Developed in partnership with team from MIG and through broad and inclusive community engagement, the plan reflected the voices of residents, businesses, and civic leaders. The result was a shared roadmap that reaffirmed Boulder’s downtown as both the heart of local community life and a national model for vibrant, resilient placemaking.

Downtown Boulder 5-Year Vision Plan

Led by Downtown Boulder Partnership and MIG

Chip - CEO, Downtown Boulder Partnership
2023

BACKGROUND

The impetus for revealing and documenting a community vision for Downtown Boulder was both a push from behind and a pull forward. In 2022, as the world was still in the early stages of recovering from the global pandemic of COVID19, much of how we related to downtown was changing, or at least in question.

Retail, office use, restaurant and entertainment; the core uses of Downtown each were experiencing generational changes. similarly, our collective approach to public space, mobility, housing, homelessness, healthcare and more were all in transition.

From the future, Boulder was looking at many exciting and transformative opportunities; A new hotel and a hotel conference center were poised to break ground in downtown’s neighboring University Hill District. The early stages of an update to the Civic Area, Downtown’s Natural Crown Jewel, were beginning. The community was engaged in conversation about the highest and best use for streets in our commercial districts. The City of Boulder was also working on a number of specific plans, with connection to the Downtown.

All of these variables coming together while in important milestone of the Pearl Street Mall’s 50th anniversary was five years out. We understood that this was more than a plan, it was an opportunity to honor the legacy of one of the nation’s most celebrated pedestrian districts while looking boldly toward its future.