ABSTRACT
Place-luck, Denver's locational advantages, is a significant but an insufficient explanation for Denver's historical transition from 'waterhole' to a self-proclaimed world city. This chapter highlights how local politics and a deliberate civic investment strategy shaped Denver's spatial advantage in the 1990s. In Denver, many major redevelopment initiatives-the convention center, Denver International Airport, the Colorado Rockies stadium, the Central Platte Valley redevelopment-blossomed during a period of regime change headed by Latino and black mayors. The economic busts of the 1980s opened the window for a new image of the city and new political actors to carry out a civic investment strategy. After the May election, expectations for reform remained high. But Denver's recession created a set of reinforcing constraints and opportunities that shaped Pena's policy agenda and political regime. Although Denver's entertainment-centered civic investment strategy certainly suggests a 'bread and circuses' approach, two distinctive features make this characterization more problematic in Denver.
