Wheat Ridge asking for community feedback on future city plan north of Denver
It's a situation every city on Colorado's Front Range has had to deal with: How does one continue to deal with the growth of an area and still maintain the charm that drew some to the area in the first place? The city of Wheat Ridge is no exception and is asking community members to figure that out as they draft their city plan – essentially a blueprint for a city government to follow – that looks at the direction for the next 20 years.
"Growth has been the biggest thing in the state but also here and so how do you accommodate that?" said Jenny Shaver, who lives in Wheat Ridge and grew up there.
It's a question many in the city are thinking about as the city looks to the future.
"We have a rural feel to us I think a lot of people appreciate and from what I hear is people want to maintain that," Shaver explained. "They don't want to lose the feel of who we are, what we are as a city but also the reality of how do we move forward?"
The city has had public events and launched a website, WhatsUpWheatRidge, to help solicit community feedback on a number of topics from the city plan to day-to-day help from government agencies.
"We want to meet neighbors and residents where they're at so we go to their neighborhoods and ask them what is important to you?" said city spokeswoman Amanda Harrison. " I think our community is used to these engagement efforts and expect us to do this because as city employees we want to be a reflection of our residents and their needs."
Harrison said the city has received around 300 responses in addition to community event feedback. Some of the big topics include crime and homelessness, city development, the preservation of green spaces, and the walkability of neighborhoods. In particular, the lack of sidewalks in some areas and the fact that there is no true downtown center of Wheat Ridge.
"We've identified that Wheat Ridge doesn't have a downtown space specifically," Shaver, a member of the Citizen Steering Committee, concluded. "They've described it as a patchwork quilt. But we want to connect these areas. How do you get to these areas that have things that are featured?"
A quest to balance the soul of Wheat Ridge and one that Shaver hopes the community can do. The city will be soliciting community feedback until June 26.
