Info from the City on the expected impact of the Democratic Convention. Which is kind of funny, because on the one hand it’s all, “Hey! Convention! Tons of people spending bucketsful of cash in the city!” while at the same time it’s all, “Hey! No worries! Crowds not expected to be that big!”
Mayor: DNC Won’t Paralyze Denver – Politics News Story – KMGH Denver
While as many as 50,000 visitors are anticipated between Saturday, Aug. 23 and Thursday, Aug. 28 — including delegates, assorted guests and 15,000 members of the media — it is important to remember that this is less than the number of people that come downtown for Rockies’ Opening Day or for a Broncos game. Denver has hosted games in all three downtown stadiums at the same time, involving close to 150,000 people. The Convention visitors — who won’t all be downtown at the same time — will spend significant amounts of time inside the Colorado Convention Center, Pepsi Center and other event venues. Downtown restaurants will be open for business — and should be able to easily accommodate local diners as activity on the convention floor takes place between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.
We support the rights of people to express their views safely and in a manner that respects the rights of others along with local, state and federal laws. The 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston attracted 10,000 demonstrators. Some peaceful demonstrations are anticipated in Civic Center, Skyline Park and other downtown parks during the week of the Convention.
As a point of reference, approximately 75,000 to 100,000 people gathered in Civic Center Park for a May 2006 rally, and it did not inconvenience downtown businesses, residents or City services. The annual set-up for the Downtown Denver Partnership’s Taste of Colorado will also begin in Civic Center on the Wednesday of the Convention week.
Should be interesting.