Shopping & Services

Our long nightmare will finally end this fall, when the last blocks of the 16th Street Mall renovation project will be completed. Yes, that’s reason to celebrate, but it’s no reason to change the name of that mile-long-plus stretch through the heart of downtown. While malls have gone the way of Forever 21 and the city has spent $100,000 to come up with a new name, there’s already a perfectly serviceable one. Forget any cute branding: Just drop the “mall” and leave it at Sixteenth. Sweet!

We’ve been assured that it’s too late to stop the $280 million (the feds kicked in $150 million) Bus Rapid Transit project that’s supposed to transform East Colfax Avenue…and is screwing over businesses in the meantime by removing parking and blocking easy access. So for now, while those businesses await grants that could be too little, too late, there’s only one way to aid them: Shop there! Get there by foot, bike or flying car, but get there and patronize the mom-and-pop stores that give this city so much character. And don’t miss the Colfax Bar Crawl on April 12!

Look, we understand that Civic Center Park has seen some ugly times and that it’s due for an upgrade…at some point. The plans even look interesting. But is 2026 the year for this? Do we really want to tear up the park inspired by the City Beautiful movement — Denver’s first National Historic Landmark — at the same time that Colorado is celebrating its 150th anniversary? Why not postpone a year and let the people celebrate in the heart of the state’s capital, just down the hill from the Capitol?