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Regarding the Downtown Character Plan, this letter was delivered from Jacob Smith to the Downtown Character Committee on July 10, 2007.
July 10, 2007
Downtown Character Committee
c/o Mark Heller, Executive Director
Golden Urban Renewal Authority
922 Washington Avenue, Suite 100
Golden, CO 80401
Re: Downtown Character Plan
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to offer my thoughts about the Downtown Character Plan. I
want to first commend all the members of the committee. I know this
effort requires considerable time and energy beyond that which you
already contribute through your respective advisory boards and staff
positions, and I'm grateful for your willingness to take this challenge
on.
I also want to mention that I'm not writing as a member of the city
council, and I'm not in some sort of formal way representing the views
of my constituents, although I know that many share all or part of the
views I offer here.
I view continued growth in Golden as one of our central challenges.
Some growth will continue, and we can either let that growth happen to
us or, alternatively, we can decide as a community what we want this
growth to look like and direct it in that way. The Downtown Character
Plan is clearly an effort to do the latter, at least with respect to
Golden's downtown.
Generally speaking, I think we have three basic options for shaping
Golden's growth. We can choose to sprawl at the edges, we can choose to
allow density to increase across the community, or we can pick specific
parts of town better suited for increases in density and direct our
growth to those areas. I support the latter approach for a host of
reasons, including that it provides for efficient development of the
community's infrastructure, it is especially compatible with pedestrian
and bicycle connectivity, it is the most compatible with the
development of better transit system serving Golden, it helps protect
our intact low-density neighborhoods and what remains of the open space
outside of town, and I believe it gives us the best opportunity to
protect the historic and small town character of Golden while ensuring
that our community thrives. Portions of the downtown area, in
particular the area east of Washington, seem well suited for some
redevelopment and increased density, and indeed this is the area that
GURA has focused on most recently in its redevelopment efforts.
In addition to helping us be deliberate about shaping our growth, the
Downtown Character Plan is also an opportunity to improve on Golden's
already remarkable quality of life. Continuing to improve on our
pedestrian- and bike-friendliness, our parks and other public spaces,
our sense of downtown as the hub of our community, and our historic and
small town character are all components of the plan and can all
contribute to improving Golden.
Finally, the Downtown Character Plan is an opportunity to help
ensure the continued economic vitality of our downtown core. By shaping
the future of our downtown in ways that encourage a vibrant economic
base, including a particular emphasis on locally owned businesses, we
can help ensure the long-term economic health of the entire community.
For these reasons, I offer the following suggestions:
1. Prioritize Pedestrian-Friendliness
Make pedestrian
walkways, like sidewalks, as inviting as possible, with lots of room to
walk, attractive design features, benches, lots of shade, and other
qualities that encourage people to walk to and through downtown.
Emphasize pedestrian connectivity between downtown, surrounding
neighborhoods, and the greater community.
2. Emphasize Public Spaces
Public spaces are a critical
component of a vibrant community downtown, and our updated downtown
plan should continue to recognize their importance. We already enjoy an
exceptional trail and park system along Clear Creek, and I look forward
to the completion of the new pocket park on Washington. Plazas, parks,
and other public spaces are critically important as spaces for public
events and a sense of community. The new downtown plan should also
explicitly consider good options for the location of the farmer's
market, and it should also consider major Golden events like Buffalo
Bill Days and the Wild West Auto Roundup. As we continue to redevelop
the downtown area we should continue to ensure that public spaces
remain integral to the vision and to the plans.
3. Protect the Clear Creek Corridor
Maintain public ownership
of the Clear Creek Corridor and continue managing the corridor as a key
component of our trails and parks systems.
4. Appropriate Transitions Between Downtown and Nearby Residential Neighborhoods
Ensure that the plan incorporates appropriate transitions between
downtown and the nearby residential areas, including the 12th St.
neighborhood and the East St. neighborhood.
5. Supporting a Thriving Downtown Economy
The new downtown
plan should place a high priority on fostering a climate in which
retail shops, restaurants, and other businesses can thrive. I recommend
that we pay particular attention to the needs of locally owned
businesses. Encouraging some businesses that cater to the needs of
local residents would also be helpful.
6. Protect our Downtown's Historic and Small-Town Character
We
are all very aware of the challenging balance between encouraging the
right kinds of economic opportunities and simultaneously protecting our
historic and small town character. This challenge is heightened in our
downtown, although gratefully our historic character is clearly part of
what draws people to downtown in the first place, so there is both a
character-based and an economic argument for protecting it. My
suggestion is that we consider adopting clear design guidelines
protecting the historic character of Washington St. and the historic
buildings and neighborhoods near Washington. Similarly, in order to
protect our downtown's small town character, I suggest that we consider
height and mass limits, probably limiting buildings on Washington and
those to the west of Washington to their current height.
7. Consider Senior-Friendliness
An aging population will be a
defining characteristic of the Denver region, including Golden, for
decades to come. There are numerous opportunities to make our downtown
more senior-friendly, and we should strive to accomplish this whenever
possible. For instance, increasing the number of benches can increase
the ability of less mobile people to travel by foot because they
provide places to rest. Ensuring that traffic light cycles leave
adequate time for people who move more slowly to cross streets can have
a similar effect. Ensuring that our pedestrian-friendly designs don't
present unintended barriers to people in wheelchairs or using canes or
walkers is important for the same reason. Our new Downtown Character
Plan should take these sorts of considerations seriously.
8. Anticipate and Plan for Transit
When the light rail line
opens at the Jefferson County Building, Golden's transit connectivity
with the Denver region will improve markedly. The new downtown plan
should anticipate the ways in which this new connection to the region's
transit system will affect downtown, and work to maximize the benefits
of this new connection. One obvious implication is the likely creation
of a new local circulator bus in Golden. I am pleased to report that we
secured a grant for the city and the Colorado School of Mines to begin
planning for just such a local bus system. I am also optimistic that
Golden will someday - hopefully while we are all still able to enjoy it
- be served by a transit line running to or very near our downtown. The
Gold Line that will initially end at Ward Road is likely to be extended
at some point to or perhaps beyond downtown Golden, and our new
downtown plan should anticipate this possibility as well.
9. Continue Improving Downtown's Bike-Friendliness
While
Golden has already done a great deal to improve bike friendliness
through the community and especially downtown, our new downtown plan
should specifically incorporate measures that further improve on this
key community characteristic. This presumably includes clear and
well-marked bike routes, good bicycle connectivity between downtown and
other parts of town, adequate bike racks, and the like.
10. Continuing to Collaborate with Colorado School of Mines
It
is important that Colorado School of Mines and the community continue
to collaborate in the challenges and opportunities facing downtown
Golden. Our Downtown Character Plan should be mindful of the ways that
Colorado School of Mines (the campus, the students, and the faculty and
staff) affect downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, and likewise
the plan should be mindful of the ways in which downtown and the
surrounding neighborhoods affect Colorado School of Mines. The
challenges of managing parking offer one good example. Off-campus
student and faculty parking obviously affect the surrounding
neighborhoods, and a poorly designed permit parking system might simply
push some of that parking into areas needed by downtown merchants for
customers. A Travel Demand Management strategy that aims to reduce the
number of people driving (rather than simply managing the parking) may
be beneficial for everyone and is clearly related to the circulator bus
noted above. Such a strategy would necessarily be a collaboration
between Colorado School of Mines, the city, and the community.
Thank you again for your hard work on this important community
effort. I look forward to your recommendations and to the subsequent
public discussions.
Best,
Jacob Smith
1130 10th St. #101
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 216-1680
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