A taste of reality

During a recent trip to Chicago, I got a heavy dose of reality vs. perception. Part of that is due to media coverage which, in my opinion, is part of why trust in the industry I love and value is at an all-time low.

Before taking the trip with my husband and son, my brother, who lives in Texas, asked if I packed my bulletproof vest.

He was referring to the constant media reports about the shootings and crime in Chicago. Given some media reports — he thought you get o a plane and take cover.

I must admit, I didn’t know what to expect in getting the rental car and hitting the streets to head downtown where my son had some big dream of touching the famous massive bean sculpture. For context, it was from a YouTube video he had watched.

We got downtown and found the huge silver bean and my son touched it. We walked around, crossed streets, and did some shopping. e parks were lovely. e area where kids were playing in a fountain and splash pad were full and vibrant.

You see — the reality is Chicago is nothing like I had imagined from ongoing media reports over the last few years. In fact, I was sad in seeing a vibrant downtown Chicago and comparing it to Denver.

On a recent brewery hopping trip with my brother — Denver’s downtown did not instill any con dence. In our day of walking all over the area, from Coors Field to a few miles away — I saw a lot of problems.

For one, here in Denver, I saw people using drugs on the wide-open sidewalk. To say I was completely unnerved to see that needle and spoon is an understatement.

As kids played in the water and ran around the park in Chicago, I thought about how there is no way I will, at this point, take my children to downtown Denver. A favorite pastime for my family used to be heading down to the 16th Street Mall and exploring the stores and walking and enjoying a nice day.

Today — with boarded-up buildings and an unsafe atmosphere — I will not take my children to my own city’s downtown.

We sit back and hear media reports and judge other cities, but really, the reality is our own backyard needs attention. Downtown Denver and the region need true solutions to our homeless, crime and drug issues.

I feel like everything I write about these days leads right back to this — If our state does not start addressing growing problems in car thefts, drugs, homelessness, and cost of living — families are going to keep leaving.

I know the reality is Chicago probably has a “bad side of town” that I didn’t get to see. However, over three days of traveling to various ice-skating rinks and touring the city — I changed my tune about the Windy City and became a lot more concerned with my own.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Council should support center e school district is currently investing several million dollars within the city with the rebuild of Moody Elementary School, and construction of the Epic Campus across the street from Littleton High School, which is a very innovative new approach in public education. e proposed East Community Center will be a fantastic resource for the children and families living in the northeast neighborhoods in Littleton. I have no doubt that the school district is completely committed to make this center a success and hope that a majority of the city council will recognize the long-term bene ts for the future of these neighborhoods.

The City of Littleton and Littleton Public Schools have had a strong partnership for many years, so I was surprised to read that a couple of city council members seemed reluctant to participate in the funding for the proposed East Community Center, especially since money is available from the proceeds of the sale of the Denver Broncos through the Metropolitan Stadium District, and so is a total revenue windfall to the city.

Jim Woods Littleton

Reminiscing, lamenting — it’s all good

Winning

Not sure about you, but one of my favorite pastimes is reminiscing with friends and family about the good times that we enjoyed over all the years we have been a part of each other’s lives. Oh, the stories change and grow in grandeur over time, but then we all laugh at one another as we realize the tall tales we are sharing about our favorite, crazy, and sometimes even cringeworthy events that we shared together.

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We reminisce about those we have loved and lost. We remember our family and friends as tears build up in our eyes, recounting their most infamous moments that we can recall. And then we think about how angry we were with them at some point in our life, but we just can’t seem to remember why. Has that ever happened to you? It has certainly happened to me.

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A legal newspaper of general circulation in Littleton, Colorado, the Littleton Independent is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225, Englewood, CO 80110 ey decided to focus their project speci cally on E. coli that reaches the river through storm drain runo . e students created several stencils reminding people to scoop their dogs’ poop and to be mindful that water that goes down the

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At a city council meeting on March 21, the group requested permission from city council to move forward with their solution.

“Our project will focus on raising awareness about the problem by spray-painting storm drains (to) let people know (they) ow directly into the South Platte, as well as putting up posters to inform the negative e ects of untreated water and pollution in the storm drains,” Villier, who lives in Highlands Ranch, said at the meeting.