How To Save Denver’s Nightlife
With Halloween coming up tomorrow, we’re thinking about everything that goes bump in the night. But the importance of Denver’s nighttime economy far exceeds the one-night-only, trick-treat trading that’ll be going down tomorrow evening. For years our nightlife has been both a big business and the scene of high-profile violence — particularly around let-out time late at night in LoDo. Youth on Record co-founder Stephen Brackett saw the nightlife conundrum first-hand coming up in Denver’s music scene — then he picked up some innovative ideas while touring the world with his band Flobots. Now he’s bringing it all together with ONE Denver (formerly 87 Foundation), a new non-profit working to create a safer (and more profitable) nightlife scene for everyone. Host Bree Davies sat down with Brackett a few months ago inside ONE Denver’s HQ, aka the old El Chapultepec to learn more.
For the latest on Brackett’s quest to create a formal Office of Nighttime Economy, Westword recently reported on the name change and Brackett’s experience on Mayor Johnston’s transition committee for arts & venues.
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