I have to face facts. Denver has always been a gold rush city. A get-rich-quick-by-any-means-possible-and-move-on kind of place. This was true for gold diggers, and now it's true for developers. Denver still has the cheapest real estate for scraping, and developers flock here for that reason. Now, granted, it is younger than U.S. cities in the East or even North West, but not so young that it has little or no history. The problem is, whatever history exists here is getting harder and harder to find. I know there are many, like myself, who loath the demolition of Denver that takes place every 10 years or so. Having been here 35 years, I don't recognize the place I moved to anymore. Below is a link to a map of Denver scrapes between 2009 and 2014. As you can see, much of the real estate of 2014 Denver is built on what was a place and is no longer a place.

http://khamm.cartodb.com/viz/b8ef1f86-acb5-11e4-882c-0e0c41326911/public_map

I was offered some hope for Denver when it was explained to me that Mickey Zeppelin was working with the RINO community to support sustainable development that is inclusive of artists, history, and culture. I'm not sure Kyle Zeppelin got that memo. Because just when I was thinking I would look for a place to live near north Larimer, I spotted this in the RiNo archives.

That, my friends, is the Source Hotel going up on Brighton Blvd, dwarfing the Source marketplace. And no surprise, it's butt ugly.

So, before I give up on Denver all together and move on, I'm starting this blog with the hope that people will share pics of what was Denver, before-and-after shots of demolition in your area, places that are worthy of their newness because they offer Denver some character rather than robbing it, and comments on how you are coping with all the change.

Many of you will, like me, pack your bags and leave. In the meantime, lets have some fun celebrating, and grieving for what was, our lost city.