April Letters To The Editor

In Praise Of Gary Martyn

Amen to the sentiments expressed in Gary Martyn’s page 2 opinion piece in the March issue, headlined O Denver, Where Art Thou? — particularly regarding the airport and other “monuments of greatness.”

The fanciful project underway—already for years — at DIA leaves this native Denverite and frequent flyer scratching his head. DIA has “updated” passenger check-in for the United area (maybe the other airlines’ areas by 2028?) such that each small counter stands perhaps 20 feet apart, and individual kiosks perhaps 12 feet, virtually shouting LOOK AT THE WASTE! Sensible, impressive, indigenous and beautiful native rock flooring (oops . . . remember traction?) has given way to slick, polished, monotonous white (fake) quartz slabs, in a town and state that clearly gravitate to the natural and real.

We witness expansion of “shopping areas,” which will be finished just as we complete 15 years of ever-increasing online shopping emergence, already nearing dominance. Ferragamo loafers? Sure. There just won’t be many customers to buy them. For the most part, the City’s planning attitude has focused on the grandiose, while from the billions to be spent, we cannot have the escalator chases from train level to terminal Level 5 installed (after half were deleted in ‘92 due to . . . uh . . .  cost overruns).  So the bottlenecks in pedestrian movement will continue, and if usage projections are correct, they will get a lot worse.

As for the small stuff, no one thinks of installing a handy shelf above the bank of urinals throughout the facility’s concourse rest rooms, where one can place a bag or parcel while taking care of nature’s call. This, despite that these are standard in many bigger and smaller city airports, such that the feature is a structural, floor planned inclusion.

But we do have a south end “outdoor plaza” with a massively costly arched roof, used by no one other than some hotel guests walking to or from the terminal, or a few smokers seeking a place to light up near the terminal doors.

Peter Ehrlich, Park Hill

Editor’s note: Gary Martyn’s guest column, which appeared in the March issue, can be read at this link: tinyurl.com/GaryMartyn

Gary Martyn Is Spot-On

Wow! What a GREAT column by Gary Martyn. Mr. Martyn is spot on in his observations. Sadly, we’ve noted the same things as we return to work and leisure in downtown and travel post-COVID-19.

Mr. Martyn’s letter should be sent to City Hall, Mayor Hancock, Chris Herndon and each of our City Council members to let them know of our disappointment and desire for positive action.

Thanks, Mr. Martyn, for having the courage to tell it like it is, I stand with you.

Karen Spinelli, Park Hill

Gary Martyn Is The Man

Mr. Martyn’s March column appealed to me. I can work remotely but choose to work downtown. I stick close to my building office to avoid the broken-down 16th Street Mall and I drive at odd hours to avoid seeing the sad state of the policy-driven rules against cars.

This war on the downtown merchants is so sad to watch. The consequences of this hollowing out of downtown reminds me of the downtown emptiness I saw when I first moved here 40 years ago. The “City Fathers” have lost their way in the last five years.

John Eckstein, Park Hill

Why Are We Letting This Happen To Our Park Hill?

Dear Neighbors,

The Park Hill Cottage is becoming an endangered species. In my travels through our neighborhood I’m saddened to see more and more of what I call “starter homes” being scraped and replaced by McMansions three times their size.

Where do first-time home buyers go—singles, young couples, older folks downsizing? Where there might have been some chance for a working class couple to afford $600,000 for the cottage, they surely will not be able to afford the $1.5 million monster that replaces that cottage.

I’m watching what used to be an economically, and hence racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood, become a ghetto of nice privileged white folks with white collar jobs. This is not the kind of neighborhood I want to live in and it’s not why I moved to Park Hill over 40 years ago.

I wonder why this is happening and imagine the answer lies with sociologists and market economists. But I also wonder why we are letting this happen to our neighborhood? Where are the Registered Neighborhood Organizations, city councilpersons, we, who live here? This question needs to be answered not by economists and sociologists, but by us from our heart space. What’s right when it comes to living not the words, but the actions of diversity in all its dimensions — economic, racial, ethnic?

And if that question pushes on our sense of social justice and community, how do we deal with questions about stewardship of our planet? How can we justify taking all of those bricks, concrete, plaster, roofing, sinks and toilets from a livable space and putting it into a landfill and replacing it with a space that will use twice the water, gas and electricity?

I’m very sad and sorry for us.

Elaine Granata, Park Hill

We love your letters, and give preference to those that address an issue that has been covered in the newspaper, or a topic that is Park Hill or Denver-specific. Send letters to editor@greaterparkhill.org, and include your full name, and the neighborhood in which you live. Deadlines are the 15th of each month, for the following month’s issue.