Planning Downtown: A Look Back on the 2007 Downtown Area Plan

In 2005, the City and County of Denver and the Downtown Denver Partnership developed what would become the 2007 Downtown Denver Area Plan, a comprehensive strategy establishing five overarching vision elements with 19 strategy elements. The aim of the plan: to guide decisions and actions affecting the form and function of approximately 1,800 acres divided over eight districts: the Commercial and Cultural Cores, Golden Triangle, Auraria, Lower Downtown, Central Platte Valley, Ballpark and Arapahoe Square.

In this five-part series, we examined each of the plan's five vision elements, looking at how city leaders have worked to implement them and how much progress has been made in the time since the vision came together in 2007.



Planning Downtown: Creating a Prosperous City

With over 70,000 residents and an economy that employs more than 120,000, downtown Denver is the economic hub for its greater metropolitan area, as well as the Rocky Mountain region -- and business and city leaders intend to keep it that way.



Creating a Walkable City

To establish Denver's downtown area as a walkable district, business and city leaders focus on developing not just pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, but train, bus and bike traffic for first- and last-mile connectivity.



Creating a Diverse City

The 2007 Downtown Area Plan put forth an aim of making Denver's city center a more diverse place. Nearly a decade later, the vision is emerging as reality, but it remains a work in progress.



Creating a Distinctive City

Obstacles often equal opportunities for the next distinctive spaces of downtown Denver. Planners look to the bookends of the city center, Auraria and Arapahoe Square, to create the city's next great places.



Creating a Green City

With numerous sustainability-oriented initiatives and a push for more and better downtown parks, Denver's city center has gotten greener in the last decade. What's next for a more sustainable downtown?