How Green is Your Convention

Part Two of "Doings in Denver".

I knew that Denver had announced their intention to make the Democratic National Convention the first "Green" convention in history...so I was expecting the recycling bins on every corner. I was expecting the local produce at catered events. But I was not expecting a wooden hotel room key, instead of plastic.



As far as I can tell, the local commitment to the environment is more than skin deep. Judging by the earnest lawn signs throughout town, wasteful watering of the grass is akin to parking your beat-up jalopy on the front lawn back east. And I'll post on another day about the incredible mass transit and the number of bikes and vespas on city streets. It's nice to see.

I confess that I'm a sucker for their pro-Downtown Denver campaigns. They've got one for the general public called "Elevate Your Urban", their pitch that life is more fun downtown (One poster promises "5 pm Salsa Dance Lessons, 7 pm Oysters on the Half Shell, 9 pm Cabaret and a nightcap"). And they have a website to encourage people to move to one of the 11 residential neighborhoods of downtown, called "Center Yourself".

They do make living downtown look fun. Here's a house that I spotted on a street similar to Grand Street in Middletown.


As far as politics go, the city is worked up into nearly a fever pitch as early convention events begin. A few of my family members were at a book signing with Nancy Pelosi when a group of boisterous protesters were ejected for suggesting that she should go back to Washington and impeach President Bush.

I, however, as a devotee of local rather than national politics,
was most excited about the meeting we caught on cable access TV which detailed the work of the local graffiti task force. Some issues are truly universal.