What we heard and what's next

Thanks for the feedback!

We are grateful to everyone who took the time to participate in the planning process for the Near Northwest Area Plan over the last few months.

Hundreds of community members across the four area neighborhoods joined community events, virtual and in-person, and took the online surveys. The planning team has reviewed and analyzed all the input collected during the second phase of planning.

Read on to see key takeaways and next steps.

On Land Use

Offer multiple tools for preserving and celebrating culture in Near Northwest.
Develop a package of tools that address concerns and that take into consideration the unique characteristics of each neighborhood.
Prioritize preserving existing embedded traditional missing middle housing and find ways to add more missing middle options without sacrificing affordability.
Allow/require commercial and/or a mix of uses on busier streets and within existing commercial areas.
Focus on how commercial areas can improve their streetscape and identities.

On Economy and Housing

Study space programming within neighborhood commercial areas for the ability to expand outdoor dining and/or have the ability to temporarily close down portions of streets for festivals and outdoor dining expansion.
Focus on supporting small businesses, as well as opportunities to train a new workforce and retain and attract jobs.
Prioritize keeping residents at risk of displacement in place by looking at a variety of programs. For example, rehabilitation and ability to add density (ADU, second unit, etc.) to build equity.
Build more affordable housing and offer ways to prioritize existing and past residents in new housing.
Seek opportunities to support various types of temporary housing through key community partnerships.

On Mobility

Implementation of infrastructure priorities should focus on:
More electric charging (for vehicles and bikes),
Completing bike network gaps and focusing on enhanced safety, especially for bike routes that lead to destinations like neighborhood commercial areas, downtown, and parks/rec centers,
Including a buffer between cars and sidewalks and making sidewalks wider, especially on busier streets, and
Improving intersection safety.
Prioritize intersection improvements that lead to major destinations and intersections where two major roadways connect.
Develop recommendations for minor and major corridors, testing feasibility of desired improvements within the right-of-way and defining what, if any, challenges to improvements there are.
Minor corridors should focus on pedestrian and bike infrastructure-improvements while major corridors should focus on making existing crossings safer and integrating the bike network. Adding more crossings at interstates and railroads is also a priority.
West 38th Avenue should focus on making sidewalks safer and more comfortable to walk along.

On Quality of Life

Focus on improving existing park and rec center amenities, as well as adding new ones. There should also be more of a focus on programming within recreation centers, and bilingual offerings should be made available.
Consider a multiple action strategy to increase food access through recruitment/retention of a variety of smaller scale healthy grab-and-go and neighborhood food stores and full-service grocery stores, in addition to expanding access to mobile food-co-ops, community kitchens, and community gardens.
Address the financial access (and cultural) barriers many residents face in terms of shopping for groceries within the study area at existing stores.
Consider creative, sustainable approaches to build more cohesive neighborhoods where all residents have easy ways to become civically engaged and to feel they are part of the community.
Increase physical and financial access to community-based healthcare.
Build awareness of existing services to community members, including education, job training, and social programs.
Provide more affordable childcare services, including before/after school programs.

Download full community engagement report

What's next?

City planners will be back in the community soon to begin the next phase of the planning process. Here's a preview of what to expect over the next few months.

What the planning team will be working on:

Finalizing the vision statements
Creating draft recommendations and alternatives
Continuing to work with the community steering committee
Continuing to work with community navigators and local community organizations to reach under-represented populations
Continuing to spread the word about the planning process

What we'll be asking community members:

How can the draft recommendations be improved?
Which alternatives do you prefer?

More information will be shared soon on upcoming community workshops, surveys and community office hours.

Visit the plan webpage

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About the Near Northwest Area Plan

The Near Northwest Planning Area is made up of the Northwest Denver neighborhoods east of Federal Boulevard: Chaffee Park, Sunnyside, Highland, and Jefferson Park. As part of the Neighborhood Planning Initiative, this project provides an opportunity to create a long-term vision for these neighborhoods that furthers citywide goals and priorities while addressing local neighborhood needs.

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