Region Experiences Rapid But Controlled Growth
Published Apr 17, 2007
The aesthetically pleasing Bradburn development in Westminster places housing within a short walk of stores, restaurants and offices.
As business development director for the city of Thornton, Robert Smith may seem a little biased when it comes to discussing the traits that make his town such a nice place to live.
“If you’re looking to raise a family, this is quite the community in which to do it,” Smith says. “It’s a great quality-of-life community, a great suburban environment.”
But he is hardly alone in his high regard for the community, as evidenced by continuing influx of new residents. Thornton has grown at a rate of between 5 percent and 6 percent each year since 2000, exceeding the 100,000-population mark in 2004.
In fact, it now has boasting rights as the fastest-growing city in Colorado with a population of more than 100,000.
Yet Thornton is fairly typical of the Metro North Region. The counties of Adams, Broomfield and Weld were among the nation’s top 50 for growth between 2000-02, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Eight of the 10 fastest-growing cities in the Denver metropolitan area are in Weld County.
“When I started my business here five years ago, this was a fairly small farming community,” says Steve Burton, Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce president, who owns a car wash in Weld County. “It has been amazing to watch the explosive growth going on here.”
The three main communities of Weld County’s Carbon Valley – Dacono, Firestone and Frederick – have been at the epicenter of growth taking place in the Metro North Region. Firestone tripled in population during the first half of this decade, growing from 1,908 in 2000 to 6,410 in 2005. Frederick jumped from 2,467 to 6,620 over the same period.
A common theme among all the region’s communities is controlled growth. The population numbers may seem explosive in some cases, but thorough planning is helping to ensure the growth is measured.
“I truly believe that all three towns (of Carbon Valley) have got very good planning commissions,” Burton says. “The three communities are separate municipalities, but they realize their success depends on each other. For the most part, they work really well together in planning strategically for long-term growth.”
Thornton’s recent growth surge has led city officials to rewrite their comprehensive land-use plan that was first drawn up in 1997.
“We said the growth is so tremendous and the opportunities so varied for us that we decided to look at the plan from top to bottom,” Smith says. “We’re in the process of modifying it.”
Smith says that when the E-470 loop highway was completed at Interstate 25 north a few years ago, the demand for housing accelerated in Thornton. The city is now experiencing an increase in retail opportunities. And plans are under way to attract corporations and other types of employers.
“We’re working to move employment clusters in our neck of the woods,” he says. “When we get to the end of the day, we’ll have a much more robust, self-sustaining community.”
Westminster could serve as a model for well-planned growth. It has been steadily gaining population for nearly 50 years, going from 1,500 in the early 1960s to around 110,000 at last count.
“One of the things the city has done has metered that growth,” says Brent McFall, Westminster’s city manager. “We have a competition where developers have to submit their plans for judging. They earn bonus points for certain elements of their project, things like enhanced open spaces, landscaping, swimming pools and recreational facilities.”
As a result, Westminster is consistently ranked high by various surveys as one of the nation’s best places to live.
Mixed-used developments such as aesthetically pleasing Bradburn on 120th Avenue also are part of the Westminster equation, uniting higher-density townhouses and condominiums with stores, restaurants and offices.
Among other growth areas in the region are Broomfield, where hillside condominiums afford spectacular views of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains; Commerce City, where a 2,500-acre planned development called Reunion is taking shape; and Northglenn, where owners of smaller homes are being encouraged to add a second story as an alternative to searching for a larger home elsewhere.
Story by John McBryde
Photo by Antony Boshier
Current Weather Conditions In Denver, CO (80234)
Cloudy and Windy, and 37 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
