State of the City: Hancock Says Denver's Boom Can Work For All

DENVER, CO – By Alex Burness, The Colorado Independent Mayor Michael Hancock spoke optimistically of a Denver at a crossroads during his State of the City address Monday morning.

One hundred years ago, he said, the city faced a similar intersection.

“Denver had to decide how it would manage record growth. Would we become a city for people or factories?” he said. “Mayor Speer and the people of Denver chose a bold path to build City Park, Civic Center and new auditoriums, to improve streets and lighting, create better stormwater systems and so much more.

“Of course, there were skeptics. But the people of Denver chose to grow their way.”

In a 43-minute speech before several hundred people inside a packed gymnasium at the new Carla Madison Recreation Center on Colfax Avenue, Hancock, 49, said the city he’s led since 2011 is once again growing on its own terms, and for the better.

“Denver,” he said, “is on the rise.”

But many critics are dismayed about which people and institutions in the city, exactly, are rising, as Denver’s overall housing affordability declines.

Hancock presides over a city where gentrification has crept into historic black and Latino neighborhoods, displacing — sometimes voluntarily, often not — longtime residents. He presides over a city where discontent and anger has grown among those shunted to the margins of the city’s boom.

Hancock says that Denver can be a city that works for people across demographics and socioeconomic conditions. He repeatedly acknowledged the challenge of growing Denver in an inclusive manner.

His speech included the word “equity” 18 times.

“The equity movement we are creating is about neighborhoods and people: Neighborhoods that are accessible, inclusive and affordable,” he said. “An economy that extends opportunity to everyone. A city that preserves its history, character and sense of community, even in the midst of transformative change.”

Read more at The Colorado Independent

Photo by Phil Cherner. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock gives the 2018 State of the City address.

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