Re: Oct. 22 Henry Dubroff column.
This article by Henry Dubroff was very perceptive and, unfortunately, very accurateÌýregardingÌýDenver leadership’s ineptness to cope with homelessness, and its inability to stem the degradation of neighborhoods because of developers’ greed. Regarding neighborhoods, there are exceptions, of course, but, by and large, developers are the dregs of humanity, not caring a whit about aesthetics or maintaining the historic integrity of established neighborhoods. These neo-claptrap structures that developers are building are an abomination, not only in terms of poor quality in construction, but also in terms of the outrageous prices at which they are being sold. If, as Dubroff says, the city leadership continues to defer to rapacious developers, Denver’s once charming and unique neighborhoods are doomed.
Jon Weimer, Denver
Henry Dubroff somehow attributes Denver’s homeless problem to ugly new buildings and Uber drivers. This non sequitur is followed by others such as “cool places like Baker and Highlands†being destroyed by “greedy developers.â€
I lived in the Baker district 30Ìýyears ago when the only green space was known as “Broken Glass Park†because of discarded liquor bottles. At the same time my friends in Highlands couldn’t sell their homes because of abject crime. The fact is that new development has saved these (and many other) neighborhoods. Dubroff complains about “the transformation of Denver’s great green spaces into cash generators… .†Exactly where are all the green spaces ravaged by developers? The last time I checked, we still had some of the finest parks in the country with new public spaces added or improved at Union Station, Lowry, Stapleton and along the Platte River.
Success and wealth bring problems that beg for workable solutions. People come here for jobs, but not all are equipped to get them. Let’s solve these problems while enjoying the abundant rewards of our urban investments.
Michael Knorr,ÌýDenver
Thanks to greed and overdevelopment, people often find that they can’t afford to retire in the very community in which they have invested their entire working lives. Thanks to our rural mountain environments becoming festooned with showcase homes and workers’ condominiums, we can no longer leave the city behind.
Thanks to the over-commercialization of our natural resources, driving through our central mountains has become as arduous as driving Interstate 25 during rush hour. Thanks to the push for “bigger, better and more of it,” fewer people can afford to live in Colorado.
Thank you, Henry Dubroff, for bringing this serious and ongoing problem with our state’s economy to our attention.
Gary E. Goms, Buena Vista
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