CHECK ENGINE.

AuthorRandies, Jeff
PositionRUNDLES WRAP UP

A year ago or so my wife let me know that the "Check Engine" light was on in her car and wondered if I thought it was a problem. I write about cars, but I'm no mechanic, so I suggested we drop it off at our excellent mechanic just to be sure. When he called me I braced for some $300 problem, but there was no charge because the gas cap hadn't been secured, and that, as it turns out, causes the "Check Engine" light to illuminate. What a relief; something so simple, and yet it is wise to check with a professional.

A few months later, that pesky light came on again, and I went back to my expert. Unfortunately, this time it was indeed a $300 problem that needed to be addressed--which I did, of course, because I wanted to avoid a $1,000 or worse problem down the road. They put these warning lights in cars for a reason: could be something minor or a harbinger of bigger issues ahead. The advice? If the "Check Engine" light comes on, get it checked out right away.

I think about those incidents as I look around Denver --and the whole state of Colorado generally--and I see warning lights coming on all over the place on the economic engines driving our economy at unprecedented speeds. When you listen to politicians, particularly the economic messages coming from the administration of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, and when you look around at all of the investment in commercial and residential real estate, I at least get the distinct impression that the economic engines are humming along nicely and that the road ahead looks clear and traffic-free. But I wonder. I see warning lights. Could be a misplaced gas cap--a minor adjustment--or it could be imminent breakdown. My advice? Pull over, however briefly, and get it checked out.

I am especially curious, even bewildered, by the recent flap over the "Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014" sign placed on the Five Points neighborhood Ink Coffee House. Most everyone has quite rightly characterized it as insensitive, and the Ink corporate office has called it an inadvertent and ill-advised joke, but make no mistake: When they put that sign out there they did so with pride; they were boastfully taking some small measure of credit for cleaning up the 'hood, as it were.

That gentrification of such neighborhoods is highly detrimental to poor people and the historic character of the neighborhood is axiomatic, but look around. Every neighborhood in Denver--and many places around the...

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