The kick off meeting of the “Colorado Tomorrow Alliance” steering committee was held June 13, 2006 and was attended by more than 12 organizations including AIA, the Metro Mayor’s Caucus, ASLA, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Enterprise Foundation, Home Builders of Denver, Denver Regional Council of Governments, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, NAIOP, the Transit Alliance, the University of Colorado and ULI Colorado. Since then, the group has been focused on developing a set of principles, mission statement, governance structure and work program.
The Colorado Tomorrow Alliance (CTA) has decided to initially focus its efforts in the Denver metropolitan region (from Colorado Springs to Boulder), while reserving the potential to include the entire Front Range, an area stretching about 200 miles along I-25 from Pueblo to Fort Collins, where the majority of the state’s residents live and work.
Over the last decade, many of the region’s cities and downtowns have enjoyed significant reinvestment. The Denver light rail system begun in 1995 has vastly exceeded projections opening up the opportunity for increased transit-oriented development, and the recently enacted FasTracks initiative dramatically increases the length of the system. However, rapid growth on the fringe threatens the region’s water supply and quality of life.
In response to these opportunities and challenges, the Colorado Tomorrow Alliance is considering three programmatic initiatives:
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Holding a Reality Check regional visioning program to build consensus on land use priorities in the region (perhaps modified to focus on a specific transportation corridor or on transportation and land use tradeoffs.);
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A broader transit oriented development education/best practices program to support the FasTracks investment; and/or
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An annual conference to benchmark the region on issues such as regional planning, mobility, affordability, economic development, land conservation, air quality and water quality. The goal of the conference would be to engage disparate stakeholders in a review of current challenges and to identify common ground for action on regional growth issues.
At the end of 2007, the CTA announced its first program: The CTA Recognition Program. This is a smart growth certification program in which pre-development plans are reviewed according to national smart growth principles adapted to Colorado. CTA members served as the jury. Starting this spring, the CTA will begin accepting application for formal recognition.