Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper

Interview with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper

Editors Note: “Culture first, commerce follows.” So Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper told adobeairstream senior editor Leanne Goebel in Pagosa Springs. They met as Hickenlooper continued his campaigning for governor and talked about instituting a bike share program in Denver, and launching Denver Biennial of the Americas.

The Wesleyan trained geologist had Wynkoop Brewing Company and was an entrepreneur involved in selecting the Hamilton wing architect, Daniel Libeskind, who gave Denver its first controversial new museum architecture. Succeeding some of the LoDo infrastructure of Wellington Webb, this charismatic mayor is now a family man and liberal who is proud of the 80 percent energy savings the Denver LED traffic signals achieved, and the planning process for livable cities that looked at passenger trips treated as a watershed, a flow between pathways, shared use, and less impact on the environment. Being mindful, creative, healthy and prosperous lead innovators to choose Colorado.  Imagine, Hickenlooper said, if all workplaces made the investment to animate workplace halls with art, the boost in morale and productivity.