The Year Ahead desk. Written from the editor's calendar; no interviews yet. When a neighbor takes this desk, their name goes here.
Picture the fridge calendar. Every Thursday of 2027 is penciled in, and you're coming along. One honest aside: it's plans, all of it. Nothing has been reported yet, and some weeks may not land.
Winter first. Week one: The Reset Issue. Quiet workspaces, reading refuges, and I'd be surprised if the Carnegie library stays out. And then we eat through the cold. The quest for the best broth in OCC. A reader poll for the best breakfast burrito west of I-25. A 4 a.m. shift with a Westside baker. Then February: a cocktail lounge audit off Main Street, an Alternative Valentine, pints by the fireplace, and how the vintage and antiques shops survive winter.
Spring opens up. Red Rock Canyon hikes, with lunches after. The carriage house makers working out of alleys. St. Patrick week. And then the thaw, when we find out which counters open their windows. The under-$15 lunch circuit. A patio audit covering shade, noise, pints and dogs. Seed swaps. Coffee roasters. A Territory Days survival guide. A First Friday gallery crawl. Spring tap releases.
Summer gets loud. Hosting out-of-towners without crossing I-25. The Bancroft Park farmers market, booth by booth. Gelato. Where a line cook eats at midnight. Secret courtyards. Quiet Fourth of July viewpoints. Live music on the bricks, and I'm hoping the bandshell gets a paragraph. You pick the coldest drinks. Then the Pueblo chile arrives. Nightcaps and jukeboxes after 10, and I'd bet Mother Muff's comes up. Then a back-to-school pantry run, Uintah Gardens an obvious stop.
Fall, the leg I'm saving. The annual pizza index: Slice 420 against Rustica against Leopold's, and we'll need lots of you to settle it. Golden aspens. Autumn ciders. A locals' guide for after the tourists leave. Ghost signs, spooky lore, wood-fired and cast iron cooking (Front Range BBQ, you're on my mind). Thanksgiving hosting. Best of the Westside nominations. Small Business Saturday. And then a Black Friday antidote at Section 16 and Bear Creek.
December: a 100% Westside gift guide, a winter lights walk, the Best of the Westside winners, the solstice and quiet patios, and a last issue called Looking Ahead.
Every week also carries a civic item and an oral history. A 40-year diner regular. A couple who met at Bancroft in 1988. A chile roaster of 25 seasons. A dishwasher who worked 300 shifts. A high school senior looking at the Westside's future.
Tell me which month I got wrong, or which place I forgot. The pencil's by the fridge, and I'll see you the first Thursday.