Boulder: a model for excellence in mixed-use design
New Urban News Article with images, 12/1/2003
The Colorado city has two Charter Award winning projects and a host of infill developments that are worthy of emulation.
In less than a decade, Boulder’s downtown has tripled in length. Not too long ago, downtown was defined by the four-block-long Pearl Street Mall, one of the livelier “pedestrian malls” in the US (and one of the few that survive). Now the mixed-use, urban heart of the city extends 13 blocks along Pearl Street, the result of the redevelopment of automobile-oriented parcels both east and west of the Mall. Two built projects on Pearl Street have won Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Awards — a unique achievement.
The Charter winners — called Eighth & Pearl and 15th & Pearl — are admirable, but focusing on these alone would obscure the larger accomplishment. That’s an ensemble of good design by many architects and developers. Some is traditional, some is modern, and it mostly contributes to the public realm in a positive way.
“It’s been a surprise to everybody how well east and west Pearl Street have done,” says Michael Leccese, a Boulder writer on planning and architecture. “From an urban design standpoint, nobody has done anything too fussy. There’s a lot of variety, and a nice rhythm to the street. The taller buildings look good next to the one-story buildings. The window frontage is plentiful. There are lots of nice storefronts.”
