David Sachs
David cut his teeth covering transportation, development, politics, education, and art in D.C. He's covered sustainable transportation for Streetsblog since 2015 and has lived in Denver's Cheesman Park neighborhood since 2012.
Recent Posts
Why B-Cycle Ridership Lags Behind Other Bike-Share Cities, and How to Fix It
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When you compare the way people use Denver B-Cycle to the way people use top bike-share systems across the world, it’s clear that our system comes up short. People just don’t ride it that much. What’s holding B-Cycle back from being a great bike-share system? Like other transit systems, bike-share systems are measured according to how intensely people use them. A […]
#StreetFail: Golfers Enjoy Luxurious Sidewalks While Bus Riders Take a Hike
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Here’s a sad joke on Colorado Boulevard. This bus stop near 38th Avenue on the edge of Park Hill Golf Course requires people to walk and wait on a ridge of lumpy dirt. Weeds, plants, and bushes create an impassable route for wheelchair users and a dangerous one for everyone else. The RTD stop is […]
Westergaard: The Key to Bike Progress in Denver Is to Give Up on Bike Lanes
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Neil Westergaard, editor of the Denver Business Journal, wants Denver to slow its roll and stop trying to make Broadway function like a safe city street instead of a surface highway. Denver Public Works, backed by elected officials, will install a two-way, parking-protected bike lane on four blocks of Broadway next month — a temporary measure intended to […]
Hancock Puts Rosy Spin on I-70 Widening in His State of the City Speech
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About 25 miles east of Denver’s urban core, across acres and acres of sprawl and rural fields, Mayor Michael Hancock delivered his annual “State of the City” address at Denver International Airport today. Hancock acknowledged that many residents aren’t reaping the benefits of Denver’s economic growth. Nodding to the city’s homelessness epidemic and housing shortage, he announced […]
B-Cycle Bets Pricey Half-Hour Rate, New Pay Structure Will Grow Membership
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For now, at least, Denver B-Cycle charges more than any bike-share system in the country for a half-hour rental: $7. The new rate, which applies only to people without memberships, is in a two-month test period. It’s part of a larger change to B-Cycle’s fare structure that Executive Director Nick Bohnenkamp says is meant to […]
Artists Are Turning Colfax Into a Canvass Ahead of WalkDenver’s Gala
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Street art adds character to neighborhoods and can make an uninviting place to walk feel a little more inviting. Cue WalkDenver’s “Art on the Ave” contest. The pedestrian advocates asked 14 artists to treat utility boxes on East Colfax as canvasses this month, and they did, turning drab but necessary sidewalk clutter into colorful works […]
Denver Parks and Recreation Puts Up a Parking Strip in Cheesman Park
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The 168 parking spaces in Cheesman Park just don’t cut it, according to Denver Parks and Recreation, so the department recently added 22 spaces between 11th and 12th avenues on Cheesman’s east side. Reserving more space for private cars in the 80-acre public park comes after the East Cheesman Neighbors Association asked Parks and Rec […]
Congrats to the Denver PhotoVoices #SweetStreet Winner
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Earlier this year Streetsblog Denver teamed up with the Community Active Living Coalition’s Denver PhotoVoices project and asked readers to send in pictures that depict streets working well — #SweetStreets. Congratulations to Joshua Palmeri, who captured this sun-drenched scene on Wynkoop Street in front of Union Station. And look — no drivers blocking the bike […]
Denver Deserves a Stand-Alone Agency Devoted Entirely to City Streets
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Denver is growing faster than most cities in the country, and its streets need to catch up. Without rapid changes to make walking, biking, and transit more appealing, the city is going to get overrun by car traffic. Under Mayor Hancock, Denver’s streets aren’t adapting fast enough. The bike lane and sidewalk networks are stunted. […]
#StreetFail: Epic 10-Car Blockade of Denver Union Station Bike Lane
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It happens all day, every day, but this obstructed bike lane on Wynkoop Street in front of Union Station borders on the absurd. Reader Micah Gurard-Levin stumbled upon this impenetrable blockade of 10 cars Thursday and took a video. Notice the extra hazard of the wide open door. The practice of picking up and dropping […]
Creating a Better Place for People to Be Is the Key to a Safe 16th Street Mall
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There are certainly reasons why Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver PD, and the Downtown Denver Partnership decided to up security on the 16th Street Mall. Violent criminals, like the man who was filmed rampaging through the 16th Street Mall hitting people with pipes Wednesday, threaten public safety on the mile-plus transit and pedestrian strip. Targeting criminals […]
A Complete Map of Denver’s Walking Network Is Now Within Reach
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While the Denver City Council deliberates over how to expand the sidewalk network citywide and city officials embark on a two-year process to create a pedestrian plan, advocates have been pounding the pavement to show exactly what needs to change. WalkDenver and the Community Active Living Coalition recently crowdsourced a ton of new data for WALKscope, the app that lets […]