GEOG 1410 – People, Places and Landscapes
Walking Field Trip: LoDo as a Site of Urban Regeneration
Due Date: 8th November, 2015
For this walking field trip, you will explore Denver’s LoDo (Lower Downtown) neighborhood in order to consider issues related to urban regeneration, including gentrification, transit-oriented development, and the use of sports facilities as a focus for development.
The assignment will be completed in three parts. First, you should read the assigned readings listed below. Second, you will go to LoDo with a group of other students from class and take field notes in response to the questions provided. Use this opportunity to discuss the themes from the articles and your observations of the landscape with your classmates. Finally, you will type up answers to the four questions listed at the end of this assignment sheet. This write up should be your own independent work. Please read this entire packet of information before beginning the field trip.
A. Readings
All readings are posted on Canvas. I suggest you read them in the order they are listed below:
Academic Readings about Urban Regeneration
Rubenstein, J. 2011. ‘Why do inner cities face distinctive challenges?’ In: The cultural landscape: An introduction to human geography. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, pp.418-23.
Matheson, V., Baade, R., Nikolova, M. 2007. A tale of two stadiums: Comparing the economic impact of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field. Geographische Rundschau International Edition 3(1): 53-58.
Holmes, J. and J. van Hemert. 2008. Transit Oriented Development. The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute. Sustainable Community Development Code, Research Monologue Series: Urban Form, Transportation.
Weiler, S. 2000. Pioneers and settlers in Lo-Do Denver: Private risk and public benefits in urban redevelopment. Urban Studies 37(1): 167-179. Focus on section 2.2.
Background Readings about LoDo
1. www.denver.org/things-to-do/itineraries/discover-downtown-denver/
2. www.denverunionstation.org/ (look particularly at the “History and Timeline” section in the gray section at the bottom of this webpage)
3. www.travelmag.com/articles/denver-lodo/
B. The Field Trip
Make sure you have read this entire instruction packet and the assigned readings BEFORE you go to LoDo.
Bring a small notebook with you to jot down your field notes as you walk round LoDo. You can then work from these notes when you get back to campus and begin typing up your final assignment.
Do this exercise with several of your classmates. This is really important, both for safety and for providing alternative ideas and perspectives on the things that you see during the field trip. Be sure to visit during daylight hours.
The trip is designed to take you 3-4 hours to complete, so plan your time accordingly.
In accordance with DU policy, students may NOT take their own cars or carpool with other students. Please take advantage of the light rail from campus. Parking downtown is expensive anyway.
Background information
Denver’s LoDo neighborhood is where the city got its original start in the 1800s and is the oldest part of Denver. Even before European settlers moved west to try to tap the mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains, Native Americans had established settlements at the confluence of what it now Cherry Creek and the South Platte river (at Confluence Park, near LoDo). Union Station, which was first opened in 1881, put Denver on the map as a metropolitan hub for the western United States and was, for a time, the largest building west of the Mississippi River. During the 1980s and 90s, however, LoDo experience a period of economic stagnation that saw many of the historic buildings in the area demolished due to lack of use. Considerable investment in the area over the past 15 years has seen LoDo return to prominence as one of Denver’s most lively neighborhoods, including the recent renovation of Union Station and extensive building of new apartments and services.
Getting to LoDo
The best way to reach the LoDo neighborhood is by the RTD Lightrail system. Start your field trip at Union Station. From the Evans Ave light rail station near DU travel northbound on any E line train and get off at Union Station. (You may also catch a northbound F or H line train, but you will then have to get off at the 16th & California Station and travel down 16th Street Mall on foot or on the free mall bus to get to Union Station.) A schedule for the light rail can be found at http://www.rtd-denver.com/index.shtml.
What to do once you get to LoDo
Once you have made your way to LoDo, you will do FOUR things. All four things can be done as you walk round.
1) Follow the walking tour outlined below that takes you to six significant locations in the LoDo neighborhood:
Union Station – Walk around the newly renovated Union Station. See if you can find some historical pictures that show how the Station has changed over time. What is inside the station buildings? What transport-oriented services are provided here? What other functions is Union Station intended to perform? What are people doing in the station?
Wynkoop Brewing Company – Across Wynkoop St from Union Station at 18th St is the Wynkoop Brewing Company (1634 18th St). This brewery was one of the first businesses to help kick-start the revival of LoDo in the mid-1990s, and was able to entice other businesses to occupy this previously depressed neighborhood, bringing commercial business back to downtown from the suburbs. Stroll past the building and look at the surrounding landscape. How have Wynkoop Brewing and the neighboring businesses blended into the old brick warehouses of the neighborhood? What types of businesses are located nearby? From here, head southwest down Wynkoop St to the Tattered Cover bookstore.
Tattered Cover bookstore – Two blocks southwest of Wynkoop Brewing is the Tattered Cover bookstore (1628 16th Street). Housed in one of the oldest buildings still standing in LoDo, the Tattered Cover is a historical feature of the neighborhood. Walk into the store and take a look around. Is this a typical bookstore? Why or why not? See if you can determine why the Tattered Cover is considered a historic Denver establishment. From the Tattered Cover, head to Larimer St. and turn right past 15th to get to Larimer Square.
Larimer Square – This stretch of Larimer St. between 15th and 14th is one of the oldest sections of the city. It has become one of the trendiest sections of town, with many popular restaurants. This is also where the city of Denver (the name at least) came into existence, as it was here that it was decided that the towns of Denver City and Auraria would merge into one town: Denver. Walk up and down the street and look at the new restaurants and stores that line the street. Do any old buildings remain in this area? Are they still serving their original purpose? How has this location been repurposed over time? From here you will return to Blake Street (which you crossed to get here) and walk north towards 20th Street to get to Coors Field.
Coors Field (2001 Blake Street) – Coors Field is the home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. The stadium was opened in 1995. Even though you will not be able to enter the stadium, you will be able to walk around it and get a feeling of what it is like during a game. How do you think this area has changed since the stadium opened? Have all these changes been positive? Who has benefitted and who has not benefitted from this sort of sports-oriented development? Once you have seen the ballpark, head back to the 16th Street Mall and then walk east (away from Union Station) until you reach your final stop: Daniels and Fisher Tower.
Daniels & Fisher Tower – This building at the corner of 16th & Arapahoe was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi river (even though its 325 ft. is now dwarfed by the buildings around it). You will not be able to enter the tower, but consider what it must have been like when this building was the tallest building in the city at the turn of the century.
2) As you do the walking tour, take some time to read the landscape along the way. What types of buildings make up this neighborhood? What sorts of services are there in LoDo? Have any buildings survived from the late 1800s and early 1900s (many old buildings have the date written above the front entrance)? How have these buildings been repurposed? What are people doing in LoDo? What insights do these activities give about the role of this neighborhood? Is LoDo a retail, service, or residential area, or a mixture? Answers to these questions, and the questions listed above related to each stop on the walking tour, will constitute your field notes. You do NOT need to hand these in, but they will form the basis of your answers to the questions below that you will hand in, so effective field notes will lead to a better grade in the assignment.
3) As you are walking around the neighborhood, think also about where LoDo begins and ends. Read the landscape for clues that you are still in LoDo or that you have entered a new neighborhood. As you walk round, sketch your ideas of the boundary of the neighborhood on the map provided.
4) Take a picture of yourself and other members of your group in front of at least ONE stop in the walking tour (except Union Station). Include a copy of this picture with your final write up. You may also include additional photos in your write up to help illustrate important points.
C. The Write Up
You will be turning in typed responses to the FOUR questions listed below, plus the map that you created to show the boundary of LoDo and your group photo. Use your field notes and the readings that you did before the field trip to help answer these questions. Ensure that you correctly cite the articles that you use in your write up, just as you would in an essay. Try to refer to each of the FOUR academic articles at some point in your write up to support the points that you make (i.e., the articles about transit-oriented development, gentrification, and development around sports facilities).
Please keep your responses to no more than four pages of text (double spaced, 12 point font)—any photos and your map may be in addition to the four pages. Although you should go on the field trip with other students from your class, and are strongly encouraged to discuss these four overarching questions as a group during your visit to LoDo, your final typed answers should be your own individual work.
Your write-up will be graded according to the following grading rubric:
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER FOR THE FINAL PAPER YOU WILL SUBMIT
Each of the FOUR questions below asks you to reflect on some key themes relate to a particular issue. You do not have to individually answer every individual sub-question within the four broad topics, but should write a paragraph indicating your ideas related to the issues developed in the questions.
1) What do you think has been the main purpose of the Union Station renovation? How might investing in a transit hub such as this benefit a city such as Denver (think about the transit-oriented development article that you read)? Which specific groups of people do you think are being targeted as potential customers of this new development? Why? Having read about the popularity of Denver’s Union Station at the turn of the century, do you think that Union Station will be able to regain the prominence as a major transportation center that it once had? Why or why not?
2) Many cities choose to encourage major sports teams to build a sports venue in their inner city, sometimes using tax incentives or loosening zoning restrictions to enable them to do so. How might a city like Denver benefit from having a major sports stadium such as Coors Field right in the inner city? What problems might this bring? Are there any disadvantages of using sports facilities as a stimulus for urban development?
3) The gentrification of LoDo started with the preservation of brick façade warehouses in hopes that businesses would be enticed to occupy these historic buildings. How much of the LoDo area do you feel consists of these preserved buildings, and how much is new construction? How do you feel the arrival of Wynkoop Brewery as a pioneer occupant ushered in the revival of LoDo? What neighboring businesses in the historic warehouses do you feel were able to help contribute to the revival, and how did they contribute? What is it about LoDo today that would attract you to revisit the neighborhood at your own leisure?
4) Referring to the boundary map that you created in your field notes, consider how you decided where to place the boundary of the LoDo neighborhood. Where do you think LoDo starts and ends? Why did you decide to draw your boundaries where you did? (Note that if you Google “LoDo map” you will find a map showing one idea of the extent of LoDo. We are not interested in whether or not your map matches this one. Instead you will be graded on the quality of your ideas of how to decide where LoDo begins and ends. There is no right or wrong answer to this question.)
Make sure you include your original map from your field notes (or a neatened up version of it) with your final assignment when you submit it. Also, you must include a photograph of yourself and at least one other classmate at one of the sites specified in the walking tour.
Maps: Use this map to assist you with navigating around the downtown neighborhood and for your answer to question #4