Project History
With a diverse community of 573,000 citizens and employment in excess of 560,000 individuals, Denver serves as the transportation, business, entertainment and cultural center for the 2.3 million people of the Denver metropolitan area. Denver is both a city and a county and has a single set of officials led by a mayoral form of government, with 13 City Council members (11 representing specific districts and two at-large).
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Planning History
1986
In 1986, the City adopted a Downtown Area Plan prepared jointly with the Downtown Denver Partnership. The plan provided the long-term vision and understanding for land use, urban design, historic preservation, transportation and other policies related to the form and function of Downtown Denver. The 1986 Plan identified a Greater Downtown area of approximately 1800 acres, divided into ten districts with distinct attributes, scale, character and function. These districts include six “core” Downtown districts and four districts that “transition” to adjacent neighborhoods.
The 1986 Downtown Area Plan (.pdf, 90mb) guided significant regulatory changes through 1990s, including a comprehensive revision of the Downtown zoning districts, and the implementation of mandatory design review of new development projects according to specific design standards and guidelines.
Implemented plan recommendations have had a lasting and successful impact on Downtown and Denver as a whole. Among the most visible and successful was the Landmark District Designation of the Lower Downtown Historic District. The plan also guided redevelopment of the Central Platte Valley from an industrial rail corridor to mixed-use residential development. Many public and private investments recommended by the plan, including significant new parks and trails adjacent to the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, sports facilities and entertainment venues, have since been implemented. The plan recommendations were integral to the successful introduction of light rail transit in Denver.
2002
In 2002, the City completed an integrated land use and transportation plan to provide guidance for the city’s projected growth and development in the next 20 years. Known as “Blueprint Denver,” the plan divides the city into areas of change and areas of stability. The Plan defines the majority of the city as areas of stability, where little growth or change is expected or desired. Instead, growth is to be channeled to areas of change, along with infrastructure investments to support the anticipated development. Downtown is an area of change, with the highest densities and a wide mix of uses, primarily office, housing, retail, entertainment, culture and hospitality.
2004
In 2004, Denver region voters approved a tax increase to build a regional transit system composed of light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit and bus service, collectively known as FasTracks. Downtown will be continually enhanced as the region’s premier transportation hub as the transit system is built-out. The City completed a master plan for developing a multimodal transit hub at historic Denver Union Station (DUS), and is currently working on an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate impacts and mitigation of any environmental consequences related to build out of DUS as a high-density, mixed-use, transit-oriented development.
2005
The City and its partners (Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, Regional Transportation District, and Colorado Department of Transportation) completed a Downtown Multimodal Access Plan (DMAP) to provide analysis and specific policy and capital investment recommendations for transportation in, around and out of Downtown Denver. DMAP includes proposals for the road network, regional and local transit (bus and rail), bicycles and pedestrians. The plan emphasizes moving people rather than private vehicles and integrates considerations of urban design and pedestrian-friendliness with traditional traffic engineering. DMAP recommended a new Downtown Circulator to distribute transit riders from DUS to other destinations in Downtown and supplement the 16th Street Mall shuttle.
2006
Denver recently completed a 20-year vision and implementation plan for extension of the government facilities in its Civic Center. The Civic Center District Plan recognizes the historic core of City, State and Federal facilities on a civic axis and the region’s premier cultural facilities on a cultural axis. The Civic Center core is being expanded with construction of a new Justice Center, comprised of a pre-sentencing detention center and a new courthouse for district, county and juvenile courts.
In addition to the plans outlined here, Denver has adopted a variety of additional plans to create a livable, healthy, economically vibrant and exciting Downtown. View a summary of Denver planning efforts since 1986 (.pdf, 500kb), or a map outlining project areas for past Denver plans (.pdf, 200kb).
The Future
Despite intense planning projects directed to either specific geographic areas or to specific issues, Downtown does not have a current over-riding vision of its role in the City or the region. The new Denver Downtown Area Plan will provide a comprehensive view of what Downtown can and should be, and the guiding principles that will allow individual decisions to contribute to the greater goals.
