Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan | Economically Vital

The city and county work to foster a diverse, inclusive and inviting community, recognizing that diversity strengthens community well-being and long-term resilience. Policies and programs support equitable access to housing, employment, education, services, and public spaces, ensuring that all community members can fully participate and thrive throughout the Boulder Valley.

The city encourages the evolution of “15-minute neighborhoods.” 15-minute neighborhoods are diverse, inclusive and connected areas in which services and amenities are easily and equitably accessible within 15 minutes from home for pedestrians of all abilities. The city encourages improvements that can enhance access to services and amenities, especially in areas that are currently underserved.

The city recognizes that areas with distinct character, and oftentimes atypical or unusual design, provide a special connection to place and embrace the diversity and creativity of the Boulder community. The city values such places and encourages imaginative architecture, cutting-edge technologies and use of creative tools and strategies in limited circumstances to allow for their creation or preservation.

The city and county support programs and opportunities for individuals, businesses and organizations to develop, use and share local renewable energy generation.

The city encourages redevelopment activity that advances community goals for housing, economic vitality, historic preservation, social connection, environmental sustainability and equitable access to services. The city may use a variety of tools and strategies, at its discretion, including the creation of public/private partnerships and district financing tools.

The city supports and collaborates with partners to promote small, local and independent businesses and non-profits that serve the community by facilitating equity and access to affordable commercial space and resources that contribute to long-term stability for businesses and community services.

The city monitors economic conditions and identifies emerging risks and potential challenges to prepare for potential disruptions to the economy. The city maintains fiscally responsible financial practices including conservative accounting policies and identifies new strategies that reduce the community’s vulnerability to financial disruptions, household financial challenges and unexpected economic downturns.

The city encourages a healthy and diverse retail environment that meets the daily needs of community members and visitors, broadly contributes to overall economic activity and supports the city’s fiscal sustainability. The city will identify opportunities to improve and sustain retail health across the city.

The city fosters a healthy, inclusive and resilient economy that includes a broad mix of businesses and employment opportunities through collaborative strategies and programs that build on economic strengths and emerging opportunities. The city will consider the needs of local entrepreneurs, businesses, workers and community members when planning for land use, arts, transportation, programs and services.

The city supports an industry cluster approach that provides specialized programs and tools to encourage the formation, expansion, attraction and retention of businesses in primary and emerging industries to support innovation, efficiency, workforce development and economic opportunities and growth.

The city supports a visitor economy that contributes to Boulder’s vitality while ensuring that benefits flow back to the community. The city will balance the positive impacts of tourism with potential challenges, emphasizing local business support, equitable workforce and small business opportunities, natural and cultural resource protection and long-term economic resilience.

The city supports a vibrant night-time economy that expands access to jobs, transportation, services, and amenities beyond traditional business hours. A safe, inclusive and well-connected night-time environment will support climate resilience during extreme heat. A thriving night economy will strengthen opportunities for workers, create safe activity during more hours of the day, foster creativity and tourism and reinforce the city’s identity as a dynamic and welcoming place.

The city supports a thriving experiential economy that enhances cultural life, strengthens local business, and contributes to a resilient community. Arts, culture, heritage, dining, entertainment, agritourism and local food, sports, recreation, events and historic places attract visitors, create jobs and enliven neighborhoods. The city will support efforts to expand opportunities, reduce barriers for experiential businesses and reinforce the role of in-person experiences in economic diversity and cultural identity.

The city supports a diverse range of affordable and accessible arts and cultural experiences by supporting investment in art in public places, venues, facilities, special events and programs that reflect Boulder’s creative spirit, heritage and community diversity. Arts and cultural programs will reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of Boulder’s community members.

The city will support small-scale commercial activity in residential areas to help community members access everyday needs and contribute to the goal of 15-minute neighborhoods. Spaces may include small-scale standalone commercial uses at key locations, home-based businesses, accessory commercial units or live-work forms that offer affordable options for local businesses, cottage industries and creatives. The city will support equitable pathways for both property owners and tenants to participate in and benefit from these opportunities.

The city works with employers, educators and partners to support equitable access to programs designed to help develop, up-skill and attract workers of all ages in multiple fields with a range of skills, education and experience. The city fosters a diverse and creative workforce and supports wraparound services for Boulder workers, ensuring programs are accessible to all community members.

The city and county promote the safe and reliable movement of goods, packages and freight to support the needs of local businesses and community members while supporting electrification and other innovations to address the environmental impact of goods movement activity.

The city maintains the Boulder Municipal Airport as a safe environment for aviation, aviation-related businesses and special events, aviation-related research and education, scientific and research flights and medical and disaster-related support for the city and county. The city strives to minimize and mitigate noise and other impacts of airport operations via methods such as noise abatement procedures, land use tools and partnership with the State and fuel providers to offer unleaded fuel. The city promotes the adoption of electric aircraft technology. The city will coordinate with the county to provide consistent regulations addressing noise and other airport influences, where possible.

The city supports increasing the housing supply by promoting of housing types and price points that are more affordable, including middle housing types and middle-income housing, throughout the city that enable people to remain in and join the community as their needs, incomes and household compositions change over time.

The city and county support the protection and rehabilitation of existing manufactured home communities and support increasing opportunities for resident ownership.

The city commits to a goal of ensuring 15% of all homes will be deed-restricted, permanently affordable for low-, moderate-, and middle-income households by 2035. City resources will be directed toward maintaining existing permanent affordable housing units and increasing the stock of rental and homeownership affordable housing dispersed throughout the community. The city is committed to expanding permanently affordable housing for households below 50% AMI while also increasing housing options for middle-income households. The county supports and partners with the city to achieve regional affordable housing goals.

The city values its existing industrial areas and will preserve them as places for innovation, services, creativity and employment. The city will use the future land use strategy to guide where existing industrial areas are to be maintained. Areas identified for a mix of residential and industrial uses are encouraged to accommodate residential infill and redevelopment while still supporting innovation, creative and manufacturing activities.

The city and county support farms, businesses, nonprofits, homes and programs throughout the region that grow, produce, process, glean and sell fresh local food and feed. The city and county recognize the importance of a local food system that provides nutritious and culturally appropriate local foods to address food insecurity and facilitate greater community access to these products. Local leaders and community members work collaboratively to sustain an agriculturally focused community with a food system that is just, equitable, inclusive, and resilient.

The city supports expanding opportunities for facilities that sustain and grow the local food system like cold storage, processing, greenhouses, commercial kitchens, farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), farm stands and retail sites in appropriate city locations.

The city and county recognize that irrigation is essential to sustain agricultural production and the ecological health of natural and working lands in the Boulder Valley and that a functional and well-maintained water delivery system with reliable access is the backbone of irrigation. The city and county support and encourage investment in and improvement of irrigation water delivery infrastructure and systems to minimize water losses and to support long-term agricultural and environmental health of irrigated working lands.

The city and county recognize workers are critical to sustaining agriculture and a local food system and encourage training, apprenticeship and skill development programs. The city and county support exploring options to increase transportation options, worker protections and housing opportunities for agriculture workers and land stewards in the Boulder Valley.