Trains
11.27.6
It's a strange sight to me.
Lightrail tracks now run parallel to much of Denver's highway system. The result of over 5 years of work, these trains signify the symbolic end of Denver's T-REX project, which has been plaguing our highways with endless construction since June of 2001.
Denver has always been just a "mid-sized" big city in my eyes. During my travels around the country, I've always marveled at just how small our downtown area really seems when compared to those of other large cities. The more places I've seen, the more I've come to think of Denver as a little kid playing in daddy's oversized shoes.
These trains, however, have given the entire area a certain metropolitan air that hadn't existed before. Each time I see one of them carting commuters across town, I suddenly feel as though I've somehow woken up in New York or Chicago. Somewhere...bigger.
I've lived here for 13 years now, and this is the first time I've really felt that this place has grown.
To be fair, I grew up in Vegas...so I suppose I may have a slightly skewed sense of exactly how fast a city should grow.
When I was a kid, nothing ever stayed the same. Year after year, Las Vegas was the fastest growing city in the nation. Casinos and hotels shot up like weeds. It seemed like everyone in town could remember "when none of this was here."
When I was young, the drive to Baker, CA seemed to take forever, but the past seemed like it had just happened. Old black and white photos of The Strip being built didn't seem too far removed from my own experience. I was almost able to convince myself sometimes that I had been around to see it all happen. I'd find myself staring through aging yellow paper, remembering when none of this was here.
In Vegas, we measured time by landmarks. Each mega-casino that went up helped lead the way into some exciting new era. The Mirage, The Excalibur, The MGM Grand, and The Luxor. These beautiful monstrosities were my passing years...until the day I moved away.
I remember watching helplessly from Aurora, CO, as they imploded The Dunes. It saddened me to see it go. I watched it fall to the ground in its final blaze of glory, and the past was suddenly much further away. Something new would soon rise from the ashes of The Dunes, but I would not be there to see it.
There would be no glorious new era, as this was Colorado, and all of this had always been here.
The Dunes was only the beginning of the implosion trend out there. These days, casino implosions have become Vegas' space shuttle launches. Cold dead husks of vacant casinos loom above the streets for months before being blown to pieces to the delight and amusement of onlooking residents and tourists. Each demolition is now a carefully planned media circus.
Currently, the old Stardust is next in line to be destroyed. In March of 2007, the charges will go off, and it will be no more. I always loved the way the Stardust's lights used to shimmer and dance at night, though. More than once I remember falling asleep to the glow of those lights as we drove through town.
I just wish I could see those lights one more time.
