This Is Denver, Colorado
As I've traveled around the state over the last few weeks, meeting with media organizations and blog contributors, one of the questions I've received most frequently is "why Denver?" Indeed, at first glance, the Mile High City doesn't necessarily seem like a natural market to follow Chicago and New York as the third HuffPost Local Section.
It's only on further reflection that the logic behind choosing Denver becomes apparent. In spite of its small size, Denver has become a destination for young professionals and businesses. This influx of a young, educated work force has turned Colorado into one of the most politically important states in the country. But Colorado is more than just another battleground state; its political atmosphere is a reflection of the nation as a whole, where population shifts are creating tensions between tradition and change, and where hot button issues like immigration and the environment are felt more intimately than almost anywhere else.
When you couple this with the romantic place that Colorado holds in the national psyche as symbol of the frontier, and a place of treasured natural beauty, Denver starts to make a lot of sense for the Huffington Post.
As I've worked over the past several weeks lining up contributors to our group blog, I've discovered another reason why Colorado will make a great location for a local Huffington Post site: the state is home to some of the most interesting and innovative voices in the country.
From community organizers in Denver to geologists on the Western Slope to CEOs of Boulder tech companies, we've assembled a diverse mix of some of Colorado's most innovative, impressive and tuned-in minds to contribute to our blog. With such an expansive collection of talented bloggers, the blog will provide unique insight into life in this state. We've already received posts tackling local sports, politics, music, business and lifestyles, and that's only the beginning.
In addition, we'll be featuring some of the best news content from our partners around the state. Publications from the front range to the western slope will be feeding their best content directly into HuffPost Denver And All Things Colorado. With these tools, we'll be able to provide up-to the minute news from Colorado's many diverse locales.
As Denver and the State of Colorado continue to bask in the national spotlight, I hope you'll come to think of the HuffPost Denver as a newsstand for the state, where you can stop to see the latest local news, and an array of opinions regarding the goings-on in our great state -- and join in the conversation. This is your section.
Follow Ethan Axelrod on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HuffPostDenver
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I grew up in JENA, LOUISIANA and have lived in Denver for 30 years....can you just imagine the culture shock? Over the years I've watched Colorado become more and more liberal, which was evidenced in the last Presidential election.
I love my state and almost everything about it, especially it's liberal turn. Thank you, HuffPo for coming. Take off your shoes...stay a while.
Let's compare the REAL Colorado with John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High."
Yes, we've got the soaring Rocky Mountains. Pristine forests, rivers, and clean air. Deserts and prairies too.
Mining companies have forever scarred our landscape with abandoned cyanide leach ponds and poisoned rivers. Oil and Gas companies that will can and will put a drilling rig in your front yard. Contaminate your ground water with frac'ing fluids or methane.
How about those Broncos. Every time it snows during a Broncos game the ski resort reservation lines light up. An industry started by enthusiasts, it is now dominated by corporations that import laborers from 3rd world countries to load charilifts.
The difference between the Colorado McMansion second-homeowners, and the locals, including the illegals, is stark, especially in resort towns. Many locals commute 50 miles or more to bedroom communities.
To get anywhere in Colorado you travel over several mountain passes, many 10,000' or more. The drives are spectacular in the summer. Hell in winter.
Colorado has the healthiest people in the nation. The fewest smokers. Lowest obesity. That's because instead of watching Bronco games, we're out skiing, bicycling, kayaking, or mountain climbing. We're participants, not spectators.
The Rio Grande and the Colorado River headwaters are here. We have Navajo Lake, Dillon Reservoir, and many other whitewater and lake sport activities all summer long.
Colorado is an amazing, and beautiful state.
The two scariest things to a Coloradan? A Texan on skis, and a Californian with a U-haul.
And, btw, it was not the HuffPo, Craigslist or bad Google that brought about the end of one
CO papers, mentioned in this article, in which one of the real and serious causes for the newspaper
misery is nicely laid out, and that now makes almost thrilling reading:
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2004/11/08/story4.html
The latest terrorist plot is coming from Denver. Maybe you can hire the guy that won't be able to drive his airport shuttle bus anymore.
Colorado has been very progressive toward environmental issues, and I hope you will post some good contributors about going green. Seems like a good place to find educated people on the subject.
Denver is one giant sprawl, full of traffc. The airport is over 1/2 hour drive from downtown. Few neighborhood stores. Looking at an apartment, the landlady said I would have to go on the highway to buy any groceries. So lots of driving.
Every apartment has its own A/C and heating and its own hot water heater. This is more expensive for tenants and very wasteful . One big unit is cheaper to buy and run than hundreds of small ones.
So where is the progress?
Hey Huffington Post - so glad we are part of your organization. I grew up in Denver but now live on the western slope near Montrose. I'm happy to help any way I can
Welcome, Huff Post.
TABOR is "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" requiring a majority vote to increase taxes. Of course there are those, as elsewhere in the country, who do not feel responsible for their fair share of infrastructure expenses. They are the loudest when it comes to no-saying and feel no impetus to suggest realistic alternatives or become part of the solution to existing problems. Yet they want their potholes fixed, criminals jailed with no chance of parole/probation, their borders fenced, and their freedoms guaranteed.
Despite the loonies in El Paso County (Colorado Springs) and some rural areas, the rest of us are trying to work together to create a community of shared values and mutual respect, even when we might disagree about specifics.
Colorado is a fabulous place to live, where you are judged on who you are and what you do rather than where your father went to college or the size of your pocketbook.
Denver on the political map...Lets see if Denver can live up to political arena
I'm so happy that Denver and Colorado have joined the HuiffPo-verse ! Having lived here my entire life , and seeing all the changes that have shaped our city and state, I'm ready to share Denver and Colorado with the rest to the nation! Ethan - if you need any more contributors , I'm here, laptop at the ready ....
I'm wondering, why did you invite the Pride of El Paso County (see very far below) into the fold? While I'd love to hear some debate from moderate Republicans, I'm not sure such a thing exists and I really don't want the flame wars that will come when the unrepentant GOPerbots you picked as the token opposition write their real feelings, er, I forgot. GOPerbots don't have feelings, at least none that involve empathy, sympathy, pity or anything other than greed and hatred.
See Ed and Deb Shapiro's Profile
Hey Ethan- I am honored that we have been invited to be part of the Denver HuffPost community. Although we have met through email and the tele I can tell you are right on.
I have lived in Colorado most of my life and believe it ... each day gets better. Everyday I wake up and am so happy to be living here.
I am a ski buff and have skied for over 30 years. Aspen, Vail, Steamboat, Mary Jane, Copper, and local Eldora all are a blast. also Keystone, Teluride, Breckenridge ... I've skied them all
All I can say is
SKI COLORADO you can't miss.
and that is just the half of it. as cycling, climbing and hot springs will soothe your soul.
I LOVE COLORADO
Ed
See Ed and Deb Shapiro's Profile
also A Basin.. as you can ski the A ...sometimes till June (Loveland is another hotty)
I once skied the A in July
I also skied St. Mary's Glacier and Loveland Pass in my wilder days!
Ethan, welcome. I, too am an adopted son of the Centennial State so my advice: Ski a lot. Hike a fourteener. Go to Palisade in peach season for the wines. And enjoy every bit of that renowned natural beauty we call home.
Welcome to Colorado HuffPo!
Just don't forget that there's a lot more to the state than Denver/Boulder.
Yes, unfortunately, we still have El Paso county. Can't we give them to Texas or something?
More congratulations for going to Denver. And more alerts about Colorado Springs, for both the civilian and the military extremists in that beleaguered city. HuffPo will be the ultimate breath of fresh air there. And as a nee-Axelrod, I'll say a special howdy to non-cousin Ethan (I'm not related to David, either).
I spent a year writing a book about the stranger aspects of Colorado and can cheerfully testify the state has a lot more going for it than just Denver and its environs.
Very true, WeirdW. I lived in CO for a greater portion of my five decades than in any of the other states I've lived in. The Metro Area is the best urban/suburban area between Chicago and San Francisco, so Denver should definitely be included here at HP, although I don't see many comments here yet.
I love Colorado in many ways, Each area is beautiful in its own way. The climate is great, although I've grown tired of snow. Even though it can be 60 degrees one and with a blizzard the next, still, I can do without shoveling and driving in snow.
I must say I liked Denver best in the '80s before so much growth happened. That time between being a Cowtown and the almost-24-Hour rush hour on I-25. Rents were still very affordable and the local music scene was fantastic. I miss those days.
Ah, the memories.
I was there in the 80s and lived it and loved it. No regrets.
Hey, you can always check out Fort Collins. Still way smaller than Denver/Boulder.
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