere, making cities bland and less interesting, Richard Moe, head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recently told the City Club of Denver.
In Denver over the past three years, single-family and duplex home demolitions have risen by 63 percent, with 683 homes razed from January 2003 through November 2005. Outraged residents argue that such rampant demolition erodes the appeal of some of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods, as well as property values.
Developers proclaim that those who object to the replacement of original houses with McMansions, or the rebuilding of Aspen’s Victorian downtown with bigger, taller buildings and Vail Village’s Crossroads center with a building six times its size, are old-fashioned and out of touch. In reality, it’s because the neighborhood or downtown is already attractive that the developer sees it as a place he can make money. He trumpets his proposal as “progress,” and that it will bring in lots more tax dollars. Officials love that.
In Denver, residents are beginning to demand the City Council do something to protect their neighborhoods. Since John Hickenlooper became mayor and appointed Peter Park head of the planning department, there are no additional neighborhood planners or urban designers, and the Landmark Preservation Commission’s staff has been frozen. Hardly the formula for wise decision-making.
Historic Denver Inc. had so many calls from frustrated citizens and neighborhood groups asking what could be done that it is proposing to council members that a conservation overlay pilot program be tried. The overlay would study a specific neighborhood, then model guidelines for future building. Kathleen Brooker, Historic Denver executive director, said the city was interested, the idea was discussed with the zoning task force, but no action was taken.
Perhaps because the mayor lives downtown, one wonders if he’s forgotten the value and joy of living in a traditional neighborhood. Or maybe as a businessman he forgets that the success of a city depends on the health and desirability of its residential areas. Or maybe he’s out of touch with what citizens – not developers – value.
“What’s changed is the speed and scale at which the neighborhoods are undergoing change, all over the city,” Brooker said. “It’s been most dramatic in areas where the underlying zoning was more permissive for bigger buildings than had been built, and new development is being built to the limit. That’s a shock to those who live there.
“People want to protect where we live. They know that variety makes neighborhoods interesting, more liveable. The neighborhood groups are coming up with lots of good ideas to keep the neighborhoods’ individual character.”
Being designated a historic district offers some protection, but the city has been reluctant to add to the 44 already designated. A request to the City Council for a demolition-review ordinance has been held in committee. Other proposals being studied include crafting protective covenants or overlays for specific neighborhoods, down-zoning and going to court.
Denver has a task force looking at the decades-old zoning system, but it will be several years before changes are made and approved. Neighborhoods could suffer irreparable damage from heedless new construction in that time.
People lament that they’re not heard on important subjects, but often it’s because they don’t know where to send comments. So here you are:
Denver City Council, 720-865-9534; fax 720-865-9540; dencc@ci.denver.co.us
Mayor Hickenlooper, 720-865-9000; fax 720-865-8787; milehighmayor@ci.denver.co.us
Joanne Ditmer’s column on environment- al and urban issues for The Post began in 1962 and now appears once a month.
