In November 2004, voters in the Denver metro region went to the polls and, much to the surprise of some political observers, decided to tax themselves to begin the nation's largest ongoing expansion of mass transit.
If all goes as planned, the Denver region is expected to build 119 miles of light rail and commuter rail by 2016. Among the projects are six new lines from Denver to the suburbs, including one to the airport, the extension of two other light-rail lines and a new rapid transit bus line.
It's a relatively unusual approach. Constrained by a lack of money, most cities build one or maybe two lines at a time. In Denver, they're betting the entire system can be built at once.
As with any massive public works project, there are reasons for skepticism. The projected cost of the program -- called FasTracks -- has grown from $4.7 billion to $6.2 billion because of rising construction costs, before construction has started. Transit officials and politicians continue to insist that each of the new lines will be built, but cuts will have to be made, perhaps in the form of smaller stations or lines that have only one track.
Denver's willingness to invest in itself is not surprising. In the past three decades, the city has built three new downtown sports venues, a stunning art museum, a 1.5-mile downtown promenade with free shuttles and a sprawling international airport.
A new mini-city is being built on the site of the old airport. And two rivers that slice through town have been restored.
We're going to jettison the usual Q & A format this week and instead focus on a single question:
Question: Can the Southland learn something about transit from Denver?
Answer: Yes.
In 2003, John Hickenlooper was elected mayor of Denver. A longtime civic activist and owner of a downtown microbrewery, Hickenlooper had never held or sought elected office.
He ran on his vision for Denver's future: a vibrant business-friendly city with more parks and more mass transit.
The FasTracks plan qualified for the ballot during Hickenlooper's first year in office.
Although it wasn't his idea, Hickenlooper seized on the program and, using his mayoral bully pulpit, began rounding up support from the suburbs.
"We had 32 different mayors in an eight-county area -- that's small by metro L.A. standards, but it's still an area the size of Connecticut," Hickenlooper said. "We got all of them to support this. Republicans, Democrats, big and small cities. That took a lot of talk. That's where my years in the restaurant business came in."
