Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan | Hubs Class

Land Use Goals

• Expand housing choices through infill and redevelopment
• Encourage a variety of economic activity
• Enhance arts, cultural and civic life
• Connect community members and visitors with Boulder businesses

Environmental Goals

• Expand resource-efficient building types
• Enhance and expand urban canopy and natural infrastructure into urban locations
• Demonstrate opportunities for localized circular economies

Mobility Goals

• Provide safe, multimodal connections for all ages and abilities that prioritize transit, pedestrian, bicycle and micromobility access.
• Create walkable pedestrian-oriented streets
• Incorporate fast, frequent and reliable transit and provide connections to regional transit networks
• Manage curbside demand to balance access and multiple activities

Economic Goals

• Strengthen local economic vitality
• Support health of the retail market by expanding opportunities for connections with customers
• Support a diverse mix of businesses that serve residents and visitors
• Encourage the creation and preservation of affordable commercial spaces
• Foster a mix of employment opportunities accessible to community members of all incomes and backgrounds.

Equity Goals

• Support diverse living and working choices
• Support local businesses and entrepreneurs
• Improve safety throughout the day and night
• Create reliable connections between where people live, work, play and gather

Community Hub

What it is

Community Hubs are vibrant, mixed-use centers that bring together homes, shops, restaurants, services, offices and community spaces. These places have a strong mix of multi-unit housing and residential mixed-use buildings with stand-alone commercial buildings and outdoor gathering areas. These hubs are designed for convenience and connection and are intended to offer places that may draw people from across the community.

Why it matters

Community Hubs help bring people together, offer space for community destinations and support a strong local economy. They include places to live, work, play and gather, all within a walkable and lively environment. Community Hubs are at the heart of many neighborhoods and concentrate local business activity and dense housing in walkable distances to surrounding residential areas. This allows community members to live close to goods and services, find opportunities to connect with others and reduce reliance on cars for daily needs.

What you can expect

Primary Uses:

Supporting Uses:

For definitions of the use terms, visit our land use glossary.

Urban Design

• Community Hubs are moderately to highly dense areas that can include a mix of building types and range of building heights.
• Site design and building orientation create active street frontages and pedestrian-friendly building facades. Public realm along frontages accommodates spillover space for commercial and community activity.
• Public gathering spaces within the hub encourage social interaction, play and activity throughout the day and evening.
• Designs strive to incorporate robust urban canopy and other natural infrastructure to offset the urban environment.

Mobility

• Community Hubs are dynamic, serving daily needs and gatherings. They are designed for convenience and safe, comfortable and direct connections to and through the area.
• Streets provide greater protection for walking, bicycling and micromobility, with frequent transit access that links to surrounding neighborhoods and regional routes.
• Community hubs include more robust walking and bicycling infrastructure, such as protected bicycle lanes with horizontal or vertical separation and protected intersection designs.
• The curbside supports loading zones, micromobility, bicycle facilities, short-term parking and social uses that are connected to the public realm.

Regional Hub

What it is

Regional Hubs are major destinations for community members and visitors to the Boulder Valley. They are busy, high-energy places where people come to work, visit, shop, dine and live. Regional Hubs enjoy activity throughout the day and night. They include a mix of stores, restaurants, entertainment venues, cultural attractions, offices and housing.

Why it matters

Regional Hubs are defining places of Boulder’s identity and play a key role in the health of the local economy. They bring together jobs, retail, services, tourism and housing in artful, walkable, well-connected areas. These places are regional destinations for visitors and community members alike and celebrate Boulder’s history, sense of place and future.

What you can expect

Uses

Primary:

Supporting:

For definitions of the use terms, visit our land use glossary.

Urban Design

• Regional Hubs are high-density, mixed-use areas that accommodate taller buildings and a wide variety of uses integrated either vertically or horizontally across sites.
• Site design emphasizes high-quality shared public spaces for gathering, movement and play.
• Building orientation and ground floor design creates active street frontages. Facades provide visual interest and ground-floor transparency for pedestrians. As a regional draw for community members and visitors alike, excellent design quality of both architecture and the public realm is expected.

Mobility

• Regional Hubs are major destinations where people move around using abundant mobility options.
• Wide sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure and transit connections make it easy to move between home, work, shopping, dining and entertainment.
• Goods movement is integrated into the street network to support the mix of uses in this area.
• Curbside space is highly active and managed, prioritizing transit, bicycle facilities, micromobility, loading and social uses at a greater intensity than other areas.
• Structured, unbundled, underground and shared vehicle parking is encouraged.

Innovation and Production Hub

What it is

Innovation and Production Hubs are primarily working neighborhoods that carefully integrate housing choices and local amenities. These areas support a wide range of industries and provide opportunities for businesses to start and grow. Industrial in nature, these places accommodate businesses that might be considered noisy or messy. They also offer dynamic living options that are well-connected and close to jobs and recreational options.

Why it matters

Innovation and Production Hubs offer essential space for Boulder’s innovative economy and entrepreneurial future by integrating diverse housing types, commercial activity and industrial spaces. These vibrant, walkable, working neighborhoods offer employers, employees and local community members a variety of local services and amenities. They support long-standing and emerging industries and creatives and create harmony between working, living, playing and making.

What you can expect

Uses

Primary:

Supporting:

For definitions of the use terms, visit our land use glossary.

Urban Design

• Innovation and Production Hubs feature a diverse mix of building types and sizes, including live/work spaces.
• Buildings vary widely in height and form, ranging from smaller workshop-style structures to larger multi-story facilities that support flexible work environments and housing.
• Site design emphasizes functional layouts with adaptable spaces, active street edges and shared amenities that foster collaboration and innovation. Site uses may be mixed vertically or horizontally.

Mobility

• Mobility in Innovation and Production Hubs support walking, bicycling, micromobility and transit while maintaining safe circulation for freight, service and delivery vehicles.
• Curbside areas are designed for flexibility, with loading zones integrated alongside bicycle facilities, micromobility parking and pedestrian access, ensuring industrial activity coexists with housing and creative spaces.
• Off-street and shared parking is encouraged.