Day: July 29, 2024

The Hottest (and Coolest) Neighborhoods in #Denver: All five of Denver’s hottest neighborhoods are located dowtown — Westword

Denver residents experience between 12.5 and 4.9 degrees of additional heat depending on their location in the city. Climate Central. Credit: Climate Central (https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/urban-heat-islands-2024?graphicSet=Urban+Heat+Island+Map&location=Chicago&lang=en)

Click the link to read the article on the Westword website (Hannah Metzger). Here’s an excerpt:

July 26, 2024

In certain parts of the city, Denver residents face temperatures up to twelve degrees higher than they should be, according to the Urban Heat Island index released this month. The index from Climate Central estimates how much additional heat different areas experience based on their built environments. On average, Denver is 7.84 Fahrenheit degrees hotter than air temperatures just outside of the city, according to the index, with the temperature boosts ranging from as high as 12.5 degrees to as low as 4.9 degrees per census block group — more than a seven-degree difference. By neighborhood, the averages range from 10.95 to 5.50 degrees hotter. The index analyzes 65 major cities across the country, with Denver ranking 48th for overall average temperature increase. However, the Mile High City jumps to 17th place for most residents living in areas that are at least nine degrees warmer. Over 49,000 Denver residents live in such areas, according to the index…

All five of Denver’s hottest neighborhoods are located downtown and border one another. The top three coolest neighborhoods are all on the far northeastern edge of the city, nearing Aurora and Commerce City. The only centrally located neighborhood to crack the top-coolest list houses the 160-acre Washington Park. The Urban Heat Island index estimates that Denver’s temperature increases by census block groups. Westword combined the data for each of the city’s 78 neighborhoods, averaging the temperatures of the census block groups as they fall within neighborhood boundaries. Here are the top five hottest and coolest neighborhoods in Denver, so you know where to seek relief during the next heat wave:

Hottest Neighborhoods

5. Civic Center
9.13 degrees hotter
Bounded by West Colfax Avenue to the north, Broadway to the east, and Speer Boulevard to the southwest. Includes the Denver Art Museum and part of Civic Center Park featuring the City and County Building.

4. North Capitol Hill
9.66 degrees hotter
Bounded by East 20th Avenue to the north, Park Avenue and North Downing Street to the east, East Colfax Avenue to the south, and Broadway to the west. Includes the Fillmore Auditorium and the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

3. Auraria
9.70 degrees hotter
Bounded by Cherry Creek to the northeast, West Colfax Avenue to the south, and the South Platte River to the northwest. Includes the Auraria campus, housing the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State University.

2. Central Business District
10.85 degrees hotter
Bounded by 20th Street to the northeast, Broadway to the east, West Colfax Avenue to the south, Cherry Creek to the west, and Lawrence Street to the northwest. Includes the Colorado Convention Center and part of the 16th Street Mall.

1. Union Station
10.95 degrees hotter
Bounded by 20th Street to the northeast, Lawrence Street to the southeast, Cherry Creek to the southwest, and the South Platte River to the northwest. Includes Union Station, Commons Park and part of the 16th Street Mall.

Sunrise over Sloan’s Lake in Denver July 27, 2024. Wildfire smoke creating the colors.

Tribal access to water – filling a key gap — John Fleck (InkStain.net)

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act Funding Handbook

Click the link to read the article on the InkStain website (John Fleck):

Congress set aside substantial sums of money in 2021 and ’22 in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to address needs for access to safe, clean drinking water. But, as John Echohawk puts it:

“While the appropriation of funding for infrastructure is a critical first step, it is only that – continuing and concerted efforts must be made to ensure that Tribal communities are able to access and deploy this funding and that meaningful gains are made in reducing the water access gap in Indian country.”

Echohawk makes those comments in the introduction to the new Handbook from the Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities project, out today. The challenge now is for Tribal communities to navigate the complexities of federal funding process which are, to see the least, a significant challenge.

We’ve written about this challenge before in this space – a staggering 48 percent of tribal homes, according to the Universal Access project’s analysis, lack access to reliable water sources, clean drinking water, or basic sanitation. Money helps, but getting the money to the communities that might benefit requires negotiating a maze of federal process.

The new handbook (link to the handbook and a summary document here) outlines the many different pathways and requirements to translate Congressional intent to water projects on the ground.

The report is crucial for helping move down the path. Also, bonus points to the team that put it together for the stunning Tara Kerzhner photos.