Looking for Inspiration: The 16th Street Mall in Denver

By Eric Richardson
Published: Tuesday, July 05, 2005, at 04:22PM

Eric Richardson

DENVER — As I've mentioned, I was in Denver over the weekend for my cousin's wedding. Sunday afternoon we had a little time before we needed to be at the airport, so we decided to go check out the city's Downtown. Particularly interesting to me was the 16th Street Mall, a 16-block pedestrian mall oriented toward retail, restaurants, and nightlife. My mind immediately made the connection between this street in Denver and Broadway here in Downtown. What would Broadway look like as a pedestrian mall?

If anywhere Downtown could work as a pedestrian mall, I think Broadway's it. After the jump I'll explain why.

(And yes, I know the picture isn't exactly of the mall, but it is in the middle of the northern bus turnaround. And I just liked the sign.)

I think Broadway would be a perfect pedestrian mall thanks to the non-auto uses of the street today. When you look at the crowds on Broadway you see either people who have either driven Downtown and parked nearby (but largely not on Broadway) or people who have taken transit. I would think the percentage that do the latter is remarkably higher than in most other retail contexts. That's why it doesn't seem to me that the shops on Broadway would suffer if auto traffic was banned -- their customers don't tend to drive to the door anyway.

Any pedestrian mall longer than say the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica needs some sort of transit. In Denver the 16th Street Mall runs sixteen blocks. That's a long way, but the mall isn't hard to navigate. A free Mall shuttle bus runs up and down its length, using vehicles that look like the buses you'd find at an airport. They're low-floor buses with multiple boarding doors. Since there's no fare, there's no need for people to board through one door. The buses stop every block.

A similar setup could run up and down Broadway. I would think a Broadway pedestrian mall would be significantly shorter -- perhaps from 1st to 9th or so -- but it would still be nice to have a way to get from end to end. This could also be the perfect context in which to bring the much talked about trolley line to the old theatres and right next to the new residential population.

On the 16th Street Mall the sidewalks and transit lanes are surfaced with the same stone, but there is a little bit of a curb to deliniate the bus path. It gives the width a unified feel while leaving it clear where the buses run. The road is closed to all other traffic. I don't think that they had to widen the street to make it the way it is now; if I had to guess I'd put it at the width of four or five total lanes, plus normal sidewalks. When you make it just one lane of transit in either direction, though, you get nice wide sidewalks that leave plenty of room for cafe seating. Those dimensions are roughly the same as what Broadway is now.

A big problem for the old theatres right now is a lack of parking. Building a large garage in the middle of the Historic Core would seem to me to be a very bad idea, but connecting the theatres to a large garage via an easy (and preferably free) transit connection would fill the needs of theatregoers while at the same time preserving the character of the neighborhood. This connection could run to some new garage built on Broadway somewhere south of 9th, or it could even go to the existing mammoth garage sitting over on Grand.

The goal of this pedestrian mall would be to create a more pleasant shopping environment, and also to create space in which cafes and restaurants with sidewalk seating could open and service both the day and nighttime crowds (to be provided via theatre revitalization).

I think this could be a great thing for Downtown, and I see a lot of parallels in structure to the 16th St. Mall in Denver. That mall seems to be doing quite well for itself, and I would certainly think a Broadway mall would do the same.

Comments

David Kennedy writes:

What confuses me about this post is I don't know what is the problem you assume the pedestrian mall will solve. Most observers tend to either romanticise Broadway or dismiss it outright as a low-brow swap-meet taking up valuable real estate. Typically, these observers don't live here and they'd never be caught dead shopping on Broadway anyways. Of course, I know you're a local and a thoughtful observer of downtown.

Still, I'm very skeptical of plans to 'improve' Broadway, particularly if the existing successes of the street are not respected. Whether or not those of us who make a decent living care, Broadway is a shopping destination for low- income Latinos looking for bargains and values. Any plans to 'improve' the street need to take into account these stakeholders first. Bear in mind, these people have created one of the few living streets in all of Los Angeles. And they have done so for a couple of generations, while the rest of the city abandoned the street for far-flung suburban malls. I'm very wary that 'improvement' means getting rid of the people which the street caters to right now. Now, I don't think for a second that's the case here. However, this impulse has animated plenty of 'improvement' ideas for Broadway in the past.

As for the merits of your idea, there are some practical problems. First and foremost, closing Broadway to vehicles would present a lot of problems. I'd argue the street is a major artery and closing it to vehicles would create numerous traffic headaches. As for someone who lives on Broadway, it would definitely be a hassle for me.

As for reviving the abandoned theaters, I'm skeptical, too. I think the era of the multiplex is here to stay and these spaces, while beautiful are unlikely to be revived as movie houses. Your suggestion doesn't seem to address their weak economics for this purpose. (Although, as an aside, I always wondered why the American Cinemateque wouldn't open a branch in downtown.) A more fruitful approach might be their conversion to nightclubs like the Mayan. If you haven't been there on a Saturday night, you should definitely check it out. The Mayan is an amazing nightclub which brings alive a very beautiful building. This kind of activity could bring life to the street after hours and encourage other kinds of development. It would also compliment the existing activity on Broadway.

I think the biggest problem confronting Broadway is the fact most of the upper stories of the buildings which line it are not occupied. Fortunately, this problem is being addressed, as some buildings are converted to residential uses. This should encourage other businesses to open on Broadway to serve these new customers. It will be very interesting to see how the new condo project at 9th, the Eastern Building, will interact with the street. Will the residents of this very expensive building be part of the street or will they ignore it? It would also be neat if some of these older buildings were converted to funky office space. That, too, would be good for the street.

One problem your proposal would address is bus noise for residents. As someone who's lived on Broadway for over five years, I can say bus noise is the biggest source of noise for residents. The MTA buses have this high-pitched squeal which is overwhelming. No MTA buses. No bus noise. However, the problem would merely be amplified for other residents on other streets.

All in all, I got the sense you got carried away with the interesting details of implementing your idea before determining whether or not it was a truly good idea. Not that I don't appreciate your effort.

# on Jul.18.2005 AT 01:24 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Thanks for the comments, David. I think this ties back to the discussion we had in the comments on my post rebutting Greg Goldin. I don't think the current uses along Broadway need to just go away. I think Broadway is a fascinating place right now and I absolutely agree with you that it is a street that works.

The shops that are on Broadway are the very reason that a model like I talked about could work -- this is a street that doesn't rely on the auto. These shops are full of people who ride the bus here, or ride the subway here, or park on surrounding streets and walk over.

I would think that a pedestrian mall would create a space that's even better for the people who currently come to Broadway to shop. Right now you have massive crowds having to fit into sidewalks that really just aren't wide enough to contain them. I'd love to see those sidewalks opened up, but the only way you can do that is via lane removal. If you remove lanes but keep traffic patterns the same, you create a big problem in terms of congestion. That's why I would limit the street down to transit use.

Now if you look at the 16th Street Mall the only bus that runs up and down it is the 16th Street Mall shuttle. There's a small stretch at the bottom where regular RTD buses are allowed, but for the most part it's just these special purpose vehicles that are very quiet and very easy to get on and off of (multiple loading/exit doors, low-floor). I would see that type of circulator along Broadway, and I'd love to see it in conjuction with a leg of the proposed Red Car trolley. I do not think that Broadway should become more of a bus corridor through Downtown.

As an aside, that squealing noise from MTA buses is ridiculous. I think you would cut bus noise 80% just by isolating and correcting whatever that problem is.

The theatres on Broadway likely do have to be revived as something other than regular movie houses. I think you can look at the example of Westwood Village to see a place where multiple one-screens combine to form a sort of distributed multiplex, but I don't think that's what these theatres are best for. But whatever their use, I think we need to find something to fit them. They're too amazing to just let them go. Something will work there, but for anything to work there must be the infrastructure to get a crowd in and out easily. Nightclub patrons bring just as many cars as theatregoers, and there just isn't the parking on Broadway. That's where a circulator connecting to external parking could work perfectly.

I don't really feel like we're saying different things -- Broadway is a street that works right now but that could be made much better by activating buiding space that is currently empty (upper floors, the theatres, etc). I think the current and future uses could be helped by creating a more pedestrian-oriented space. -e;

# on Jul.18.2005 AT 05:01 PM

Looking for Inspiration: The 16th Street Mall in Denver

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