Yes, in our backyard, let's make our parks safer!
Check out these Non-Toxic Parks grassroots groups advocating that the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation stop using RoundUp, automated and hand-sprayed synthetic fertilizers and tree injections to slow tree growth. Stop the city from using our tax dollars to make our parks less safe and healthy!
Colorado
Non-Toxic Neighborhood Parks Colorado Colorado Advocates for Toxin Education Mancos Healthy Parks Stop the Spray Colorado Springs Women in Sustainability Colorado
We are Denver YIMBYs for GOOD! We decided we didn't like the NIMBY name, because it is a negative term, so we're taking over the YIMBY name – because we are YIMBYs - for good. We say yes in our back yard! We love parks, open spaces, native plants, diversity, and we love small, historic homes. We are against development – Denver has already sprawled over nearly every open space we have, infesting out formerly beautiful historic neighborhoods with ugly multi-units that cover valuable permeable space. And the suburbs are worse, with developments spreading further to the north, east, west and south. To the north of Thornton, for example, former open space and farms have become huge developments of giant box homes as far as the eye can see.
Arguments by developers always state that density will keep Denver from sprawling. Well, from what have seen over the past 10 years, the huge increase of density in Denver in the has not affected or slowed development across our state and country. Our highways I-25 and I-70 are notoriously congested with people "escaping" our current density to go the the mountains, where the air is cleaner, and there is open space, trees, and peace and quiet.
The constant construction, traffic, noise and pollution in Denver makes it a city that people want to escape, not a city that they want to stay and enjoy. Our neighborhoods are becoming concrete jungles with a few strangled trees planted here or there in concrete cutouts along the hot, dry, polluted street. See some photos of a tiny portion of the current development underway below. If Denver isn't full, then how come we are having to build, build, build on every square inch of land available? We need to slow down growth and work on improving infrastructure to catch up with all the current development. Talk of increasing height recommendations in the East Area Plan, for example, is unnecessary with all the building going on around and in it already. The current height recommendations and zoning are sufficient for plenty of growth. Asking to increase height recommendations so that developers can build 5-8 story buildings along historic Monaco is unnecessary and undesired by everyone who lives in this neighborhood.
It's time to slow things down, and focus on the important stuff – like keeping our environment healthy and safe for all life, keeping our blue skies blue, improving public transportation and advocating for protecting and preserving all open spaces, parks and natural areas in our urban areas so that we don't have to take a car trip and a tank of gas to escape to the mountains to be in nature. Let's incorporate nature into what we have left of our open spaces and landscapes in Denver.
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