{"id":1034,"date":"2011-08-16T22:35:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T05:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2011-08-16T22:35:56","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T05:35:56","slug":"eastbridge-neighborhood-undergoes-image-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=1034","title":{"rendered":"Eastbridge Neighborhood Undergoes Image Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\nThe Eastbridge name designating the far-east Stapleton neighborhood will soon be dropped in favor of \u201cEaWe\u201d, announced Mindy Schmidt, assistant marketing director for Forest City. EaWe is an acronym for \u201ceast of Westerly Creek,\u201d explained Schmidt.\n\u201cTrendy neighborhoods often have a catchy name or acronym. This will help jumpstart our marketing efforts to attract the kind of cutting edge retailers our residents want,\u201d said Schmidt, referring to the proposed town center shopping and entertainment district at Havana Street and MLK Boulevard. Targeted retailers for the town center are Trader Joes, Ikea, and Dollar General, said Schmidt, based on resident surveys.\nThe name change started with a series of focus groups last fall. The name Eastbridge was viewed as too intimidating and \u201cstuffy\u201d, said Schmidt, particularly by people in lower socioeconomic groups that will likely reside in the apartments, income-qualified housing, and emergency shelter being constructed in the area.\u00a0 \u201cEaWe is a very inclusive and welcoming neighborhood name,\u201d she said, referring to their focus group research.\n\u201cOf course, LoDo is the gold standard of neighborhood acronyms,\u201d said Schmidt, but she noted also that more recent names such as SoCo (south of Colfax) and LoHi (lower Highlands) have helped to foster development for those areas.\n\u201cLower Highlands suffered from a lack of identity for years,\u201d said Schmidt. \u201cAs soon as they started going by LoHi, the neighborhood became one of the hottest in Denver. LoHi even got written up in Sunset Magazine. What LoHi did for lower Highlands, we think the name EaWe will do for us here in east Stapleton.\u201d\nOther acronyms considered were SoCoJa for \u201csouth of county jail,\u201d WeHav for \u201cwest of Havana\u201d, AsRemA for \u201casbestos remediation area\u201d and NoNo for \u201cnorth of north Aurora.\u201d The Carwash was also considered, similar to how the neighborhood around Coors Field is referred to as The Ballpark, Schmidt said.\u00a0 However, \u201cCarwash District\u201d did not make it out of the first round of voting.\nAn informal survey of Stapleton residents showed mixed reactions to dropping the Eastbridge name in favor of EaWe. Andy Fecht, who lives on Beeler Street just west of Westerly Creek, was particularly concerned. \u201cIf we live west of Westerly Creek, does that mean they are going to start calling our neighborhood WeWe?\u201d\nOnce the re-branding of EaWe is complete, attention will be focused on the Southend name which designates the neighborhood bordering Montview Blvd. Schmidt noted that commercial leasing agents have long since played off the Southend name, referring to the area as the \u201cDeadend\u201d. This is due to the extensive number of business closures and vacancies in the area. Two coffee shops, a Vietnamese restaurant and a real estate office have closed over the past few years.\u00a0 \u201cA new name for the south side might give us the same fresh start we\u2019re going to get with EaWe,\u201d said Schmidt.]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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