The Mile High City has much to be proud of when it comes to innovative sustainable urban development. As the host city of the 2016 EcoDistricts Summit, we’ve highlighted 8 compelling images showcasing why Denver is the city to watch for urban change makers and innovators everywhere. Join us this September at the Summit to meet key leaders, developers, urban planners and community advocates leading these and other innovative district-scale solutions across Denver’s diverse neighborhoods.
Join Us at the EcoDistricts Summit
The world’s only conferencing on district-scale urban sustainability
September 13-15, 2016 • Denver CO
Bike Share, Everwhere
Walk or drive through Denver’s central neighborhoods and you’re sure to run into one of 88 B-Cycle bike share stations housing the 700 bicycles available to the city’s diverse residents. As part of an overall connectivity, pedestrian and bike infrastructure plan, B-Cycle usage and membership are booming — rates have grown steadily since the program launched in Denver in 2010.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS
Nature Meets the City Along the Platte
To capitalize on Denver’s growing pedestrian and bike culture, the city has invested in the development of miles of bike lanes and urban trails, including the 40-mile Cherry Creek Regional Trail pictured here. This infrastructure now links some of city’s poorest neighborhoods and formally fragmented areas directly to Denver’s abundant natural beauty and the heart of downtown.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS AND MAIN STAGE PLENARIES
Larimer Square (photo courtesy of DMCVB)
Lower Downtown (LoDo)
Lower Downtown (LoDo) area – Denver’s oldest neighborhood – has suffered from a tumultuous past. As a result of the Urban Renewal movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, many low-income downtown residents were displaced, more than 20% of Denver’s historic building stock was demolished, and entire downtown neighborhoods were cleared, including what is now called the LoDo district. Thanks to the re-opening of Union Station, the long-languished blocks to the west are alive once again, and residents and visitors are streaming in to the neighborhood’s 2,000 new apartments, 100,000 square feet of additional retail space and 15 acres of public plazas and parks.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS
RiNo Regeneration
Located just north of downtown, River North (RiNo) is a former industrial district that has quickly evolved into a haven for local creatives. Galleries and studios occupy old warehouses and adaptive reuse buildings incubate startup ventures like The Source, an artisan food market. With the explosion of growth in RiNo over the past few years, local artists, organizations, entrepreneurs and developers are working together to ensure that the looming boom of RiNo has positive, equitable repercussions for the entire community.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS
Civic Center Park + Cultural Complex
Bordered by the State Capitol, the City and County Building, and the Denver Art Museum, Civic Center Park is the centerpiece of Denver’s green space. The park blooms with 25,000 square feet of flower beds each summer and boasts more than 70 lunch time food carts and live music over the summer months, pulling hundreds of people out of their offices into the open air each day. The 2016 Summit this September will be centralized in the Complex, with our main stage plenaries at the Denver Art Museum, Studios at the History Colorado Center, and daily lunch at the park’s abundant food carts.
*FEATURED AS MAIN VENUES AND EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT THE SUMMIT
The Source Artisan Food Market
Taking a page from Seattle and San Francisco’s urban market playbook, the Source is a hub of local brewers, bakers, butchers and specialty grocers stationed inside an old 19th-century steel foundry on Brighton Boulevard. With development led by Mickey and Kyle Zeppelin, the Source is purposefully located outside the regular food hubs of Denver in the “gritty-but-lively” RiNo district.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS
Placed-Based Affordable Housing Neighborhoods
The Mariposa and Sun Valley neighborhoods of Denver, Colorado are a before-and-after study of the potential that place-based sustainable design can have on the lives of a city’s most vulnerable. On September 15, EcoDistricts Summit attendees on our affordable housing mobile tour will dive into the partnerships, innovation and vision that helped the City of Denver and Denver Housing Authority achieve one of their highest resident retention rates in history.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS AND MAIN STAGE PLENARIES
Five Points Historic District
Once known as the “Harlem of the West,” Five Points — one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods — is a study in building vibrancy by blending old and new. Jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Charlie Parker were hosted at the Rossonian Hotel, which sits at the heart of the neighborhood. Residents and visitors alike can enjoy local coffee houses, craft brew pubs, museums and an annual jazz festival honoring its cultural and historic heritage.
*FEATURED IN SUMMIT MOBILE TOURS
Union Station Transportation Hub
With RTD light rail service, bike share, car share and bus transit right out its doors, Union Station serves as much more than an iconic 100 year old structure signaling your arrival to downtown Denver — it’s a multifaceted urban regen success story. Home to some of the city’s top restaurants, the reopening of Denver’s Union Station has catalyzed an economic and civic boom of the surrounding LoDo neighborhood while serving as the city’s central shared transit hub.