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Quick update. The commuter rail cars are starting to arrive. Source: RTD In 2016 Denver will add almost 70 miles or new rail and BRT with the following lines: East Rail line is a 22.8-mile commuter rail transit corridor that will operate between Union Station and Denver International Airport; Gold Line 11.2-mile electric commuter rail line will connect Union Station to Wheat Ridge, passing through northwest Denver, Adams County and Arvada; I-225 light rail with 10.5-mile through Aurora; 6.2-mile segment of the Northwest Rail Line (guide rail) from Union Station to south Westminster; 18 mile US 36 BRT line from Denver Union Station to Boulder.

Denver Union Station Transit Center had its grand opening on Friday. Below is a few pics from the opening event. It is an amazing project that is transforming Denver in a big way. The historic train station opens in July and will have a new hotel, several restaurants, shops and an outdoor interactive fountain/plazas. (Sorry for the quality of the photos - I just had my phone with me.) And here is a link to video of the grand opening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku03epypAxA

Grand opening for the underground bus transit center will be May 9th with the historic Union Station redevelopment opening in July. All four commuter rail lines are now under construction along with the I-225 light rail line. 3 of the commuter lines and the I-225 will open in 2016 with the North Metro Line opening in 2018. Denver Union Station area draws $1 billion in private development "With construction of the new bus terminal at Denver Union Station nearly complete, the transformation of the historic depot has already drawn nearly $1 billion in private money in the form of new buildings underway or planned on the surrounding 19.5 acres." "In addition to the bus station, the transit hub includes stops for light rail trains, Amtrak and the 16th Street Mall shuttle. Commuter rail lines currently under construction will connect Union Station to Denver International Airport, Arvada and Westminster in early 2016." http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/earth_to_power/2014/04/denver-union-station-areadraws-1-billion-in.html?page=2

If this is true, then the big banks have been caught manipulating/corrupting just about everything. Libor, cartel money, housing stock, etc. Metals, Currency Rigging Is Worse Than Libor, Bafin Says "Germany’s top financial regulator said possible manipulation of currency rates and prices for precious metals is worse than the Libor-rigging scandal, which has already led to fines of about $6 billion. The allegations about the currency and precious metals markets are “particularly serious because such reference values are based -- unlike Libor and Euribor -- typically on transactions in liquid markets and not on estimates of the banks,” Elke Koenig, the president of Bonn-based Bafin, said in a speech in Frankfurt yesterday. Koenig is the first global finance regulator to comment publicly on the investigations as probes into the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, expand into other benchmarks." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-16/metals-currency-rigging-worse-than-libor-bafin-s-koenig-says.html

I stand by my main idea, the recovery is based on, MASSIVE amounts of debt, that can't be sustained. When that bunch bowl is removed the real state of the economy will show its face once again. But, I realized there is limited value in discussing the issue while the FEDs print 1 Trillion dollars a year to make things look better than they really are. This 1 Trillion a year debt binge should tell everyone they are desperate and things are not normal.

I am not sure they can do this in a meaningful way without some very unpleasant side effects. Reality dawns for artificial world created by Fed activism “QE got rid of the headache, but we are hooked on the painkiller now,” says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. “It’s time the Fed moved away from having created an artificial world and allowed the economy to stand on its own.” High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a2f5d320-6740-11e3-a5f9-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2ny06hdeb

Another office building going up at Union Station. Construction is expected to begin in January. Source: http://denverinfill.com/blog/

Downtown Denver (and the region) is just hot right now. There are about 25 major construction projects under way right now in the downtown area. That doesn't include uptown, the golden triangle, highlands, capitol hill, etc. It is pretty impressive and the mass transit effort is at the core of this transformation. To give a quick feel on what the transit means to the region, recently a new fortune 500 company moved from California to Denver and would only locate their new headquarters near a transit hub. They just finished their new office tower across the street from Union Station. But Union Station and all the transit is just part of a much bigger picture. Denver now has over 80 b-cycle stations, and adding another free bus system for downtown along with the current 19 block 16th free shuttle system. These systems will cover almost 40 blocks in the downtown area with free transit and connect the area to Union Station. Construction starts on Free MetroRide "RTD has named and branded another free bus service. The new service will debut next spring, traveling from Union Station to Civic Center Station along 18th and 19th streets. The service is being implemented as part of RTD's FasTracks transit expansion program." http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/ddc_3

I hate these sort of photos that show a mountain range behind a city when said mountain range is at least 10 miles away. I lived in Knoxville, TN for four years, which is about 25 miles from the Smokey Mountains. They would go out of their way to have that mountain range show up in every promotional photograph. However, the average local visited the mountains no more often than people from Ohio. People like saying they live near mountains or near a beach. They like "having" them. It kind of hard to avoid the mountains (14,000+ feet) in Denver views unless your photo is looking eastward only. South views pick up Pikes Peak and Devils Head and northern photos usually get Long's Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park. The Denver metro core does go into the the 'foothills', canyons and valley areas of the Rocky Mountains (Evergreen, Golden, Castle Rock, Morrison, etc.). You don't have to go out of your way to get city and mountain views together in Denver.

Also just announced and now under city review is the The Confluence. This new tower will be 1.5 blocks from Union Station. Anticipated ground breaking is in the first half of 2014. Source:http://denverinfill.com/blog/page/2

Recent pic of the Union Station area. All the current cranes are for private sector projects now underway. Source: http://denverinfill.com/blog/

Do to the altitude, dry air and sunshine that snow usually melts/evaporates very quickly. It can easily snow a half a foot at night and the streets and sidewalks are dry by noon. I think the design is more than just about weather, its that Denver has a culture that embraces the outdoors and the sunshine it gets. Also, everything above ground is connected underground.

Actually Denver is not as cold as many think on average and is one of the sunnier major US cities. "Metro Denver has nearly 300 sunny days a year—more annual days of sunshine than either San Diego or Miami Beach." http://www.metrodenver.org/living-here/climate

That is a very good point. RTD leadership in Denver has taken a very progressive approach to their place in development. They don't just see themselves as a transit builder and provider, they are actively engaged in creating TODs and infill. This is a very unique approach for most transit agencies. But one that I think will catch on over time.

Union Station Transit Hub nearing completion. Source: DenverInfill - http://denverinfill.com/blog/