🏓 How is Denver paying for new pickleball courts?

🍜 Where is Denver’s Best Ramen, Really?

The ramen hype is real, and the editors at The Denver Post are using their annual March Madness local food bracket to figure out who has the best noodles in town. With just the Final Four contenders left in the competition, we spoke with the bracket architect and a ramen expert to examine the votes. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

• Cast your vote: Polling is still open for The Denver Post’s ramen bracket.
• And more ramen! This Saturday, the Stockyards Event Center will host the 2024 Denver Ramen Festival. Tickets start at $95.

🛣️ Council Greenlights Peña Boulevard Study

In a narrow 7-6 vote, Denver City Council has approved a $5 million grant for a study of the controversial potential widening of Peña Boulevard — the only two-lane highway going in and out of Denver International Airport. After much debate, Council OK’d the grant with the request that the study also focus on incentivizing use of RTD’s A-Line to DIA. [Westword]

• Why all the debate? According to some transit experts, a highway expansion is not the answer to our problems on Peña. [City Cast Denver 🎧]
• And to be clear: This project is different from the recently announced, much smaller $51 million Peña Boulevard makeover scheduled to kick off this spring. [Axios Denver]

🏓 How Denver is Still Funding Pickleball Court Construction

With an ongoing humanitarian crisis that spurred budget cuts across all city agencies, you might be wondering how and why Denver is moving forward with plans to construct $2 million in local pickleball courts. The answer: The pickleball money isn’t coming out of Denver’s general fund dollars, but rather a voter-approved Park Legacy fund that must go toward Parks and Rec improvement and maintenance. [Denverite]

This week in our Women’s History Month series spotlighting local women CEOs, founders, and business owners, we’re celebrating the Denver organizations that center on community, giving back, and furthering boss lady legacies. These are local agencies built by women for women and other communities who have historically faced oppression and discrimination.

Community Connection

• Carla Ladd, Denver Black Pages
  An online directory dedicated to empowering Colorado’s small Black-owned businesses.
• Amanda Ogden, the mama’hood
  A virtual and in-person community for new and expectant parents to find emotional and physical support, lasting friendships, and educational resources. 
• Patricia Ann Cameron, Blackpackers
  A nonprofit promoting economic equity in outdoor recreation through education and excursion opportunities. 
  • Psst! Hear from Patricia herself on the City Cast Denver podcast 🎧

Nonprofit Organizations

• Tamra Ryan, Women’s Bean Project
  Founded by Jossy Eyre in 1989, this nonprofit social enterprise / food manufacturer provides job training and employment to women facing social and economic barriers in the workforce.
• Kayla Garcia, Girls Inc. of Metro Denver
  Founded in 1983 by Sonya Ulibarri, GIMD aims to foster safe spaces for young girls and women to reach their full potential.

Businesses that Give Back

• Kristina Thayer, Candelaria
  A retail space for independent female makers and artisans to showcase their work. 
• Hannah Ulbrich, Copper Door Coffee
  Denver’s only 100% female-owned coffee roaster supporting women farmers around the world. 

Hey loyal readers and listeners. We love to hear from you! Got a question about something going on in the city? A spicy take on a trending topic? A dynamite food, drink, or show recommendation? We want to know 💌

🛒 Denver’s Worst Grocery Stores

A ton of listeners called in to respond to our recent conversation on the podcast about Denver having some of the nation’s worst grocery stores (you can skip to 15:20 to tune in):

• Matt P. defends the reputation of King Soopers at 1331 Speer Boulevard: “My KS isn't pretty but it works. … If other people have a problem with that, more for me. I will be affectionately referring to my KS as ‘the Apocalyptic King Soopers’ from now on, ‘cause when the word ends and Denver goes full Mad Max, I know my KS and the UnSafeway will still be going strong.”
• Cara in Clayton puts it bluntly: “I would like to nominate the grocery store in my neighborhood for Denver's worst grocery store on account of the fact that it does not exist. Yep, that's right — Clayton, North Park Hill, this whole area — no grocery store to complain about, so I think we have the worst one by far.”

🥰 And a Little Love

Earlier this week, I mentioned that City Cast Denver’s 3rd anniversary (!) is coming up on March 23! A few of you wrote in with some kind birthday wishes:

• Chrissy from Cherry Creek says: “I’ve never felt more connected to, or appreciative of, my city — it’s thanks to you! Glad I get to spend a little bit of everyday with you guys, chatting with you (even if it’s one-sided for me lol) about what we care about in and around our home.”
• Kimberly J. adds: “Thanks for providing a perfect balance of fun, facts and feelings every day. I love hearing about so many different topics and discovering more every day. I’ve lived here for 50 years and there’s still so much to explore and CCD opens the door every day! Kudos to everyone on the team.”
• 🎂 Our only birthday wish? That you keep reading, listening, and telling your friends about City Cast Denver 🫶 You can also support our work by signing up for our membership program.

Denver's Best Ramen: Inside March Madness for Foodies

All aboard the ramen hype train! The Denver Post is taking advantage of the Mile High noodle craze by making ramen the subject of this year’s annual March Madness local food bracket. So we asked DP editor Jonathan Shikes, the mastermind behind the bracket, to sit down with us and local Japanese food expert Gil Asakawa, to talk about the surprising twists and turns of this noodle faceoff as we near the bracket’s final round.