“I can’t imagine we’ll have any gridlock.”
— Mayor John Hickenlooper, last week, describing Denver streets during the DNC
“Hee hee hee.”
— Me, every day since
Hizzoner stopped by The Post last week to talk about his State of the City address. Of course, he failed to deliver the punch line, never once mentioning the day’s “entertainment.” Regardless, he did put a rosy tint on next month’s big convention.
Fundraising is up. Everything is green. And the cops are going to show protesters their softer side first before rolling out the riot gear.
Of course.
Oh, yes, and he doesn’t expect any major traffic jams, despite the fact we’ll be adding tens of thousands of people to the city and closing down streets for parades and dignitaries.
In fact, he’s concerned the streets could be desolate.
“Based on other cities I’ve seen, and our experience with the NBA All-Star game, when something like this happens the tendency with so many people is to stay away,” Hickenlooper told us. “I can’t imagine we’ll have any gridlock. I’m much more concerned about inviting people to come down and participate and be a part of this and enjoy this moment.”
Could a city trying to forever banish its dusty old cowtown image with a glitzy 21st century convention actually morph into a ghost town?
Conventions, post- 9/11, have a way of shutting down entire cities.
The Sunday morning before the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, I wandered down Park Avenue looking for a coffee shop. It looked like a Sunday morning in Minturn instead of Manhattan.
Later that afternoon, I ducked into a near-empty J.Crew in Rockefeller Plaza and asked the clerk if it’s always this quiet in Manhattan on Sundays. (Apparently you don’t always need Bermuda shorts and a camera around your neck to tell the locals you’re not from around here.) “They’re all in the Hamptons,” he said.
New York had emptied out, to the extent that’s possible.
But still, those who stayed behind were hampered and annoyed by road closures, traffic and streams of angry protesters.
Whenever Colorado’s delegation left its hotel to head for Madison Square Garden, entire streets in midtown would shut down to make way for the buses.
I walked to the Garden one night and got tangled up in a huge Iraq war protest. A benevolent cop, seeing my press credentials and the frazzled look on my face, invited me behind the barricades. From there, I walked past melancholy shop owners who stood, alone, in their front windows. No business boom there.
Despite Hickenlooper’s worries, downtown Denver very well could be a mess during the convention. Barack Obama had breakfast at the Hyatt last time he was in town and it added 45 minutes to my commute.
But for the DNC to be the economic boon that the mayor and others have promised it to be, Denver- ites and suburban dwellers need to continue living and shopping and eating in restaurants.
That’s the fine line Hickenlooper must walk for the next seven weeks. He needs to give residents a realistic expectation of what to expect, without scaring anyone away. So he’s inviting you down.
“Our goal from the beginning has been to make this convention accessible to everyone in the metro area and to invite their participation,” Hickenlooper said. “This is democracy. We should take this opportunity to celebrate it.”
We will, mayor. If we can get to it.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com.
