September 16, 2010 • THE VILLAGER • PAGE 13

DEVELOPMENT

digs is a supplemental publication of The Villager Newspaper. Produced twice a month, this new section will feature stories about home improvement and décor, lawn/garden care and landscaping.

digs will also focus on real estate – supplying real estate agents and brokers with a platform to highlight their properties, expertise and services. next edition: oct. 7 Ad deAdline: sept. 30

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HOME & GARDEN

what’s inside

Foundation of your future is already in your backyard Pg. 13

REAL ESTATE Give your home a fall improvement with services from our advertisers, Pg. 14

Fall in love with lawn care this season Pg. 13 Ali’s Cleaning can help keep you tidy this busy season, Pg. 2

digs REAL ESTATEHOME & GARDEN

DEVELOPMENTTHE ViLLAGER NEwSPAPER

Submitted by ALCC

T he calendar may still say summer. But in Colorado, the thermometer is al-ready saying fall-ish.

We’ve noticed daily highs getting cooler and the daylight hours getting shorter. But did you notice the much cooler nights?

Right now, average nighttime low temps are more than 10 degrees cooler than they were on Aug. 1. Cooler night-time lows mean fall is in the air and especially so, for the lawn. Cooler nights combined with few-er hours of daylight slows lawn growth con-siderably. And that means it’s really time to crank down the water and soon, slow down the mowing.

Grass in fall mode needs less water and less mowing the closer we get to the official start date of fall in just a couple weeks.

Even with the grass slowing down, you still need to love your lawn a little longer this growing season with a bit more TLC. Do these fall lawn activities and you will build

a hardier lawn for the winter and see a stron-ger comeback next spring.

• Apply a final application of fertilizer timed around the first day of fall, Sept. 23. Using the same fertilizer you used earlier this season is fine. But if you need to buy more, look for a formulation high in Nitro-gen and Potassium because these minerals are good for the roots.• Core aerate the lawn before winterizing

the sprinkler system. Aeration pulls plugs of soil and sod out of the lawn and these holes open up the soil so that the roots can take in maximum moisture during the winter.

• Zap turf weeds. Here’s your last chance for this year to get after turf weeds. Giving one last round of control will really pay off next spring in terms of fewer weeds at the start of the season.

• Get expert help if you have had fungus or other turf disease or insect problems this summer.

Cultural practices like fertilization and aeration go a long way to reduce disease. But it’s still a good idea to get problems prop-erly diagnosed so you know what to do now and maybe next spring to get problems under control for good.

Need help aerating, fertilizing or treating weeds and diseases in your lawn? For more information, visit www.alcc.com.

your LAWN

By Jennifer Schaufele, DRCOG Executive Director

For several weeks now, I’ve been discussing with you the livable commu-nity principles adopted by

the Denver Regional Council of Governments and how they af-fect life in our region. We’re now up to the fourth of six principles:

Support existing communities

Target federal funding toward existing communities – through such strategies as transit oriented, mixed-use development and land recycling – to increase commu-nity revitalization, improve the efficiency of public works invest-ments, and safeguard rural land-scapes.

Of all the sustainability prin-

ciples, this is perhaps the one most closely aligned to Metro Vision, the guiding plan for growth in our region. Metro Vision was first adopted by the DRCOG Board in 1997, after years of careful devel-opment by the board, staff and a large group of committed stake-holders. Since that time, Metro Vision has been carefully evalu-ated and refined on a regular basis (the federal government requires that long-range plans such as this meet a planning horizon of at least 20 years). Metro Vision guides ev-erything we do at DRCOG, from helping commuters with car and vanpool services, to supporting seniors, to directing the invest-ment of federal transportation dol-lars.

DRCOG directs federal trans-portation dollars to local projects through its Transportation Im-provement Program, or TIP, which is prepared every three years. The TIP includes six years of projects, and you can think of it as a capital improvement program or budget, which describes what we’re build-ing in the near term. As you read this article, DRCOG is asking our member governments to submit projects for the next TIP, which spans the years 2012 to 2017. In preparation for this round of so-licitations, the DRCOG Board of Directors updated the criteria by

which projects are scored, priori-tized, and awarded funding.

Because transportation doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and has to link people with the places they live, work and play, the Board strengthened the connection be-tween land use and transporta-tion in the TIP criteria. One of the central principles of Metro Vision is the urban growth boundary, which helps manage growth in a focused way, purposefully mak-ing the most of land within exist-ing communities and thoughtfully preserving open space.

Transportation projects related to an urban center or rapid transit station can gain extra points in the scoring process to help implement the Board’s goal to create and de-velop more of these areas through-out the region. Urban centers are more densely populated than the areas that surround them, combine land uses like retail, commercial, and housing and are generally pe-destrian and bicycle-friendly and served by transit.

Projects contained within a community’s existing UGB also receive extra points, and if they’re related to a strategic corridor (routes that serve high volumes of traffic), even better. Transpor-tation projects in existing urban centers and corridors are not only desirable because they add value

to those elements, they also make sound financial sense. Building upon infrastructure such as water and sewer and encouraging rede-velopment and reuse of existing facilities is a great way to wring every penny out of the money that was spent creating them in the first place.

The idea of a UGB was origi-nally conceived to encourage de-velopment within the region’s es-tablished perimeters. This devel-opment often takes the form of in-fill or what’s referred to in the liv-able community principle as “land recycling”. The Village Shops at the Landmark development is a great example of land recycling along a transportation corridor. In 2005, a small office building made way for the groundbreaking on what is now a denser and more vibrant site that mixes retail, com-mercial, office space, and housing.

So although this principle has been articulated at a federal level only recently, Greenwood Village has been ahead of the curve in putting this principle into practice, thanks to the Village’s forward leaning and collaborative regional spirit.

Jennifer Schaufele is the executive director of the Denver Regional Council of Governments and a Greenwood Village resident.

Maximize today’s investments by building on yesterday’s successes

During the fall, grass needs less water and less mowing.

Photo courtesy of ALCC

is for ‘nfALL

PAGE 14 • THE VILLAGER • September 16, 2010 digs

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Nissan Rogue SL all-wheel equipped for Rocky Moutanin drivingBy H. Throttle

N issan has named this all-wheel drive prize the “Rogue.” They painted the outside in

an attractive iridium graphite color that makes this a top-notch SUV in anyone’s garage.

Whether a late night drive to a casino or to a ski, resort this all-wheel drive model will get you to the event on time and with excel-lent 26 mpg mileage.

Power plant is a 2.5 liter, 175 hp. engine linked to an automatic transmission with the Xtronic fea-ture that allows drivers to lock in any gear for uphill driving or pass-ing; a great feature that is becom-ing very popular in top-drawer vehicles.

The Nissan Rogue is loaded with special features from the paint to the interior. Very good power and the car is nimble and willing to move quickly and efficiently. It is a good drive and priced at $27,295

with $3,000 of factory options, in-cluding a moon roof, Bose sound system, fog lights, intelligent key and the list goes on with extra features. We all know that a real Rogue is full of tricks, so is this ve-hicle, well named.

The Rogue has rack and pinion steering, independent strut suspen-sion, coil springs and a stabilizer bar, many items found in high-powered sports cars. That ac-counts for the exceptional handling and drive.

Mr. Rogue has a five star front and crash safety rating and a front and side air bag system.

The SUV is comfortable with six-way manual driver seat, a fold down passenger seat and a split fold down rear seat, which is great for hauling skis or hiking equip-ment.

The Rogue is attractive and es-pecially suited for Colorado winter driving with the all-wheel drive feature and spacious cargo areas.

A strong package from Nissan.

The Nissan Rogue has a base price of $27,295.Photo by H. Throttle

By Gary Massaro

L ongtime real estate broker John Fuller didn’t like the name change of his old company, so he opted out

and reestablished himself in an-other arm of the business.

Here’s what happened: Cassi-dy Turley of St. Louis and Fuller Real Estate combined names to Cassidy Turley Fuller Real Es-tate.

“It was called a branding, which is a strange way of saying changing their name,” Fuller said.

He said the re-branding of Fuller and Co. wasn’t in the best

interest of stockholders, employ-ees or customers.

So Fuller sold his share in the merged companies and bought all of the interest in Fuller Western Real Estate, of which he is chair-man of the board and chief execu-tive officer.

“Fuller Western Real Estate was originally formed to handle farm and ranch sales,” Fuller said.

It still does that. But it’s also expanding to sell commercial and industrial properties.

“We still have our logo, our name and our reputation,” Fuller said.

His son, John Fuller Jr., has joined the firm. So has longtime employee Bob Leno.

The company has about 24 employees, the bulk of whom work out of company headquar-ters in Littleton – 7901 S. Park Plaza, Suite 216. Fuller Western also has a fully staffed office in La Veta in southern Colorado.

“We really are busy. And, be-lieve it or not, we are making money,” Fuller said. “This is the worst recession I’ve seen in 60 years. But there is still work to be done. The world is not coming to an end, even though there is a lot of difficulty in real estate. I think attitudes will improve after the elections.”

Perennial Fuller out of one, into another real estate company

John Fuller

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By H. THroTTle

I ’m in love with a Toyota Si-enna SE that is a four-wheel drive and can haul eight pas-sengers, a van type utility

vehicle for all occasions. What a great vehicle for $30,550. How do they manufacture such a ver-satile vehicle for that amount of money?

I had the opportunity to take this “Predawn Gray Mica” paint-ed Sienna on a Labor Day drive to Montrose. Loaded with news-papers, we headed west about 1 p.m. Thank heaven that our di-rection was westward, not among the weekenders trying to get back to Denver on that holiday Mon-day afternoon. The traffic was literally crawling between Frisco and Idaho Springs, thousands of SUVs boats, bikers and campers all at a standstill attempting to get back home.

Tragically, these drivers left their vacation spots to go home early at about 1 p.m. and the road was totally gridlocked. On our way back at 10 p.m., the road was clear to Denver.

The Toyota Sienna was a sheer delight, an engineering wonder of power, comfort, ride and han-dling. It has two electric glide doors for easy backseat entry and exit, another row of rear seats

with an automatic power rear door. It’s so convenient to unload-ing freight, skis, newspapers or suitcases. This is an all-purpose vehicle that can travel across country or make a trip to the local grocery store. It’s a dream car for a soccer mom.

It has a 6-speed automatic transmission that can be placed in the drive position and left there. However, climbing the pass by Georgetown it has the slap-stick option to move from drive to su-per that provides more power and a locked in gear speed for faster acceleration. It was also helpful to shift into S going down hill taking the van out of freewheel-ing mode thereby having to brake less.

Brakes were powerful with ful-ly enhanced power disk brakes on all four wheels. The Sienna is not safety rated yet, but has multiple air bags including new air bags and second and third seat side air bags. This is a large enough vehicle to haul eight adults or a

baseball team of children.The driver’s seat is described

as a “captain’s chair” with eight way seat controls for both front seat captain chairs. They are very comfortable and easy to control with lower electric seat controls.

The XM Sirius satellite radio system is fabulous, KOA fades out about Idaho Springs and 204 satellite channels can be dialed up with every kind of music that is crystal clear. What a treat to have flawless radio without commer-cials for endless hours of great programming.

Best of all is the ride and per-formance; the Sienna is powerful and can really roll down the road making around 26 mpg.

This is a take charge vehicle and provides a true professional driving experience for such a low cost providing extraordinary value for consumers that need a larger vehicle for value, comfort and sheer enjoyment.

The best bargain of the year so far.

digs

Sienna provides best buy for the buck

TheToyotaSiennahasabasepriceofonly$30,550.