The Denver neighborhoods of Globeville, Elyria and Swansea have been disadvantaged and harmed by all levels of government and industry for more than decades. The greatest malfeasance of all, however, is the continuing lack of regional planning and vision for these neighborhoods’ future in Denver and the greater metropolitan region.
While other areas of the Front Range flourish, the future in northeast Denver is threatened at all levels: federal, state, region, city and the community’s lack of cohesion.
Nevertheless, there is no good excuse that Denver’s “last frontier” cannot be planned and built sensitively and intelligently for the 21st century.
The neighborhoods of Globeville, Elyria and Swansea are less than 2 miles from downtown Denver; have 1.5 miles of access and pathways to the Platte River; are within walking distance to historic Riverside Cemetery, as well as Northside Park, Globeville Landing Park, Argo and Swansea Parks; have easy access to Interstate 70 and I-25; and have what is one of the last affordable housing stocks within the city of Denver.
A commuter rail station stop at East 48th Avenue and Brighton Boulevard for the north metro line of RTD’s FasTracks is a positive development for the future of Elyria and its surrounding neighborhoods. While the future of the National Western Stock Show in Elyria is unknown, the 100-acre tract of land will dominate the Elyria neighborhood. There are tremendous opportunities for a transit-oriented community that should not be squandered.
On the downside, these neighborhoods are located near the city’s most polluting industries: refineries, power plants, heavy manufacturing, and railroads surround the community, cutting them off from the outside.
The most immediate threat to Elyria, Swansea and Globeville, however, is the expansion of I-70. Rarely has there been so little public and media attention given to a project of such great magnitude as the widening of the highway through Elyria and Swansea. The construction of this highway in the 1960s divided the northeast neighborhoods from the most vibrant parts of Denver. Its destructive effects are still felt to the north of I-70 today.
It was hoped that the replacement of the aging I-70 from Colorado Boulevard to I-25 would provide a new opportunity to redress the highway’s impact on these communities. Sadly, after nearly a decade of “study,” CDOT’s preferred alternative — to widen the highway by expanding to the north into residential areas — only exacerbates the impact to those already disempowered residents.
On its face, the environmental studies conducted by CDOT for I-70 are deeply flawed for lacking a proper health study and for not seriously studying other options, such as below-grade or tunnel options for the brief segment of I-70 through Elyria-Swansea. While CDOT went to great lengths to protect the character of Denver’s southwest neighborhoods, like Washington Park, when it expanded I-25 a little less than a decade ago, it failed to extend the same “planning” courtesy to the disadvantaged population that will be most disproportionately impacted by the I-70 project.
Globeville, Elyria and Swansea offer tremendous potential for the future, and yet are being planned without any regional vision, at the mercy of giant forces such as I-70 and CDOT, the Federal Highway Works Administration, National Western Stock Show, Purina and other major industry, the railroads, RTD and the city of Denver. This is a lousy way to plan a city and a region.
We appeal to concerned citizens and officials to correct the misaligned direction in which this important area of the city is being forced to proceed.
Drew Dutcher is an Elyria resident and works in architecture and planning. Michael Harris is an assistant professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
