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YourHub.com \\ Denver \\ Stories \\ Sound Off \\ Letter to the Editor

Another 'view' of Ruby Hill towers issue

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Contributed by: YourHub.com on 8/8/2007

Dear Mayor Hickenlooper,

Please allow me to share with you my thoughts about
Ruby Hill Park.

When Neighborhood leaders made me aware of a battle
begun with Xcel over "piercing the view plane" on Ruby
Hill Park, I was intrigued.

I see some of the disputed towers from my front
windows and have for 34 years. But they are probably
three miles away and their grotesque, ghostly and
skeletal frames were just a fact of life.

But our neighbors, who are Presidents of Ruby Hill and
Athmar Park Associations, Jan Marie Belle and Karen
Cuthbertson respectfully, wanted action! They sought
wider participation and I liked the idea of broadening
their discussion.

Besides, I heard from friends and family living in San Diego California who had achieved concord with their utilities and City Hall, that many
of their lines were successfully "undergrounded."

So I imagined new vistas, trails and bike paths where
easy access would tie Denver closer. Power lines
placed below ground but still in easy reach with no
large structures built above them...buried but
accessible. A vision of old Easements becoming new
Pathways on a map of the future.

Winter storms would pose no weight concern.
Maintenance would be easier and less frequent. Safety
for children with kites would be assured. And when the
weather turned humid, folks living nearby would not
hear the "ferocious humming" characteristic of
overhead lines.

The concept seemed to provide a win-win for both Xcel
and the surrounding Neighborhoods. The aesthetics were
obvious, homes and businesses would be worth
more ... only the financing to do the work needed
consideration.

The Neighbors found a reasonable voice and planned
approach through Mr. Robby Robinson and his firm the
"Center for Applied Research". Robby showed how we
could address financing and also detente with Xcel and
the City. He gave examples of successful outcomes for
several Neighborhoods and Energy companies and
Cities ... across the Country.

Today Denver has impressive achievements such as
Denver International Airport, a burgeoning network of
development tracking with light rail and its'
stations, improving schools, a rebuilt/preserved
downtown and a wonderful Library. However, like any
well run business, cities must continually move and
change with the times.

Denver has developed so far and so fast thanks to
visionary Mayors Federico Pena and Wellington Webb and
those terribly important City Council Members and
Citizen groups who worked with them. Together these
"Doers" brought us into the 21st Century with pride,
sharpened vision and a greater love of Denver.
Doubtless, you share this love.

Mayor Hickenlooper, together with today's City Council
you must imagine your own City, build your own
legacies and lead us onwards. But what will this Mayor
and City Council accomplish that will make Denver and
all Colorado proud down the years to come?

You already have both accomplishments and worthy
plans.

Planting trees is good. Finding homes for the homeless
is admirable. Upgrading public transit is vital and
expanding light rail with its' smaller carbon
footprint is exemplary. Your new Justice Center and
Jail will be monuments to a progressive and far
sighted Administration.

But I believe that to tie our city together
harmoniously, we must have easy access to all our
neighborhoods ... without paralyzing traffic grid-lock!
One pressing need within cities is accessibility.
City-wide accessibility.

Visiting in the Netherlands, we saw bike paths with
painted lanes, stop signs and even small stop
lights...since so many preferred these avenues to
travel...walkers as well in their own lanes. These
routes provided healthy aerobics even for older folks
like me. I believe that a broad network of healthy
walking and biking paths should wherever possible
supplant and thereby reduce the noise and congestion
of Denver's streets and thoroughfares.

We need a city with more parks! A city with
recreational and rest areas available throughout the
city's parks and with developed "new byways", a city
easily connected with even its' farthest neighborhoods
in reach of everyone.

No Neighborhoods should be left behind. No part of our
great city should be marginalized and neglected. Only
when all of Denver's neighborhoods are developing can
we present all our citizens opportunities for a better
life for themselves and their children. We need
balance in our neighborhoods because Denver is hemmed
in and must develop internally. We cannot afford to
waste whole sections of Denver!

I believe that corridors built years before with only
the thought of moving electricity now can provide
avenues of travel for the whole city. We need to look
at this opportunity with open minds and we can
accomplish a beautiful network of paths and parks.
This City Council and Mayor can be remembered as
visionary and astute.

Together with your neighbors, Mayor Hickenlooper,
please take this opportunity to improve a park. Let's
see beyond this particular view plane and look
forward.

We must re-learn ... that for a myriad of reasons ... all
of Denver's view planes are important! This is exactly
why your predecessors put them into ordinance.

Ruby Hill Park is simply the logical place to start.

Thank you,
Ray Anderson Ehrenstein
of Overland Park Neighborhood
2122 South Fox St.
Denver, Colorado 80223-4112
(303) 698-0337
raymondehrenstein@yahoo.com

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