Boulder Transit Village Update

By maninboulder, Unfiltered 10-14-05

A powerful force shaping the future of Boulder’s built environment is the Boulder Transit Village Area Plan. Whether you are an owner and/or user of commercial real estate, or simply a concerned citizen, it is in your interest to pay close attention to and participate in the creation of this plan.

The Boulder Transit Village is to be located on the eleven-acre Pollard Motors site at the intersection of Pearl and 30th. For planning purposes, however, the Transit Village Area is much larger. It encompasses 450 acres extending from Valmont on the north to Marine or the south, and from Foothills Parkway on the east and 28th/30th Streets on the west. Within this area 8,600 people currently work and 200 people reside. With FasTraks bringing light rail to Boulder in the next ten so years, this 450-acre district is poised for a major transformation.

Long before the arrival of the rail service there will be significant opportunities for re-development within this 450 acres. If projects are designed and constructed now to be pedestrian-orieneted, they will be naturally transit-oriented when the light rail arrives. The key is creating connections to the future transit station by way of walking and bicycle paths. If we can establish this framework for pedestrian connectivity, our transit village and the surrounding area has a very bright future.
Our city leaders and planning staff recognizes the potential of transit and its importance to Boulder. On April 26, 2005, the Boulder City Council and Planning Board approved the following goals Transit Village Area Plan:
1. Create a well-used and well-loved pedestrian oriented place of enduring value that serves all of Boulder.
2. Provide a strong sense of community for residents, neighbors, businesses, and the community-at-large through the design of street blocks, scale of development, creation of public spaces and the connections to them, and variety in scale, land uses, and building types.
3. Maximize the community benefit of the transit investment: Locate homes and employment to maximize access to local and regional bus service, future rail, and bus rapid transit and to allow for a transit oriented lifestyle.
4. Support diversity: Include land use and travel options that expand opportunities for employees and residents of different incomes, ethnicities, demographics, and different abilities.
5. Enhance economic vitality: Increase economic activity for businesses, increase revenues for the city of Boulder, reduce transportation costs for residents and employees, and increase transit ridership for RTD.
6. Connect to the natural environment: Create a place that reflects Boulder's commitment to environmental sustainability and "green" building.
7. Engage the public: Create a place that reflects input from property and business owners, residents and adjacent neighborhoods.
In keeping with Goal #7, in August and September there were a number of bus tours and forums sponsored by the City of Boulder to invite citizen input on the future of the Boulder Transit Village Area. I attended the September 17 Future Visions workshop at the Boulder Senior Center. The workshop was very informative and skillfully facilitated by the Planning and Development Services department staff so as to give every voice an opportunity to be heard . I walked away with the sense that we have the makings of an extraordinary plan. Reaching its fullest potential, however, will requires active participation all of the stakeholders.
The next forum on the Transit Village Area Plan will be this evening, Monday October 17 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. At this gathering, which is open to the public, the results of the workshop on Future Vision will be presented. I hope you will be able to attend. Thank you.
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Mark Casey is president of Casey Partner, Ltd. a commercial real estate firm headquarter in Boulder. Mark holds a BS degree in Public Administration from the University of Missouri and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Virginia. You can obtain a copy of the Transit Village Area Plan by visiting http://www.bouldertransitvillage.net . The Colorado Chapter of the Urban Land Institute http://www.colorado.uli.org is another excellent resource for information and education. Our company’s website contains Transit-Oriented Development information and links, as well. Please visit us at http://www.caseypartners.com or Mark at 303-665-6000.

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