Urbanism in Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: condos, houses, employment)

[livecontent]

I came across this recent blog on
"Urbanism in Colorado"

Urbanism in Colorado: An Introduction « 21st Century Urban Solutions

It continues into extensive additional articles on the new urban changes happening in Colorado Cities. There are many outstanding pictures with the articles and really does give you an excellent idea of what is happening along the front range. Be sure to view the extra pictures in Flickr.

Livecontent

[WolfBoy914]

Thanks for the link LC. I look forward to reading more from the author.

[brightdoglover]

Interesting link, thank you.
I am most interested in "urbanism." On the East Coast, new communities that are supposedly New Urbanism still seem to have the flaw of being car-dependent for jobs. Some developer buys a hunk of land, usually a former farm, and builds the houses, porches, alleyway-garage, bike paths, maybe a convenience store and such- but it still fronts onto a crowded highway to go where the jobs are.
I am very interested in infill building. Where I am originally from (south Jersey), there is a good train from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, aka "Gambler's Express." It has a stop in a very crowded suburban area (western Cherry Hill, nearish to Camden, the armpit of the state) and there was a racetrack there. The racetrack was sort of the original anchor for the budding post-war suburb. Now, this being south Philly/Jersey, there was a lot of Mafia developer involvement, right down to the eight-lane highway to Atlantic City some 15 years before legal gambling. The Mafia burned the racetrack down (amazingly, no animal or person was hurt...) when Atlantic City opened.
The Cherry Hill trace was rebuilt at some point, and then re-destroyed later (again, a miracle of no one hurt). Office buildings, condos, etc. have begun springing up on the former track area, and now there is a comprehensive plan to build urbanism/infill housing and business, fanning out from the train stop. It does require a certain density to work, although maybe anything is better than the sprawl that I watched growing up, eating up the farms and forests between Philly and the Shore.
Driving past Denver this summer, I was very impressed with the number of people walking and biking on the path around the city, and how safe and well planned it appeared to be.

[Katarina Witt]

The article was interesting, and it had some nice pictures. However, I think the author needed to spend a little more time in Colorado. He was here what, a week? He talked about the I-25 corridor, yet focused on Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Denver as the epicenters, so to speak, of Colrado urbanism.

Ft. Fun has 118,000 people, and Boulder is nowhere near I-25 and has only ~95,000 people. Both these cities are smaller than some of Denver's suburbs. Colorado Springs, not even mentioned, has 360,000 people, and even Pueblo has 102,000. (These numbers are from CD.)

Most of the "New Urbanist" developments here, brightdoglover, are similar to what you describe in your area. Even Stapleton, which is infill, doesn't have tons of jobs, except in the shops and a few professional offices.

Good entertainment, though.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Katiana

... Even Stapleton, which is infill, doesn't have tons of jobs, except in the shops and a few professional offices...

You are wrong and this is a narrow view of the whole development that went into this property. The Stapleton development is not only the residential area and the development of offices and shops, immediately close to Quebec.

It was not only the development of the terminal and passenger area, for these areas are not the major land area of any airport. This is the an excerpt from the development proposal of the Stapelton Development Corp. that was established to coordinate development and it is still an ongoing project:

...An employment base of 30,000 – 35,000 jobs can be readily accommodated over time on the site. The Havana Street corridor and areas north and south of I-70 provide significant opportunities for creating a manufacturing, assembly and distribution base on the site. These areas offer rail service and interior area above the I-70 corridor provide significant office and research and development opportunities. The area surrounding the existing terminal will become a regional destination offering a mix of exhibition, entertainment, retail, office and other uses. Each neighborhood center on the site will also provide opportunities for employment. In total, the Development Plan allocates roughly 1,200 acres, or 54% of the developable land, to employment use...

Stapleton, as a airport complex, was much larger, which including the runways, north of I-70/270, and the surrounding buffer lands. Remember the Runway bridge that went over the highway. It also included many supporting building for the airport, freight, maintenance etc. on Smith Road and to the North.

The airport redevelopment included many incentives for businesses and industry to relocated to the property. You will see that many warehouse distributing centers have moved the the Northeast and East toward Havana, which was part of Stapelton. A very big complex includes Sysco, the largest food distributor in Denver.

You are completely ignoring the other development companies, enterprises, and even the Shops at Northfield Shopping etc. This is the parcel map of Stapelton, as you can see it is quite large: http://stapletondenver.com/data/uploads/Parcel%20Map%20October%201.pdf (broken link)

I would suggest you take a ride and look over the whole project. I have and I am very much astounded the the massive development of the 4700 acres of Stapelton which will also includes a substantial part to parks and open space. This is a powerhouse development and has not even begun to show the full economic effect in the metro area.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

The quotes talk about what can be, not what is.

What is the employment number in Stapleton now? Do most of the people who live there also work there, as the point of "New Urbanism" is supposed to be?

Charter of the New Urbanism | Congress for the New Urbanism

Anyway, that was not my major point. My major point was that Ft. Collins, Boulder and Denver, particularly Boulder, do not define the urban corridor on I-25.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Katiana

The quotes talk about what can be, not what is.

What is the employment number in Stapleton now? Do most of the people who live there also work there, as the point of "New Urbanism" is supposed to be?

Charter of the New Urbanism | Congress for the New Urbanism

Anyway, that was not my major point. My major point was that Ft. Collins, Boulder and Denver, particularly Boulder, do not define the urban corridor on I-25.

You still do not understand. There is now, at present, operating commercial businesses on the Stapleton Property that employee thousands of people. You just have no idea of the extent of the Stapelton development. It is not only about residential and retail--it is a big commercial project which are happening now. I needed to correct you statement because I did want you to provide erroneous information to the readers.

The article that I posted were just general reflections in a blog about a short visit to the Denver area. It was from the prospective of one who is comparing deficiencies in San Francisco to some success in Colorado. It was not meant to be a complete treatise on urban development along the front range; it was not a complete look at the urban corridor, it was just a snapshot of "urbanism", which was the title of the series, the terms are not the same. You have to understand what you are reading and the context in which it is presented.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

Well, I too did not want to give the readers the wrong impression. Boulder is college town that has an outdoor mall, Pearl St., where it is impossible to buy anything that would meet your daily needs. You can buy a meal, alcoholic beverages aplenty, kites, high-end jewelry, and books that are way more expensive than at Barnes and Noble, stuff like that. I haven't been to the Ft. Collins downtown mall, but my adult kids have, and they say it's more like a "low end" Pearl St.

I don't think the articles even mentioned Stapleton.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Well, I too did not want to give the readers the wrong impression. Boulder is college town that has an outdoor mall, Pearl St., where it is impossible to buy anything that would meet your daily needs. You can buy a meal, alcoholic beverages aplenty, kites, high-end jewelry, and books that are way more expensive than at Barnes and Noble, stuff like that. I haven't been to the Ft. Collins downtown mall, but my adult kids have, and they say it's more like a "low end" Pearl St.

I don't think the articles even mentioned Stapleton.

I have long ago lost my over fascination with the Pearl Street Mall. As you say, it is not a self contained neighborhood. It is really just for entertainment and the shops serve that need of frivolity, fluff and fun. To me it is just a place to watch people and from time to time, I take myself up to Boulder and sit and dream.

However, it did provide a stimulus to other cities to close off streets to cars and provide a meeting and strolling place for people. Fort Collins is similar to Pearl Street and I do enjoy that purpose, to stroll and look. So, goes the other places of open space congregation without cars, albeit some of them do provide better basic shopping--as in Stapleton and Englewood.

The more street that we are able to close off to cars and provide better pedestrian access is great for all of us. They are not quite the old European Squares but they do provide a relaxing interlude in a busy city. Even small closed street is enough to provide a relaxing corner, just as you see Fillmore Street from 1st to 2nd in Cherry Creek and Ninth Street Park in Auraria.

Ah, but the 16th street Mall in Denver and the extension of Downtown to the Platte is really a great urban development. I have walked over all those bridges and I am astounded by the development. It really is surrealistic to me as I remember the dark and dank commercial area and 16th Street before the mall. It just need some good basic shopping to make it complete. I go to that area often as it is very close to my house--about 4 miles to the Highland Bridge. In the future, it will be an easy trip for me to downtown, as I live within walking distance of a station on the Gold Line--about 5 minute trip to Union Station.

Livecontent