“I live my life a quarter mile at a time." -- Dom Toretto, “The Fast and The Furious” (2001)
BY RICHARD JOHNSON
It’s always the million-dollar question for every hack Cheyenne media source during election season: “What are you going to do about downtown?”
What if a candidate came out of the chutes and said, “I’m going to bring back ‘The Strip’”?
You know, south on Central and north on Warren?
During a recent unscientific poll, a question was posed, “Do you know why people
As far as I could narrow it down, “The Strip” faded away between 1999 and 2002. So what do the people surveyed believe led to the demise of a four-decade Cheyenne tradition?
Out of the hundred or so people who the question was posed to, nearly 80 percent said the police killed “The Strip.”
Whether it was hot rodding, drinking, getting high, playing CB tag, showing off your project car or trying to get laid, across the board everyone said they were sick of getting hassled by the police.
These are two examples answers that were sent. Here’s the first:
“You know, I'm not entirely sure. I know in the early ’90s it was still popular. But around ’92-93 the property owners on corners where we would hang out started complaining to the police. So they started coming around and kicking everyone off the private property.
“We used to cruise the parks in ’93-95. My hick friends and I hung out by the boat ramp/peanut pond in Lions Park. The police started hassling us there, too, even when we weren't doing anything wrong. By the time I was in college, cruising the strip wasn't a thing.”
And the second example:
“But really I think it's the cops. Harassing for a missed turn signal. And I don't like cops pulling me over and approaching my car with three cars deep and all of them with hands on their pistols. I'd rather stay inside my home and not get shot.”
Tough police harassment was the top spot, cellphones ranked second.
In the words of one responder, “Teens had cellphones by then, so they could communicate with each other out of the reach of parents without having to go to a central location in town.”
It’s true. Who needs go stand on the street looking for people you know when they are at your fingertips?
Loitering enforcement was in third place.
Section 9.16.060 of city code focuses on juveniles from curfew to the following:
“Public place" means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities and shops.
"Remain" means:
1 -- To linger or stay; or
2 -- To fail to leave premises when requested to do so by a police officer or the owner, operator or other person in control of the premises.
This type of ordinance seems contradictory to current political jargon that says we need to bring more youth and vibrancy to downtown. Twenty years ago, you had it, and you killed it. You have no one to blame but yourselves.
History repeats itself and soon those young people downtown will be in the scariest gang, selling drugs, selling their bodies, breaking private property, playing that loud music and probably taking part in human trafficking.
After 40 years, could it just be something as simple as a generation thing? Did it run its course? Could it return and bring activity to a 20-year atrophic area of the community?
Maybe those competing downtown agencies could team up and bring back “Strip nights.” Cars, loud music, loitering, “The Rat Hole" and most of all fun.
Who am I kidding? They’ll probably say something like, “Were the youth downtown frequenting businesses or making purchases? It sounds to me like they hung out on the street corners. I’m not sure that it contributed to vibrancy."
Food for thought! Unfortunately, businesses downtown aren’t open past 6 p.m., and it’s kind of hard to buy from closed stores.
Richard Johnson is a former member of the Cheyenne City Council from Ward 3 on the city’s east side.
Hello there, I have recently visited Cheyenne. My wife and I have been scoping out the area for a potential move. The one thing that we noticed during the 5 days we were there is that almost nothing is happening. Except for 1 event, the downtown was a ghost town. We did enjoy the carriage ride and the trolley. There is a lot of potential downtown, but that is all it is. I would love to make Cheyenne my home, but I am concerned that potential is the only thing that it will be for some time come.
ReplyDeleteYou would be correct
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Cheyenne and it’s not the same place anymore. People aren’t friendly (especially for a town that was once voted the friendliest in the US). The poverty, low paying wages, identity politics, egregious housing prices are killing the place. They don’t have and never had anything going on, most of my family leaves to CO for culture, dining, events, sports, shopping.
ReplyDeleteI say this yearly on threads, but Cheyenne should have been Deadwood X10. Unfortunately, this town continues to tear down its history instead of investing in it. Nobody wants to visit a place that looks like their own boring community. Cheyenne continually tries to be that place for only two weeks a year instead of a full changeover to that fantasy destination. People want to escape their boring lives. They flock to places where you can see and smell the old buildings and drop some money at the craps tables while carrying around a beer downtown without feeling like you are a criminal. Now that being said, we have seen improvements in the past ten years. New breweries, restaurants, some events. It seems to be one step up and two steps back though on a continual basis. I can't tell you how many times I discuss finding something to do with friends and finding nothing but a deserted downtown with no food past 6pm. I really have wanted to try to make it better and embrace it but year after year I meet younger, very cool people who move here and try too. most have moved to CO by now and I fantasize about it often. it's really unfortunate actually, but its what the majority of the old guard here want, otherwise things would have changed long ago.
ReplyDeleteWow... case in point, one of the only large city wide events is in danger of dying. I remember this was a yearly destination for me and my kids when they were younger. We still look forward to it actually, when we aren't in Colorado.... All our entertainment tax dollars are going to Ft. Collins and it has increased with legalization of weed. Hell, it's probably tripled. https://kgab.com/cheyenne-mayor-the-future-of-superday-is-under-discussion/
ReplyDeleteHello all,
ReplyDeleteAfter my initial post, I was offered a wonderful position in Cheyenne. It really was a job that I couldn't have asked for anything more. However, my wife and I just couldn't see ourselves living in Cheyenne the way it is now. All we could think about was where we would go to do things. I truly believe that Cheyenne could be a really nice place. There is just something not right. Sorry
It’s the smell of decay.
DeleteEvery business for YEARS has lived CFD to CFD. What a rotten shame that the city is still betting on a dying horse. There was a moment before CO had gambling where EVERYONE in CO want to SD to gamble. If WY would have jumped on the wagon at that point we could have grabbed some of that Black Hawk & Deadwood business. Of course Cheyenne called foul and terrified of organize crime. Pfft.
DeleteThere is no way to bring back the strip. True you can get back to cars driving in circles but as long as the property owners don't want people hanging out, it's not going to be anything more than a circle. You can't blame the LE for doing their job. The stip was a lot of drinking, and fighting, and property damage along with it. The owners weren't getting a benefit of their places getting damaged hours after they closed the doors.
ReplyDeleteI graduated in 95, prior to that I spent a lot of time doing the drive. Post, moved away to college and by the time I came back, it was dead.
Downtown Cheyenne is un-fixable with current politics. What percentage of the buildings are either outright condemned, or condemned above street level? Every year that I can remember it seems like the city spends millions on 'studies' of ways to revitalize the area. And then all recommendations are ignored and nothing changes because any change would be change and a chunk of people don't like the thought. And next year they'll do it again. The study will say the same thing, run down buildings, lack of parking, no business. I just saved the city millions.
Turning downtown to something similar to old town ft. collins is always brought up, along with the complete lack of spacing to make that happen. The roads are too tight for any real parking, and having 1 parking garage that reeks of urine and serves as a bedroom for those the shelter has kicked out does not make for a good experience.
There's something to be said about preserving 'history' and something else entirely of just making sure every falling down building continues to fall down just for the sake that it's been there. Designing the entire tourist industry around 10 days a year does nothing more than keep a very small subset of the population happy. Dedicating a HUGE piece of land in the middle of the city to only being used essentially for those 10 days is ludicrous.
I lived most of my life in Cheyenne and finally moved a few years ago. Best decision I ever made.