The Pepsi Center, the site of most DNC activity

It’s all over, and the votes are in: The greater Denver area did a great job hosting the Democratic National Convention.  Who says? Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, cable TV’s best and brightest fake news show on Comedy Central. In their first broadcast of “Indecision 2008: Guess Who’s Coming to Denver” from University of Denver’s Newman Center, Daily Show’s Stewart warmed the crowd by remarking how “suspiciously friendly” the locals are. “You’re all in very good shape,” he said, and then mentioned mountains, beer, trout, and riding horseback. No surprises there.

While there were protests, there were no major scuffles with police; according to most, the convention went off without a hitch, and Denver looked great. Residents with homes in or near Downtown Denver neighborhoods, Auraria, the Pepsi Center, University of Denver/Observatory Park neighborhoods, Highlands, and outlying metro suburbs with good access to the light rail system were mostly reported unbothered by all the activity. Some even rented their homes out at a premium to attendees from out of state.

And for the types who were either uninterested or annoyed by all the traffic, crowds, and hubbub, getting away from it all was a snap.

In Boulder, there was no indication whatsoever that there was any special event at all just 30 minutes down highway 36.  The same story with areas like Fort Collins, and the corridor between Colorado Springs and Denver. Steven Colbert of the same network’s Colbert Report, however, did tease his audience about how he was staying at the Overlook Hotel, a reference to the movie The Shining which was filmed in part at the allegedly haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.