Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Denver's once blighted LoDo neighborhood is a poster child for urban revitalization,
with hip residential lofts and dozens of bars and restaurants. Young college grads flock
here from across the US, with an eye toward pairing an outdoor, weekend-warrior lifestyle
with a high-paying tech gig.
Another industry has gripped northern Colorado, and we aren't talking about the
marijuana industry, although that's growing, too. Known as the Colorado Clean Energy
Cluster, there are now 32 clean-energy companies working together to promote and pro-
duce green energy in the Denver-Boulder area. In 2013, Colorado was ranked among the
top states for business by CNBC.
Not everyone is happy about the direction Colorado is taking. In 2013, representatives
from eight counties in northern Colorado started a movement to secede from the rest of
the state, citing their dissatisfaction with the growing urban-rural divide.
Red State, Blue State
Politically, Colorado is a mixed bag. There's a longstanding tendency of the state to vote
Republican. Its conservative streak is rooted in an evangelical base in Colorado Springs
and ranching and mining interests throughout the state.
But there are plenty of progressives here too, particularly in Denver, Boulder and
throughout the Front Range. This is how Colorado managed to vote for Obama twice. In
2013, the state approved gay civil unions. Then there's current Colorado governor John
Hickenlooper, a Democrat and former geologist turned entrepreneur who helped transform
Denver's LoDo. A Quaker, he is beloved by Colorado progressives, and has promoted ini-
tiatives such as gun control , legalizing marijuana and a sustainable development program
called Greenprint Denver.
But liberalism has its limits here too. Guns are a hot-button issue. After lone gunman
James Holmes killed 12 moviegoers in an Aurora movie theater shooting on July 20,
2012, new stringent state gun laws were passed. But gun advocates lobbied hard against
restrictions and, in September 2013, two Democratic Colorado state legislators were re-
called for supporting the laws.
