Officials are searching for ways to revitalize Denver’s 16th Street Mall. One idea is to restrict or relocate the free shuttle buses that run the length of the mall. (Denver Post file)
Re: “Finding a fix for 16th Street Mall,” July 14 editorial.
I was glad to see that The Postap editorial touched on a major reason for the problem of “why more people don’t linger on Denver’s 16th Street Mall, window-shopping and chatting with friends” — which is “there isn’t enough to make them want to linger.”
Downtown Denver — with the number of residents now living downtown, metro-area visitors, and tourists — provides the demographics that would be attractive to many small and medium-size national and international retailers. The problem is we don’t have anyone aggressively contacting these small retailers and presenting them with our very favorable demographics, which are only going to improve in the future.
I remember when LoDo featured panhandling and homeless but many small entrepreneurs created the attractions that produced plenty of lingering.
Bill Lysaught, Denver
This letter was published in the July 15 edition.As a daily visitor to the 16th Street Mall, I wholeheartedly agree with your editorial. I would add that comfortable seating, such as benches, seems to be disappearing (I assume to provide less hangout for transients and homeless), and the attempted collection of money and signatures for various causes is very annoying.
Donald L. Parris, Denver
This letter was published in the July 15 edition.I have never had a desire to “linger” on the 16th Street Mall. Perhaps the attraction of “urban grittiness” eludes me. However, since the city of Denver has decided to spend money on attracting “lingerers,” my biggest takeaway from this article is: Was there no local architectural firm with the expertise and talent to tackle this supposed problem? Did Denver really need to hire a firm from Copenhagen?
Karen Libby, Denver
The RTD bus operation on the 16th Street Mall is doing exactly what it was supposed to do: provide a convenient ride from Civic Center to Union Station and attract people to downtown Denver. People don’t get off the bus to shop because the quality of commercial activity along the mall is poor. Blaming the lack of shoppers on the bus is a smokescreen to disguise the fact that the Denver planning department and the Downtown Denver Partnership have failed in their mission of bringing quality commercial services to downtown Denver.
Richard Bauman, Denver
This letter was published in the July 15 edition.
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