Assembly members will develop a roadmap for 15-minute neighborhoods in Boulder.
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10,000 Boulder Valley households may receive a yellow envelope in the mail this week. The City of Boulder and Boulder County are recruiting individuals to serve on a Community Assembly as part of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update. Participants chosen to serve will be eligible for a stipend in recognition of their time commitment.
The Community Assembly is an innovative approach to engagement that aims to make public participation in decision-making more inclusive and democratic. The assembly is one component of the overall engagement strategy to ensure the comprehensive plan update is informed by community feedback. The city and county will also be offering more traditional ways for individuals to provide input.
“We are so excited to innovate in how we engage our community through Boulder’s first-ever Community Assembly,” said Boulder City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. “We need our community’s collective wisdom to tackle hard problems. This process has been extremely successful in other cities. It will amplify diverse voices that often go unheard and ensure our policies reflect the needs and aspirations of the entire community.”
“The rural and urban areas of the Boulder Valley are different,” said Boulder County Administrator Jana Peterson. “County residents rely on city services that are not available in rural areas. The Community Assembly provides an opportunity to share these different perspectives as the 15-minute neighborhood concept is explored. Participants will get to shape how and where services are accessed over time.”
This Community Assembly will be tasked with exploring the implementation of 15-minute neighborhoods in the Boulder Valley — places where community members can meet most daily needs within a 15-minute walk, roll or bike ride. Over the course of seven full-day Saturday sessions between May and October 2025, assembly members will learn from independent experts about land use, transportation, housing, commercial vibrancy and infrastructure considerations. They will then refine Boulder’s vision for these neighborhoods, examining benefits, costs and trade-offs, identify locations and make recommendations to policymakers for inclusion in the next Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan.
With a few exceptions involving city and county staff, elected officials and contractors, any community member whose household receives an invitation and is 16 years of age or older is eligible to apply to serve as a panelist on the Community Assembly. A few additional seats are reserved for anyone who works or studies in Boulder but doesn’t have a Boulder Valley address. Volunteers do not need to be a U.S. citizen or have any prior experience with planning or policy work. The deadline to apply is March 21, 2025.
Forty-eight panelists will be randomly selected through a process that ensures broad demographic and geographic representation of the Boulder Valley community. The Boulder Valley includes the entire city of Boulder and roughly a three-mile area of unincorporated Boulder County land surrounding the city. Eighty-one percent of seats will be allocated to community members within the city limits and 19% to unincorporated Boulder County residents, proportional to their populations. Selected Assembly members will be notified by April 4, 2025.
Assembly members will be offered a $1,000 stipend for their commitment and meals on session dates. Other accommodations are available as needed, including onsite childcare and interpretation for Spanish and American Sign Language.
Learn more about the upcoming assembly and how to apply on Feb. 24 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in a virtual information session.
The assembly process presents an opportunity to community members who have interest in this topic but may not currently be involved with advocacy groups. Members of advocacy groups who wish to be considered to share their technical expertise on 15-minute neighborhoods with the assembly members can reach out to City of Boulder staff via email at future@bouldercolorado.gov.
Community members who are not invited, selected or who cannot participate in the assembly will still have opportunities to participate in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update process. Community meetings and online engagement opportunities will be available throughout 2025. More information about overall engagement offerings is available at ABoulderFuture.org.
For more information or questions about assembly eligibility, please contact future@bouldercolorado.gov.
