Grade A Music Gear
Music-Go-Round
18541 E. Hampden Ave. No. 128; Aurora; 303-627-0007; musicgoroundaurora.com
Walking through Music-Go-Round on East Hampden Avenue, you’re just as likely to hear a ripping solo from a vintage mini-moog keyboard as you are from a 1990s-era Fender guitar. That’s because this music store has the feel of a musician’s cluttered attic, with instruments, gear and musical curios of all shapes and sizes. Music-Go-Round is a specialized pawn store that will make players of all levels drool. It takes trade-ins, buys old instruments and sells them at a reduced price. Sounds simple, right? Not really. For a music store, that business model is not easy in the era of big box outlets like Guitar Center, a chain that’s essentially turned into the Wal-Mart of music stores. Music-Go-Round has managed to buck that trend as other independent music stores across the city have closed down. Chalk that success up to a diverse stock. Along with the big-ticket items, the store also offers all of the cheaper staples of a working musician. Guitar strings, picks, quarter-inch cables, tuners—Music-Go-Round sells them all for a reasonable price. That’s not all. The one-of-a-kind store also offers other important tools for the aspiring musician. In lesson rooms set up in the store’s back hallway, students can learn guitar, bass, piano, drums and saxophone. The store’s continued success is proof of the power of adapting with the market. Two years ago, they moved to their present home in the Seven Hills Shopping Center off Tower Road, and have kept working to update the way their business works. The store is a treasure for any Aurora guitar player, drummer or bassist who doesn’t want to schlep all the way to Denver for simple gear. It’s also a gem for those looking to find that retro axe that’s just not manufactured anymore.
Grade A Place to Get Your Garden On
Nick’s Garden Center & Farm Market
2001 S. Chambers Road; Aurora; 303-696-6657; nicksgardencenter.com
We live in a high-plains desert, pure and simple. The soil in Aurora is a mix between sand and clay, and the plants that grow here naturally aren’t always pretty to look at. Case in point: Big sagebrush wouldn’t look good on a boutineer (believe us, we’ve tried). Luckily, Nick’s Garden Center and Farm Market has plenty of answers for gardeners facing the challenging limits of Aurora’s native dirt. The place is sprawling; there’s a hydroponics section, supplies for backyard ponds, a full nursery for trees and plenty of fountains, pottery and other decorations to spruce up your yard. Nick’s also hosts a farmer’s market every year, and the coming fall months will see pumpkin weigh-offs, mariachi bands and tractor rides. But all of those elements are just fancy frills. The real lure of Nick’s is in its plants. Bonsai trees, perennials, hanging baskets, azaleas, portable spice gardens, cacti, edible bulbs and fresh fruits and veggies—Nick’s has all of them in spades (forgive the gardening pun). This huge selection changes with the season, which makes the feel at Nick’s different every month. It’s enough to make any devoted gardener drool. That stunning selection comes along with a well-versed staff that’s quick to offer expert advice about everything from mulch to retaining walls. The business has grown impressively since Nick Ortega first moved his fledgling business to Aurora in 1994, and the city is all the richer for it. Nick’s helps living in the desert manageable for those who want to see their garden grow all year long.
Grade A Staying Power
Fanfare (or whatever’s left of it)
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Aurora’s infamous Fan Fare building. For one, we’ve learned that bulbous roofs weren’t a lasting fashion trend. And we’ve learned that if you build it, they might not come, not even if you wait almost three decades, and build it on one of the city’s busiest streets, and offer ample parking. But the biggest lesson the oft-criticized building can teach us is this: None of that really matters if nobody likes you. Yes, Fan Fare—or Fan Fair, or Fanfare, or whatever the preferred nomenclature is today—is almost universally disliked. The people at city hall are so excited by the building’s imminent demise it wouldn’t be a shock to see a few city leaders pop champagne when the bulldozers finally topple the most dilapidated denizen of Havana Street. Even the building’s owners have scrambled for years to get rid of Fan Fare. Other than a few well-intentioned but ultimately unsuccessful local history buffs a few years ago, nobody has really tried to save the ugly duckling. Now, it looks like Fan Fare’s days are finally numbered. Crews spent the bulk of 2013 clearing out asbestos from the building (and we’ve heard they had to clear out waist-high piles of bird droppings, too). And this fall, the bulldozers are scheduled to roll over Fan Fare, scraping the old, ugly and weird building from Aurora forever. But, after sitting empty for about 90 percent of it’s half century on earth, and having been roundly despised by pretty much everyone, the soon-to-be-gone building’s staying power is something to be commended.
Grade A Fight/Dispute
The Fight Over Denver International Airport
Get a front-row ticket because this is the closest you’ll ever be to watching Denver and Aurora duke it out. The prize to whoever wins? Millions of dollars in taxes from future economic development around the Denver International Airport. The road to the battle started when Adams County residents agreed in 1988 to relinquish about 55 square miles of land so Denver could build DIA. But there was a caveat: Only airport-related development could occur on that land. All other tax dollars from future economic development around DIA proper would go toward Adams County and its communities, including Aurora. Aurora and Denver have been known to spar over who gets the better end of an economic development deal. But things really heated up earlier this year when Denver Mayor Michael Hancock unveiled a new development plan called “Airport City,” that calls for the development of businesses in aerospace, logistics, renewable energy and agrotech to be built on Denver’s airport property. Say what? To Aurora, that feels like Denver is thumbing its nose at the 1988 promise. Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan put on his boxing gloves and sent missives to Denver this spring and summer. In letters, Hogan lambasted Hancock’s idea, using diplomatic-cuss words like “unacceptable” and “unfair.” Adams County, too, punched Denver in the gut by declaring a “notice of default” asking Denver to return Adams County property because of Denver’s proposal to violate the 1988 agreement. Denver considers itself the front-runner in the fight because it’s, well, Denver, and says it’s confident that all parties will reach an agreement by the end of the year before a bloody, bruising lawsuit happens. Lawsuit or not, it’s clear that both sides will put up a fight.
Grade A “We Should Have Thought of That”
RTD Light Rail Realignment Near University Hospital
When planning for a massive public transportation project with a half-billion dollar price tag, engineers and executives spend countless hours deciding where to align the train tracks. Right? In the design phase, they pay as much attention to the facilities surrounding the tracks as the tracks themselves, don’t they? Not quite. At least, that wasn’t the case when RTD officials planned the light rail tracks around the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. In the biggest “Oops” moment of the summer, Aurora’s future FasTracks light rail line had to move half a mile north from the hospital campus in order to protect research equipment and machines that detect cancer and tumors—or in other words, save lives. Trains, as it turns out, not only carry passengers but also carry electromagnetic waves that put medical devices at risk, including nuclear magnetic resonance imaging machines and MRI machines. RTD officials knew that in 2009. But redesigns weren’t done back then because economic troubles and RTD’s budget woes pushed back the opening date of Aurora’s light rail line to about 2040—just in time for light rail systems to be a thing of the past. So, RTD officials had to go back to the planning stages and try again. They realigned the tracks onto Fitzsimons Parkway as a solution to the campus’s electromagnetic interference concerns. All that did was create an uproar at the Morris Heights neighborhood, whose residents say they will be effectively boxed in by train tracks and their treasured Sand Creek Park will be destroyed by the light rail. RTD is trying to assuage their concerns, but this second round of design plans is set in concrete. You win some, you lose some.
Grade A Use of Taxpayer Money
Red-Light Cameras
The city doles out taxpayer money for projects that sometimes leave Aurora residents seeing red. Literally. As in, red-light cameras. Cops swear by them, saying they reduce T-bone accidents and punish those who endanger lives by blatantly driving through stoplights. Aurora drivers, however, including us, just swear at them. One flash after the traffic light turns red, and boom. Your photo, license plate, vehicle make and model and dating history are in the Aurora Police Department’s database, and you’re wondering what just happened. “It was pink!” “The yellow light was shorter than an eye-blink!” “S*@!” A few weeks later, you’ll receive a fine in your mailbox. That’s what you get for running a red light in Aurora—at least for another year, as lawmakers in July approved an annual contract with Xerox State and Local Solutions Inc. to continue operating the systems at 14 intersections. Last year, 60,000 tickets were written to these red-light transgressors, and the city raked in $3.2 million. The city pays $1.9 million annually to run the systems, including operating costs and salaries of three police officers that review videotapes of infractions. The cameras, by the way, are so high-tech they can see the expression on your face as you give them the finger, and the label on the lipstick and mascara you were applying when you ran the light. We could think of a zillion other ways to spend that $1.9 million instead of going all Big Brother on Aurora residents. Libraries. Pools. Recreation centers. Road improvements. Parking at future light-rail stations. According to the Internet, more than 1,140 people agree with us, as evidenced by the “No Red Light Cameras in Aurora” Facebook group. We hear the beginnings of a red-light camera revolt when it’s time to renew the contract again next year.
Grade A Grind
Music City
9758 E. Colfax Ave.; Aurora; 303-537-0116
Anyone who tells you they know what they’re gonna see on East Colfax Avenue is a liar. The gritty stretch of road through northwest Aurora is one of the more colorful thoroughfares in the country, with a steady stream of eclectic people shuffling about. But it’s not just the denizens of the Colfax Corridor that might surprise you, it’s also the businesses that populate its store fronts. Chief among those is Music City at 9758 E. Colfax Ave. The store is far from your typical music shop. Granted, they sell the occasional guitar, harmonica and other instruments, but Music City specializes in an instrument that rarely gets the attention it deserves: the organ. The small shop near the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in the Aurora Cultural Arts District boasts a remarkable selection of some very rare and very pricey organs, some that cost well into the six figures. And the staff there is about as knowledgeable about organs as anybody on the planet. Music City has moved a few times over the years, from a storefront on Colfax in east Denver to the Aurora Mall before settling in the current locale. They may sound like an odd fit for Colfax, but if you’ve ever strolled down Colfax, you know the out of the ordinary is the only thing that truly makes sense there.
Grade A Blues
The Zephyr Lounge
11490 E. Colfax Ave.; Aurora; 303-364-8981; zephyrloungecolorado.com
The Zephyr is exactly what you’d hope a blues club would be: a little rough around the edges, a little comfortable and a lot dark. Thankfully the club that owner Myron Melnick has worked so hard to build is all of the above, which is why it’s one of the best blues rooms in the metro area. Situated on Colfax, west of the medical school in a neighborhood that’s—ahem—looking forward to better times, The Zephyr is Aurora’s blues club of record. Regional heavy hitters frequent Myron’s spot and play the small, but usually packed, room every weekend. The drinks are good and cheap, and the stage is close. So that’s good. There are regulars there, which can be intimidating, but the crowd is a good mix on weekend nights of people looking for live music and looking to crawl into the bottom of the nearest bottle. Perfect for the blues, we’d say.
Grade A Pedal Pushers
Adventure Cycling
4361 Parker Road; Aurora; 303-699-2514; adventurecycle.net
The difference between enthusiasm and passion is not a fine line. John Barvik and Erik Swanson make the distinction clear. The two owners of Adventure Cycling understand that the only bad thing about being on a bike is having to get off it. These two former racers and their staff passionately believe that everyone, and that means everyone, should saddle up for a better life. It doesn’t matter whether you need a ride that can hang on while taking bumpy asphalt turns at car speeds, or if you remember biking rather fondly the last time you did it decades ago, John and Erik spread the love. They know that there is no more satisfying sensation than pedalling along under the Colorado sun. Fast or slow, off a steep rocky trail or along the paved side of a lake, the residents and the terrain out here were made for biking. The passion at Adventure Cycling is clear because it’s not just about a bike sale. Sure, employees love to gush about the favorite Surly frames and the amazing things that Yeti engineers come up with, but the ride is what counts. Each weekend, Adventure folks gather other believers for a ride around nearby Cherry Creek reservoir. Everyone here wants to share the pleasure that comes from seeing the world at 15 miles per hour just a few feet off the ground. Besides hosting regular local rides and the passionate talk about techniques, hydration, components or the sweetest rides in the state, Adventure folks sponsor events such as fall rides to the Western Slope and plenty of advice or leads on group rides near and far. But more than anything, it’s anything and everything about the passionate love of setting gravity aside and pedaling past life’s burdens.
Grade A Nerdy Kitchen Warehouse
Cresco
751 Billings St.; 303-343-3333; crescodenver.com
You know the type. There’s a breed of human that can open your most overflowing kitchen drawers and tell you not only what every weird utensil is called and what it’s for, they can give you tips on using it. Kumquat zesters, egg slicers and tomato corers? Hah. Kid stuff. The real foodie nerd wants an honest-to-gawd aluminum pizza peel with a finished wood handle. If the blade isn’t at least a foot wide, forget it. You won’t pick up what most of us would call a giant pizza shovel or massive pancake turner at your local “gourmet” store. You gotta go where the pros go if you’re gonna suit up for that adobe bread oven you’re planning in the backyard. Cresco is the place where you can not only get a stock pot big enough to make osso bucco for your whole family, but it won’t cost you as much as your mortgage to add it to your collection. Don’t think that this venerable restaurant supply store is just about the weird, the obscure and the industrial size, they’ve got cool, too. You don’t have to wonder how loudly your friends would gasp when you whip out the authentic looking “silver bullet” martini shaker that was all the rage during the Deco era—think Thin Man cool—you can get one yourself for a mere $30. More than anything, this is a place that sells useful stuff for serious cooks. You can get rubber spatulas with strong handles that last forever. You can get a bacon press that fits in your cast-iron skillet. You can get sheets of parchment big enough to reach across any cookie sheet, and cookie sheets that take one hell of a beating. And if you don’t have the right-sized cookie dough disher, you haven’t lived. If putting dinner on the table has been some of the best times of your life, welcome home.
Grade A Ride
Stampede
2430 S. Havana St.; Aurora; 303-696-7686; stampedeclub.net
Don’t roll your eyes, partner. The Stampede is as Aurora as three-story walk-ups and strip malls and you know it—it’s in our DNA. Actually, the big brown bar on Havana between Parker and Iliff is a rip-roaring good time, and it’s a must for everyone at least once. Our favorite draw, aside from the boozy country dancing and the people watching, is the bull riding. That’s right, you don’t have to go messing with horns and cowpies to ride a bull in these parts, cowboy. Mosey down to the Stampede to get your fix of mechanical bull madness. The operators there can be gentle, if you ask, but why would you? Riding a mechanical bull is a once-in-a-lifetime feat of strength that you only (want to) experience once. The pros go there sometimes to practice, so saddle up and hope you get lucky and make it all eight seconds. After all, you already pounded a fair amount of cheap PBR so it’s not like it’ll hurt that much, right?
Grade A Fishing Hole
Quincy Reservoir
18350 E. Quincy Ave.; Aurora
Would you believe that record catches are pulled out of Aurora’s reservoirs every year? That’s right. The land of 1,000 lakes doesn’t have much over us. Each year, hundreds of anglers head to Aurora’s shores and waters to drop line for the next big one and Quincy Reservoir is among our favorites. The locale is fairly inconspicuous, along a suburban road nestled in between houses and a quiet neighborhood. There’s dock access, but you won’t be bringing your 19-foot Bayliner to this stretch—no gas motors allowed. But once you get here, the water is fine. The city hosts night fishing and it’s serene at the very least, great fishing at its finest. But the competition for spots is fierce, so we suggest making reservations well in advance for those nights.
Grade A Al Fresco Shopping
southlands
6155 S. Main St.; Aurora; 303-697-5000; shopsouthlands.com
Aurora’s heritage as a suburban paradise wouldn’t be complete without malls. We’ve still got a few, and while Southlands is still the new kid on the block, it’s one of our favorites. Now, as malls go, this one is a lot like the other ones: you’ll find the Gap and applicable clothiers alongside chain eateries and a movie theater. Call it commonplace, but thousands of people each year call it convenient too. But where Southlands exceeds is in it’s open-air attitude. Yes, we’re not sure we understand the logic of building an outdoor shopping mall in a climate that prides itself on chilly winters and mountains full of snow, but Southlands designers built in quite a few open fire pits to warm up on chilly nights. The main street for the mall is always lit like Larimer Square and the effect is pleasant instead of plastic. And of course, there’s the ice skating rink in the middle of main street toward the end of the mall that turns into Aurora’s own Rockefeller Plaza during the winter. cider—and save their ankles too. We like the atmosphere, and thanks to eateries, there are plenty of places to eat, make a date of it and relax.
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