Civic Area Community Engagement Summaries

Community engagement for the Civic Area Phase 2 project has been guided by the city's Racial Equity Instrument tool, its Community Connectors program, and equity groups across the city to ensure historically excluded community members are meaningfully represented at every stage of design, engagement, and analysis. The project has so far undergone three engagement windows:

• Window 1: Community Values & Park Perception - The project team gathered information from the community about how they use the park now, how they'd like to use it in the future, and confirmed community values established during Phase 1 of the project.
• Window 2: What We Heard & Design Ideas - The project team showed two design diagrams created from community ideas and priorities heard during Window 1 of engagement and asked for the community to vote on their favorite features shown in the diagrams.
• Window 3: Concept Design Options - The project team brought family-friendly activity to the park space through the installment of a temporary nature discovery area in Central Park. The team also brought the concept design, formed from feedback heard during Windows 1 & 2, to the community and asked them to vote on their favorite features shown in the design. The project team is now taking feedback to define which features will be built under the Phase 2 budget.

Between February and May of 2024, City of Boulder staff, in collaboration with Downtown Community Connectors, implemented 13 engagement events to gain feedback from the community. The engagement process was guided by the seven principles of the Civic Area Park Plan, the Sustainability, Equity and Resiliency Framework (SER), the Engagement Strategic Framework, and Equity-centered Engagement.

Central Questions Posed to the Community Included:

• What do you envision doing in the Civic Area?
• What are your top values and guiding principles that will help inform the Civic Area Phase 2 project?
• What are your top concerns for the Civic Area and future design?
• How would you like to connect to the Civic Area through the Arboretum?

Overview of Engagement Events

• Spanish Speaking Focus Group*
• Equity Focus Group*
• Mapleton HOA (Manufactured Housing Community)*
• Roll and Stroll (People Experiencing Disabilities)*
• Online Questionnaire (Spanish translation provided and demographic information collected)*
• Bridge House (Unhoused Population)*
• Boulder High Art Honors Society*
• Community Organization Meeting (Stakeholders)
• Family Concert and Community Feedback Public Event
• Library Mural Pop-up
• CU Environmental Design Students
• Age Well Centers Mural Pop-up

* Representation of historically excluded groups

The Focus on Equity in Civic Area’s Phase 2 Engagement Process

The SER Framework was used to ensure diverse representation and co-creation in the design and activation of the Civic Area. This equity-centered engagement process was the product of close collaboration between City of Boulder staff, Downtown Community Connectors, and design consultants, guided by the Equity Plan and Instrument.

The process included

• Intentional Focus Groups Formed to Elevate:
  • Racial equity discussions, space activation and place making
  • Universal design and programming feedback with disability equity discussions
  • Youth engagement series on youth space activation and place making
  • Conversations with low-income populations and the unhoused
  • Intergenerational feedback from older adults, college students, teens, and families
• Wide-Reaching Methods of Engagement, Including:
  • Focus group meetings
  • Pop-up idea murals
  • Design proposals from CU Boulder students
  • Boulder High School’s Civic Area Art Gallery
  • Family and community feedback concert
  • Online questionnaire
• Engagement Data, Analysis, and Outcomes that:
  • Elevated voices of historically excluded communities, especially a need to create a welcoming, inclusive, safe, and connected urban heart
  • Fostered community support for the next phase of design
  • Highlighted top priorities for the Civic Area, according to community members

Summary of Community Feedback from Window 1 Engagement

From October to December 2024, the project team and community connectors conducted the project’s second engagement window to confirm “What We Heard” in the first window and gain feedback on early design ideas for the Civic Area.

During Engagement Window 2, community members were asked to vote for their favorite design diagram and park features and to provide open-ended feedback about the design ideas. This engagement activity will help the project team prioritize which improvements to pursue within the project budget. Throughout this engagement window, the project team reached:

• 1,510 questionnaire respondents
• ~220 respondents to pop-up posters at 5 community locations
• ~100 in-person participants at the library open house event
• ~60 representatives from community organizations
• And collaborated with 7 community connectors to worked to ensure an inclusive engagement process

Below are two diagrams the project team created in response to design ideas heard from the public during Engagement Window 1. The Adventure Loop diagram focuses on active recreation, nature immersion, and unique experiences. The Creekside Social diagram prioritizes flexible, welcoming social spaces that foster community connection and passively engaging with nature. The top 6 most voted-for features from community engagement are circled in each diagram below.

From the Adventure Loop Diagram, the most popular features are Standing Wave, Bandshell with Local Performances, Farmers Market Promenade Loop, Beer Garden, Zip Line, and Library Cafe. From the Creekside Social Diagram the most popular features are Upgraded Bandshell, Farmers Market Culture Loop, Beer Garden, Food Truck Plaza, Boulder Beach, and Creek Walk.

Community members shared an equal enthusiasm for both diagrams, and a blend of the most popular features from each diagram will inform the concept design. The overall most popular features are shown on the infographic below with the top 6 most popular highlighted in red.

The Racial Equity Instrument is a tool used by the City of Boulder to ensure decision-making serves, represents, and considers all people in Boulder:

1. Step 1: Establish Outcomes
   • Conduct an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable engagement process that reflects the Boulder community to inform project decisions. Elevate historically excluded voices throughout the engagement process.
   • During Engagement Window 1 analysis, confirm participation of historically excluded groups, and design Window 2 to capture unheard voices from Window 1.
   • Confirm demographic data collected during engagement matches Boulders demographic profile
   • Analyze feedback from historically excluded groups separately to confirm values alignment with larger community and elevate these voices in the project process
2. Step 2: Collect Data
   • Work with Community Connectors in Residence, Project Community Connectors, and Growing Up Boulder to co-create engagement and promote engagement opportunities to historically excluded communities
   • Conduct engagement opportunities at locations with diverse participation (rec centers, libraries) with options for paper and digital feedback
   • Conduct focus group engagement opportunities with historically excluded groups (youth, Spanish-speaking, unhoused, community organizations representing diverse groups)
3. Determine Benefit and Burden
   • Review design ideas with community organizations, project community connectors, community connectors in residence, and youth to progress the design in a way that supports and reflects the entire Boulder community
4. Develop Strategies
   • Review concept and schematic design with community organizations, project community connectors, community connectors in residence, and youth to prioritize funding and move the design to construction in a way that supports and reflects the entire Boulder community
   • Work with the project team and partners to develop a park management plan for Civic Area (governance and programming strategies) to ensure the final outcomes and management of the space support equity
5. Implement and Evaluate
   • Construct project
   • Evaluate built project, park management model, and park uses/users for equity
   • Continue equity work in future project phases.
6. Report Back
   • Current: Publish project milestone reports for equity-focused engagement and project updates
   • Publish milestone reports showing equity-focused data and outcomes for Civic Area