Denver residents can look forward to two decades of strategic growth and urban development, following the Denver City Council's unanimous vote on December 8th to adopt the Far Southwest Area Plan, as reported by the City and County of Denver. Crafted with input from locals and city planners over 18 months of community engagement, this plan carves the path for neighborhoods like Bear Valley and Marston to blossom over the next 20 years.
The initiative, led by Denver's Community Planning and Development Department in partnership with Council District 2, was birthed from a desire to create new plans for these communities and CPD's Neighborhood Planning Initiative launched nearly ten years ago "Creating plans in areas that never had them was the reason CPD launched the Neighborhood Planning Initiative almost a decade ago," CPD Executive Director Brad Buchanan said, as per City and County of Denver, and Buchanan's sentiment echoes the comprehensive effort put forward to ensure the plan's policies reflect the local voice, District 2 Council Member Kevin Flynn explained that Southwest voices and vision are clearly represented in this plan’s policies, which will inform decisions on growth and change here for the next 20 years transparency and consistency in forward-looking urban design.
Targeting holistic urban improvements, the Far Southwest Area Plan encompasses six principles to guide future policies: promoting complete community centers along key boulevards, preserving quiet suburban neighborhoods, bolstering local businesses, enhancing street safety to eliminate serious traffic-related injuries or deaths, increasing transportation options, and fostering social community spaces. Each element aims to reinforce the sustainable and connected community's vision for the Far Southwest.
With goals like no traffic-related deaths by 2045 and a commitment to build public places that knit the social fabric of the community, the plan positions itself as a roadmap to a resilient, safer, and vibrant Far Southwest Denver, and "A growing city requires that all parts absorb their planned share, this document will help guide the path so we can sustain the character that either invited or keeps us here, while welcoming the changes this plan anticipates," Flynn asserted stressing the balance between preservation and progress, as obtained by the City and County of Denver.
