Open Book: Advice For A New Mayor
Congrats On Your Win, Mike Johnston. But You Are Not Off The Hook With The Youth Of Denver.
By Anya Nitczynski
For the GPHN
Mayor-elect Mike Johnston has spent a good portion of his career in the field of education. He’s taught high school English, worked as an education policy advisor, and he’s even been a principal. Because of his experience working with students, it’s been especially frustrating to see a lack of dialogue during election season about what can and should be done to improve the lives of youth in Denver.
Johnston clearly values the cultivation of young minds in our world. I hope he also values the opinions of those with said young minds — especially ones who write newspaper columns and are named Anya.
Congratulations on your win, Mr. Johnston. But, you are not off the hook with the youth of Denver. Here are a few ideas I have to improve the lives of young people across the Mile High City — especially during summer.
As we continue our post-pandemic return to “normal,” it is imperative more than ever that whatever formative years those in the youth population of Denver have left are spent fostering connection, growth and fun that was missed during the time of isolation. It is somewhat in the nature of teenagers to end up in places they aren’t necessarily supposed to be, but it’s also hard to find places to go and things to do that are welcoming to teens and encourage youth participation.
I believe it would be beneficial to create spaces and times specifically designated for younger age groups in public spaces. I love the idea of city-sponsored outdoor movie nights, shown in parks during the summertime. There are already some free movie nights around the city — but Denver has resources that could bolster them into the place to be on summer weekends.
It’s also important to support creative expression. How about establishing free youth arts festivals, where teens can show off work they’ve created and go to hear live music played by their peers? Having safe spaces and fun events delegated to younger populations doesn’t have to be overly complicated or expensive. The impact small efforts would make is huge.
As far as bigger and longer-term projects go, it would be valuable for the city to, working with RTD, continue to focus on expanding public transportation. This would benefit all age groups, but younger people especially. Increasing connectivity across Denver and providing safe ways to travel around the city should absolutely be a priority.
In recent years, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to multiple major cities around the country and world. In most places I’ve visited, public transit was a bigger part of general urban life and reached virtually every nook and cranny of the cities it was in. Public transportation in Denver doesn’t need to reach every nook and cranny — but expansion should be at the forefront of the conversation to improve Denver overall.
If you need some guidance on where to begin, start small. It’s as easy as keeping public pools open all day — not just in the afternoons.
Anya Nitczynski is a rising junior at Denver School of the Arts. Her column appears monthly in these pages.