There is a kind of social learning that goes on when we battle through our urbanized lives day after day. Over time, we become an integral part of the ecosystem around us. Internalizing the many lessons learned, people thrive on the richness of their surrounding environment. They are at home in the world with many insights that enable them to communicate with a mix of people to do business, to buy things and to experience the art and romance of the city.

That high functioning maturity opens our minds and gives us confidence in complicated or rapidly changing situations. That is a kind of confidence based on experience, resourcefulness and knowledge rather than other kinds of power of dominance. A fine-tuned and fine grain urban environment is the medium where an open mind can evolve.

Okay; there may not be such a clear-cut connection between living in cities and developing positive character traits, but there is a lot to be said for the combination of convenience and delightful surprises embodied in our great Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Preserving and enhancing the fine grain, the mix of uses, diversity of residents and the hospitable, but fragile pedestrian environment are key urban design priorities that must be carefully guarded. Every new addition to the built environment and every loss of a street tree or alleyway should be considered in light of those priorities. If those qualities are not valued and championed more, serious tears in the fabric are sure to occur. It appears as if we will soon lose an alley in Uptown.

At a detail level, the jumpy discord of sidewalk design in some of the most expensive new areas of Cherry Creek degrades the pedestrian environment. The public, ground-level face of buildings and the intricacies of grading and site design very often are handled as afterthoughts. The price for that is a less healthy urban world.

The same sensibility that would improve fancy window shopping would also find a way to provide desperate homeless people a safe, visible place to curl up and rest for a while in public without having to block a sidewalk. The science of composing the interface between buildings and the public right of way should aspire to very lofty things, such as accommodating an ever increasing number of people and activities, so social richness and growth are not stifled by mediocre urban design. Some of the most elaborate and expensive street and sidewalk improvements are less successful than a more careful and insightful use of a simple palette of materials and details. Proper street trees, however, are key to enhancing any block on Capitol Hill.

A holistic urban landscape helps sponsor healthy lives where people can be themselves, while encountering people unlike themselves. A strong framework of public spaces, thoroughfares and amenities can carry a variety of buildings and a variety of uses that respond to and support our daily lives.

There are increasing challenges to these views that interdependency is a positive thing, culturally and economically. We hear that the forces of social division are on the rise. At the same time, there is a welcome surge in the vitality of urban America and of Capitol Hill, in particular, since I first arrived in 1978. It’s a case of not knowing what’s good for us.

In some cases, the atmosphere devolves into all sorts of denial of the obvious. While some of us strive to limit our carbon footprint, others devise intricate arguments about how a snow flurry disproves global warming. Air quality in Denver provides a simple, familiar and compelling example of basic scientific facts. In the '70s, you could taste the air and the mountains were frequently hidden by a thick brown cloud.

Decades later, we have more cars, more buildings to heat and more roads that need deicing. With the reduction in auto emissions, the restriction of wood burning and the move away from particulate-producing deicing, we now have cleaner air and better visibility.

Our agreement to problem solve and make sensible policy improved our lives and boosted our economy. Let’s keep the dialogue focused and on simple terms. Let’s forge ahead with urban design values that do more of the same to maintain, repair and enhance the character of Capitol Hill.