Resident Matt Walsworth has lived in Stapleton since the beginning in 2002. He loves his neighbors, the neighborhood, and all the great things Stapleton has to offer. Matt has lived in the East 29th Ave. neighborhood, before moving to Eastbridge, then moving to Bluff Lake, and is now waiting for his home to be completed in Willow Park East. Matt’s family circumstances have not changed, nor has his needs for a different sized home. “I have really enjoyed all of my homes and all of the neighborhoods,” said Walsworth. “And it’s not that I enjoy moving, because, in fact, I do not. However, there is one thing I for sure dislike more than moving, and that is home maintenance. I mean, I don’t want to have to repaint, replace a water heater, a dishwasher, the air conditioning, or any of that stuff. So, I just make sure I have a move in the works every five years or so, so I can get out long before things start breaking down.” Matt’s wife says she is fine with the moves, as it is kind of a fun adventure for the family. “The kids get to meet more friends, and get new rooms,” said Stephanie, Matt’s wife. “They are always a little annoyed at first, but in the end, the enjoy the new place just as much as our previous one.” [Read more…] about Stapleton Resident Plans Move Every Five Years to Avoid Home Maintenance

Forest City has announced the name of its new neighborhood just north of 56th Ave. and east of Central Park Blvd. The new neighborhood will be Beeler Park. Stapleton’s 11th neighborhood will have a unique style of homes, only fitting for Forest City’s vision of “urban plan meets the Great Plains.” “We feel this new home style is absolutely perfect for Beeler Park,” said Forest City President Phil Dargossi. “These new homes are not only Zero Energy ready ™, but they will actually produce energy for neighborhoods throughout Stapleton.” The innovative home styles may seem peculiar to some, but as one Forest City representative said, “at Stapleton, we’ve created a community built on big ideas, and after over 10 years, we’re still writing the book on new ways to live.” This new way of living will definitely be completely unique. Essentially, the homes will be livable, completely functioning wind turbines. “This is the way of the future,” said Dargossi. “Not only do these homes not need any outside energy, they produce energy. And being out there on the plains, they will get lots of wind, producing plenty of energy for the rest of Stapleton. It’s really a perfect plan.” The homes will not be exact replicas of each other, but will be very similar based on the challenges the type of structure presents. “The biggest difference between the homes will be the paint colors,” said Forest City spokesperson Janelle Ayers. “Much like the rest of Stapleton, we will have a unique variety of colors, which will at least give the turbine homes some sort of differentiation. After that, it is up to each buyer’s style to decorate their homes accordingly.” Each home will have a spiraling staircase four stories high. After that, access will be limited to the turbine engineering team only. “This is not just another wind farm,” said Ayers. “It is a neighborhood. But, yeah, it will look like a really neatly painted wind farm. And so much more, probably.” Current residents question how excited buyers will be to live in a turbine. “I’m not sure Forest City understands how loud these things can be,” said Jim Sovran. “They can be extremely loud. I can’t imagine you can out-engineer that noise.” Resident Liam Hanson also has reservations about the new age homes. “Are they going to have addresses or just big numbers on them such as ‘turbine number 114?’” asked Hanson. “It’s completely ridiculous. Forest City has again out-thought themselves.” Many existing residents are already poking fun at the new neighborhood, giving it the nickname “Keebler Park” comparing it to the tree-dwelling, cookie making elves. Final renderings of the neighborhood are not yet available, but Forest City hopes to present them by the end of August.]]>

Conservatory Green resident Chris Rundall has always been supportive of Stapleton figuring out a way to build affordable housing within the community. “We chose to live in the city,” said Rundall. “And a good city has diversity. Not just racial diversity, but socioeconomic diversity as well. Forest City and Stapleton are well behind their affordable homes plan, and something needs to be done. We didn’t move here to live in a private country club. We moved here to be part of the city, with a diverse range of people and backgrounds.” To Rundall’s pleasure, it was recently announced that 165 affordable homes are going to be built by Thrive Homebuilders in the Stapleton community. The homes will be for sale for between $172,000 and $199,900 and will have income qualified standards. “Just great news,” said Rundall. “I’m really looking forward to this project, and hope it is the beginning of many more of these projects. Not only is this good for the community, but it will hopefully start to change outsiders’ opinions of Stapleton.” [Read more…] about Resident Enthusiastic About Affordable Homes Until Realizing They Will Be in His Neighborhood

With the Maverick pool fully operational and making a big splash this year, residents were petitioning hard to open a new pool to be a wingman to Maverick, called “Goose.” The “Goose” pool was going to be a little simpler, not as flamboyant, and would not have all the charm the Maverick pool does, but would certainly be a quality pool. “The residents on the north side definitely need more pools, and we saw the Goose pool as filling that need,” said North Central Park resident and activist Jim Young. “We didn’t think we were asking for much, just an additional pool with a less significant role in the community than our Maverick pool, which obviously gets a lot of attention.” Young had worked with SUN, the MCA, and Forest City in an effort to get momentum to add the pool to the Conservatory Green area. [Read more…] about Plans for “Goose” Pool Spin Out of Control, Ultimately Die

The current plans have been announced for section 10, and among the many interesting features is a park with downtown views. Of course, the views would normally be obstructed by the many Commerce City structures, but Forest City has a plan to make it so the viewing area will allow folks to see overtop Commerce City to beautiful downtown Denver. “It’s not any kind of engineering marvel,” said Forest City spokesperson Janelle Ayers. “We simply plan to build a six story mound of dirt, and then create a small park on top of that.” Ayers says that the surveyors did their homework, and realized six stories is what would be needed to see over Commerce City. “I mean, no one wants to look at that,” said Ayers. “It’s bad enough we have to border it, but we want to give residents a way to see over Commerce City to the beauty and possibility that is our City of Denver.” [Read more…] about Section 10 Update: Giant Mound Being Built to Give Residents Downtown Views Over Commerce City

Stapleton mom Kate Strano recently had her old Kenmore vacuum go out after ten years, and was forced to replace it. “It was a great vacuum,”  said Strano. “Just so reliable. Always got the job done. Sure, we had some tough times, and at times, I questioned the investment. But overall, it was really great. Really…really great,” said a teary-eyed Strano. Strano did her research, and found a solid replacement for ‘old reliable’ in a Eureka model vacuum cleaner. Strano seems happy with the new vacuum, if not content. “It’s doing pretty well so far,” said Strano. “It’s not that it’s any worse or any better, it’s just different. You might say I love it, but I’m not in love with it. And anyone who understands love understands that difference.” Strano believes she eventually could feel the same way about the new vacuum, but she just needs time. “It’s not like a man, which is easily interchangeable. This is a vacuum. Something you develop feelings for and a relationship with,” said Strano. “I have to come to peace with the end of my last vacuum relationship before I can move on in this one.” Despite being lukewarm about this vacuum, Strano really has no complaints. “It’s been satisfying my needs, and doing everything I have asked of it. At this point, I have to accept it’s not the vacuum it’s me,” said Strano. It usually is in these situations.]]>

Logan Klingman is by all standards a pretty good kid. He listens to his parents, teachers, and coaches, and treats his family, friends and neighbors with respect. “He really is a terrific guy,” said Logan’s mother Michelle. “He doesn’t cause much trouble, is good to his younger brother, does well in school. He’s just a sweetheart.” Michelle says he is usually pretty responsible as well. “He always makes sure to get his homework done, brushes his teeth before bed, usually eats all his dinner. We, of course, feel lucky to have him.” Neighbor parents say similar things about Logan. “He is such a good kid,” said neighbor Jenny Nielson. “He’s great to our kids who are younger, and is always respectful to us. We just love living next door to him.” The background information on Logan is what makes this story so interesting. Nothing about Logan points to him being forgetful or irresponsible, yet he recently broke the Stapleton record for water bottles lost in a summer at 12. “It is actually very frustrating,” said mother Michelle. “Whether it be going outside to play, a friend’s house, sporting event, family vacation, the kid somehow seems to lose water bottles. It just doesn’t make any sense.” The latest one was left at a sports camp, which gave Logan the record, with over a month of summer still left. “We don’t know what to do,” said Michelle. “We have considered just sending him off with a solo cup with his name on it and he will have to figure out where to refill it. We just can’t keep spending time and money on purchasing water bottles.” Currently, three other boys are in the running to catch Logan’s record, but it would be a long shot considering each of those boys is only at seven lost water bottles.]]>

The newest Stapleton Facebook Page gives residents a chance to review their experiences at other people’s homes within Stapleton. “There are so many Stapleton-focused Facebook pages,” said page administrator Adam Briggs. “You can promote your business, buy and sell things, and keep track the latest Stapleton crime. Stapleton is such a social place, with lots of backyard BBQ’s, birthday parties, theme parties, and happy hours. People also have lots of guests come in from out of town. I wanted to give people a way to rate their experiences at Stapleton homes.” Briggs says the site is very similar to well-known TripAdvisor which provides user-generated reviews of travel-related content. “We are very similar, but in this case, you are simply rating experiences at friend’s and neighbor’s homes.” Briggs says one of the biggest benefits of the site is that it provides more information and context as to whether a party in the community is worth going to. “We have friends who host a wine party every year,” said Briggs. “It’s an absolute blast, with the only issue being there is a slight chance of being tackled randomly (also known as a ‘party wolf). But, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is lucky enough to get invited. But, I have also been to parties and happy hours where the apps weren’t very good and they had a poor beer selection. I think it’s important to get this information out there so that others don’t make the same mistake.” HoodAdvisor allows users to post a review of a home or party they have been to and give their review by giving a statement and then a ranking on a scale of one to five. “It’s a really simple system,” said Briggs. “We haven’t figured out a system to aggregate the ratings yet, but that is coming. People can always do a search within the site to find past reviews of parties and homes they are considering going to.” Briggs says he’s not concerned about the integrity of the site because Stapleton people are, “almost unnecessarily honest about things in social media. Stapleton residents are willing to point out the smallest of details, no matter how inconsequential.” Next time you have friends over, make sure you go all out to get that five-star HoodAdvisor rating. Or it might be the last time guests come over. ]]>