YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR “HOW DENVER CAN GET ITS MOJO BACK,” JULY 21 MO’ MO JO If Denver has lost its mojo, that means people are going to stop moving here in droves. Right? Joe Velasco Denver I was shocked to see some of the people who wrote letters in the last issue blamed Westword for the city’s lack of mojo. Some days, I think that Westword is the only reason this city has any mojo at all! You are always re- porting on cool things happening in town, and “telling it like it is.” Keep up the good work. Joe Morris Denver Excellent article. Appreciate you guys. David Seulean Denver I like your newspaper and appreciate this article. Suggestions to stay out later, watch more Avs on TV and smoke more weed in public are all well and good, but they aren’t the aspirational steps needed to make Denver the city it could be. We’re ignoring the realities of living in a high desert town grappling with a new climate era. As much as I enjoy taking in the arterial traffi c on Colfax, South Broadway or Santa Fe while I sip my beer, or riding on bike lanes either built to get you doored or moving the opposite direction of traffi c, making your adrenaline pump anytime someone’s exiting a lot, we need to move Denver’s city planning out of the 1960s car era and into a livable, walk- able, bikable, water- and climate-smart city. Maybe start by shutting down a few streets, or just one, through the Santa Fe art district, so that First Fridays don’t have to contend with 40 mph traffi c and Denverites can enjoy the shops and businesses there throughout the week at the pace of walking or biking. Accelerate the 2A rebate program and leverage the new turf replacement pro- gram to actually give people in single-family homes incentives and support to get off water and fossil fuels. Triple down on sup- porting the humans who live here through the STAR program and housing for all. The city needs to lead a full-fl edged mar- keting campaign to get us off water- and fossil- fueled transportation. Then, hopefully, we can stay here for another generation or two. Tom Figel Denver I read the piece regarding how Denver lost its mojo and how to get it back, and I really enjoyed the article/concept in gen- eral. I love this city, and there are many reasons to celebrate it, yet there are still many other things we should address so that we have even more to celebrate together as Denverites. I’m very passionate about how the city moves. Denver is quickly becoming syn- onymous with the “E-Bike City,” yet we don’t have the protected bike network to move those riders safely. We have a grand vision for Vision Zero, including safe streets and a shift to a multi-modal transportation system, with no progress (and, in fact, the roads are becoming even more dangerous). Still, CDOT and DOTI refuse to fund the redesigning of our streets or the construc- tion of the proposed BRT network because they “don’t have the money,” even though they have record levels of highway fund- ing from both the feds and the state thanks to recently passed infrastructure bills that they could fl ex for such projects, especially if they care to be compliant with the state’s new GHG transportation rules. Then there are the 120 miles of existing rail lines that sprawl throughout Denver’s suburbs while the densest parts of the city remain unserved by rail. The way to fi x this is by planning and building a local underground metro system that is designed to serve the densest parts of the city while also connecting people from the regional/light rail lines into the central core of the city much faster than the current downtown surface light rail loop can provide. All in all, if Denver is to become a true world-class city with lots of mojo to boast about, our transportation priorities need to shift away from the status quo, and these are the types of solutions cities of similar size and stature to Denver are pursuing all over the world. We just haven’t started here (yet). Ian McLeod Colorado Springs VOLUME 45 NUMBER 49 AUGUST 4-10, 2022 W AR T Art Director Jay Vollmar PR ODUC TI ON Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Chris Arneson, Tori Bohling, Danielle East 11 FRIENDLY FACES CRE A TIVE SER VI CES Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel EVERYWHERE It’s showtime: 25 Colorado close-ups over 25 years of South Park. BY EMILY FERGUSON 5 GET OUT THE VOTE Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López thinks outside the ballot box. BY HELEN THORPE 17 A FEDERAL CASE Refl ecting on a decade of dining along one of Denver’s most delicious streets. BY MARK ANTONATION 21 KING OF VENUES Red Rocks is one of the world’s most famous venues, but not everyone knows these facts. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 11 Culture 17 Cafe 21 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 Don’t miss a word! Follow @DenverWestword on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And remember to check westword.com, where we publish at least a dozen stories a day. For a cheat sheet, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/ profi le?newsletter=12003988. 32 Marijuana TOKE OF THE TOWN ................................ 34 ASK A STONER ......................................... 36 STRAIN GANG .......................................... 38 AD VER TI S ING Account Manager Claire Holt Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke, Danelle Trujillo Multimedia Account Executive Katelyn Meeker Operations Administrative Coordinator Heyward Manning Marketing and Promotions Manager John Davis House Account Manager Anna Hortik Operations Manager Maddie Miller Marketing and Events Director Will Wytias-Sobel Digital and Advertising Sales Manager Taylor Wheeler Advertising Director Teri Driskell C I R CULA TI ON Circulation Manager Ty Koepke Circulation Coordinator Chris Speed BUS INESS Business Manager Sarah Dunahay AP/Payroll Specialist Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O ICE MEDIA GROUP Executive Editor Christine Brennan Executive Associate Editor Andy Van De Voorde Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias VMG NA TI ONAL National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin DI S TRIBUTI ON Westword is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1, payable in advance at the Westword offi ce. Westword may be distributed only by authorized Westword distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Westword, take more than one copy of each issue. COP YRI GHT The entire contents of Westword are copyright 2022 by Denver Westword LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, with- out the express written permission of the Publisher, Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Back issues may be purchased for $2 each plus postage from the Westword offi ce (issues older than six weeks subject to availability). The Best of Denver 2022 is $5 plus postage. Story reprints are available for $1 plus post- age; call 303-296-7744 to place an order, or check our archives at www.westword.com. Westword (USPS478230) is published weekly by Denver Westword LLC, 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver CO 80203. Periodicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $50 yearly. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 ® EDIT ORIAL Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. Le Culture Editor Emily Ferguson Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Cannabis Editor Thomas Mitchell Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, Michael Roberts Senior Contributor Alan Prendergast Contributors Amy Antonation, Dustin Bailey, Nathalie Baret, John Bear, Staci Berry, Alex Berryhill, Teague Bohlen, Jake Browne, Hyde Chrastina, Jacqueline Collins, Linnea Covington, Justin Criado, Nate Day, Claire Duncombe, Susan Froyd, Tom Hellauer, Nick Hutchinson, Danielle Krolewicz, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Kristen Kuchar, Cleo Mirza, Ryan Pachmayer, Michael Paglia, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Jon Solomon, Kastle Waserman, Juliet Wittman Editorial Fellow Katrina Leibee Editorial Intern Ana Ortega ON THE COVER SOUTHPARK.CC.COM/WESTWORD PHOTO ILLUSTRATION 3 westword.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | CALHOUN | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | WESTWORD AUGUST 4-10, 2022 PHOTOGRAPH OF CASA MAYAN BY EVAN SEMÓN
