Attachment C_Community Assembly Recommendations

Community Assembly on 15-Minute Neighborhoods: How it Shapes the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (Recommended Plan – May 2026) The Community Assembly presented its recommendations to the Boulder City Council and Planning Board on Dec. 11, 2025. This document shows how the city and county comprehensive plan team have incorporated the Assembly’s recommendations into the draft Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, which has a 20-year outlook. It also highlights additional opportunities for implementation outside of the scope of the comprehensive plan.

Executive Summary The Community Assembly answered the question: How, and where, can we implement 15-minute neighborhoods? Their recommendations have shaped the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan in significant ways (see highlights below). The definition

How policies lead to action

● The Assembly’s definition of a 15The policies of the Comprehensive Plan are minute neighborhood has shaped the aspirational. They shape city and county updated 15-Minute Neighborhood priorities and future programs and policies. Policy: The city encourages They guide decision-making. They focus on the evolution of “15what and why but not how. The how comes minute neighborhoods”. 15later through budgeting, project and minute neighborhoods are program development – and these are guided by the adopted policies. diverse, inclusive and connected areas in which services and amenities are easily and equitably accessible within 15 minutes from home for pedestrians of all abilities. The city encourages improvements that can enhance access to services and amenities, especially in areas that are currently underserved. ● All Future Land Use Designations that support housing (Neighborhoods and Hubs categories) now support all of the primary and secondary services and amenities recommended by the Assembly for 15-minute neighborhoods.

Recommendation: Mixed-density and mixed income areas ● The plan’s Future Land Use strategy and What is future land use? associated map encourage a greater variety of Future land use describes the housing types across the city to help meet community’s long-term vision for diverse needs. how land should be used. It is ● The Community Assembly’s definition of the changed through the Boulder 15-minute neighborhood is supported by most Valley Comprehensive Plan and guides future planning and land uses applied to land within the city. This investment. It does not change means that the new land use designations are zoning regulations today. not a barrier to 15-minute neighborhoods as Regulations like zoning and other per the Assembly’s definition. codes would be updated later ● Future land use designations support a range through a separate public of commercial uses that can create jobs for a process to align with future land variety of skill levels at different income levels. use. ● The Housing Diversity & Supply policy supports increasing the local housing supply by considering a full range of housing types and price points that enable people to remain in the community as their needs, incomes, and household compositions change. ● The updated Permanently Affordable Housing Goal policy states: ‘City resources will be directed toward maintaining existing permanent affordably housing units and increasing the stock of rental and homeownership affordable housing dispersed throughout the community’, which is expected to support low and medium-income housing opportunities in our 15-minute neighborhoods. Recommendation: Support in-home businesses ● The Assembly’s recommendation directly shaped the new Commercial Activity in Residential Areas policy: ● The city will support small-scale commercial activity in residential areas to help community members access everyday needs and contribute to the goal of 15minute neighborhoods. Spaces may include small-scale standalone commercial uses at key locations, home-based businesses, accessory commercial units or livework forms that offer affordable options for local businesses, cottage industries and creatives. The city will support equitable pathways for both property owners and tenants to participate in and benefit from these opportunities. On the Future Land Use map, Neighborhood 1 and Neighborhood 2 areas have housing as the main use, with small-scale commercial uses also allowed.

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See Attachment 1 for staff responses to each of the Assembly’s recommendations. The recommended comprehensive plan is available at aboulderfuture.org.

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Attachment 1 – Staff Responses to Assembly Recommendations A. THE DEFINITION Assembly Recommendation Definition of a Boulder 15-Minute Neighborhood:

1. A diverse, inclusive, and connected community in which services and amenities are easily and equitably accessible within 15 minutes from home for pedestrians of all abilities (87% support)

Influence on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use ● The future land use strategy does not include any residential-only neighborhoods within the city. Neighborhood 1, Neighborhood 2, Community Hub, Regional Hub and Innovation & Production Hub are the five future Land Use designations within the city that include homes; and they all also support the Assembly-recommended services and amenities. ● The future Land Use designations noted above support the 15-minute neighborhood concept as defined by the Community Assembly.

Policy The plan includes an updated policy using the Assembly’s definition: The city supports the evolution of “15-minute neighborhoods”. 15minute neighborhoods are diverse, inclusive and connected communities in which services and amenities are easily and equitably accessible within 15 minutes from home for pedestrians of all abilities. 2015 plan policy (for reference): The city will promote the development of a walkable and accessible city by designing neighborhoods and mixed-use business areas to provide easy and safe access by foot, bike and transit to places such as neighborhood centers, community facilities, transit stops or centers and shared public spaces and amenities (i.e., 15-minute neighborhoods). The city will consider additional neighborhood centers or small mixed-use retail areas where appropriate and supported by the neighbors they would serve. In some cases, the definition of mixed use and scale and character will be achieved through area planning. The concept of a community center is included on the Future of 15-minute Neighborhoods information in the comprehensive plan (see Attachment 2)

Assembly Recommendation

Influence on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan

2. 15-minute neighborhoods have four essential services and amenities. A neighborhood needs all four of these to be considered a 15-minute neighborhood:

Future Land Use

● ● ● ●

Community center Parks and green space Groceries and food Mobility hub

3. 15-minute neighborhoods also have a set of secondary services and amenities. A 15-minute neighborhood needs 3 of these 8 secondary services and amenities: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Community garden Medical services Recreation center Retail Library Public art spaces and interactive art ● Restaurant ● School

All of the Future Land Use Designations that support homes in the city (Neighborhoods and Hubs categories) also support all of the Assemblyrecommended primary and secondary services and amenities. Notes: 1/ The term ‘Community Center’ includes places like public recreation centers, libraries, schools, religious institutions and senior centers. 2/ Privately-owned recreation centers like gyms and yoga studios remain in the secondary category.

Policy

Several new city-wide policies support the Assembly’s prioritization of services and amenities in 15-minute neighborhoods. See policies: Arts,Culture and Heritage, Integrated Land Use and Transportation, Local Business and Affordable Space, Nature Everywhere, Parks and Recreation Facilities and Programs and Urban Agriculture Future Work The mapping of 15-minute neighborhoods is outside the scope of this plan update. However, Assembly’s prioritization of primary and secondary services and amenities will guide the future evaluation of existing 15-minute neighborhoods and gaps; and guide future choices about zoning, transportation and public investments.

(93% support)

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B. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS The Assembly’s recommendations are organized into three themes: Housing Choice & Opportunity, Inclusive Local Economy, and Other. Early in the process, Assembly members were asked to vote on two of seven comprehensive plan areas of focus to explore in depth, given the limited time available. After first learning about the concept of 15-minute neighborhoods, they selected Housing Choice & Opportunity and Inclusive Local Economy as their primary areas of focus. However, their recommendations are not limited to these two topics. The items grouped under Other reflect broader concerns raised by the Assembly—particularly around accessibility and the kinds of changes needed to support thriving 15-minute neighborhoods. ❖ Housing Choice & Opportunity Assembly Recommendation

Influence on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan

Recommendation No. 1

Future Land Use

15-minute neighborhoods should be mixed density The Future Land Use map encourages a greater variety of housing communities; each neighborhood should include high, types across the city to help meet diverse needs. medium and low-density areas. (95% support) Policy Why: 15-minute neighborhoods are places that benefit A new Housing Diversity and Supply policy promotes a full from the interactions between people and businesses spectrum of housing types and price points that enable people to that stem from having a range of densities near each remain in the community as their needs, incomes, and household other. The assembly is directly challenging the compositions change over time. assumption that 15-minute neighborhoods are only high Note: The city cannot control housing prices except through the density. Instead, 15-minute neighborhoods include a permanent affordable housing program. Supporting greater range of housing types and businesses within close flexibility for the creation of different housing types allows for proximity to each other. sizes and configurations that are often more affordable than typical single-unit detached housing. Future Work 6

Composition of housing types and density will be further considered as part of future long-range planning efforts. Recommendation No. 2

Future Land Use

15-minute neighborhoods should be mixed income. Like mixed density, 15-minute neighborhoods should include low, middle, and high-income housing. Boulder already has high-income housing; low and middle-income housing should be supported through city and county programs to facilitate and subsidize building. (88% support)

One way that the city can support a mix of incomes through the comprehensive plan is by supporting a wider range of housing types in more neighborhoods and ensuring permanently affordable housing is distributed throughout the city.

Why: Boulder real estate is very, very expensive. Without support, this means that low and middle-income residents will be pushed out. This recommendation sees these residents as vital to 15-minute neighborhoods. To enable mixed income neighborhoods, the city and county should continue to support building low and middleincome housing through multiple programs.

The Future Land Use Strategy encourages more housing diversity across most land use designations. The future land use designations support a range of commercial uses that can create jobs for a variety of skill levels at different income levels. Policy The updated Permanently Affordable Housing Goal Policy states: ‘City resources will be directed toward maintaining existing permanent affordable housing units and increasing the stock of rental and homeownership affordable housing dispersed throughout the community’, which is expected to support low and medium-income housing opportunities in our 15-minute neighborhoods. Future Work Future mapping work could include the identification of permanently affordable housing options within 15-minute neighborhoods. 7

Recommendation No. 3

Future Land Use

Support building intergenerational, extended family housing, or co-living units through city and county programs that help facilitate and subsidize building. (85% support)

The city does not have occupancy limits beyond those required by the building code for health and safety meaning that larger, intergenerational families can live in the same house. “Group Living” uses, like senior housing or assisted living, is also now supported in the following Future Land Use designations: Neighborhood 1, Neighborhood 2, Community Hub, Regional Hub and Innovation & Production Hub.

Why: Intergenerational housing enables multiple generations to live together through “home within a home” set-ups and/or connected units. Intergenerational housing may be particularly welcoming for cultural groups where extended families live together. These housing set-ups are not restricted to nuclear families. They may also be of interest for supporting folks who benefit from living arrangements that provide care, support, and independence, such as aging residents or disabled adults. Within a college town, this housing may also appeal to undergraduate and graduate students living with other people or families.

Policy See policies on: -

Housing and Supportive Services

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Planning for an Age Inclusive Community

Future Work The recommendation will be shared with other departments and agencies working on housing and on improving services for older adults in Boulder. Other Accessory Dwelling Units are already allowed. See city website for more information.

❖ Inclusive Local Economy 8

Assembly Recommendation

Influence on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan

Recommendation No. 4

Future Land Use

Boulder has people who want to create businesses and struggle to find spaces, and there are currently vacant commercial spaces. The city should pilot a range of creative ways to address this problem. (100% support)

Community and Regional Hubs are envisioned to be mixed used neighborhoods where the primary uses are both residential and commercial. Redevelopment in these areas could provide some commercial space to meet these needs or can transition vacant commercial spaces to other uses, such as residential. Additionally, Neighborhood 1 and Neighborhood 2 designations now support small-scale commercial in residential areas, offering an alternative option for entrepreneurs to take on smaller-scale locations near a customer base.

Why: This recommendation recognizes a problem in Boulder: people who want to start businesses often struggle to find spaces that are affordable and fit their business needs. This may include smaller spaces for starting new businesses. Given vacant commercial spaces, this lack of affordable business spaces does not seem inevitable. This recommendation calls for the city to pilot approaches to addressing this problem, which may include reducing regulations or providing incentives to subdivide existing spaces.

Policy Several new policies support this recommendation. See policies on: Business and Employment Diversity; Local Business and Affordable Space; Commercial Activity in Residential Areas; Imagination Locations Future work The policies now support pilots to address these challenges. These could be part of a future city workplan item. Update codes based on an evaluation of how the current formbased code and other codes contribute to ground-floor commercial vacancies citywide.

Recommendation No. 5

Future Land Use

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Support in-home businesses within 15-minute neighborhoods by reducing the regulations and barriers to starting them. This may include changing property codes to allow businesses in residential areas. (91% support)

Why: This recommendation recognizes that 15-minute neighborhoods call for micro-businesses in new areas. Reducing regulations and barriers to operating in-home businesses is a way to support economic expansion.

In Neighborhood 1 and Neighborhood 2, housing is the main use while small-scale commercial uses are also supported. Policy Directly shapes the new Commercial Activity in Residential Areas policy: The city will support small-scale commercial activity in residential areas to help community members access everyday needs and contribute to the goal of 15-minute neighborhoods. Spaces may include small-scale standalone commercial uses at key locations, home-based businesses, accessory commercial units or live-work forms that offer affordable options for local businesses, cottage industries and creatives.. The city will support equitable pathways for both property owners and tenants to participate in and benefit from these opportunities. Future work The city will need to update relevant codes and permit and licensing processes to remove barriers.

Recommendation No. 6

Future Land Use

Create neighborhood-level economy support navigator programs with community involvement to advise about how to open and operate a business in the neighborhood, including navigating city codes and requirements. (91% support)

NA Policy 71. Worker Opportunity and Development The city works with employers, educators and partners to support equitable access to programs designed to help 10

Why: This recommendation creates support for people who want to start businesses. It recognizes that Boulder’s regulations and codes are often complex. A navigator program would help reduce these barriers. By locating a navigator program within a 15-minute neighborhood and involving neighbors, the hope is that a navigator program shares local knowledge about what it means to operate a neighborhood business and cultivates interactions between business owners and community members that contribute to a connected community.

develop, up-skill and attract workers of all ages in multiple fields with a range of skills, education and experience. The city fosters a diverse and creative workforce and supports wraparound services for Boulder workers, ensuring programs are accessible to all community members.

Recommendation No. 7

Future Land Use: NA

Develop economic development structures and programs within 15-minute neighborhoods. (93% support)

Policy: NA

Why: This recommendation recognizes that the city is initiating new economic development programs. This recommendation suggests that these activities should include programs specifically within 15-minute neighborhoods. For example, instead of just creating a downtown development authority the city would pursue similar entities within 15-minute neighborhoods.

Future Work Navigation support for businesses exists through the Small Business Development Center network, although it is not currently neighborhood or geographically based. The Assembly’s recommendation could help evolve a neighborhood-level program.

Other: This recommendation will be considered by the city in future economic development programs. However, many of these programs are tied to taxing structures through special districts, which provide long-term funding for public space improvements, business support and community programs. Imposing additional taxes on property owners could impact the affordability and viability of mixed-income, mixed-density, mixed-use neighborhoods.

Recommendation No. 8

Future Land Use

Support food trucks by reducing barriers to them, including considering what zones food trucks can be

NA

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allowed within 15-minute neighborhoods. (79% support) Why: This recommendation recognizes that current regulations often keep food trucks out of neighborhood areas whereas 15-minute neighborhoods call for rethinking the expectations that residential areas are protected from business activity. Food trucks are important micro businesses that are often less expensive to start than other types of restaurants so they are more accessible. In turn, food trucks often provide more accessibly priced food while also giving the neighborhood the benefits of a restaurant (as discussed in the services & amenities section).

Policy The comprehensive plan policies are supportive of commercial activity in more areas, but the location of mobile food vehicles is more reliant on zoning, health code and other related permits. Other The city and county have started an annual one-stop shop licensing event for mobile food vehicle businesses to secure all of the required licenses and permits. In the city a Business License, Sales Tax License, Mobile Food Vehicles License, Boulder County Public Health Retail Food License and fire inspection are required before a mobile vendor can conduct business. Future work The Assembly’s recommendation can be considered for future evaluation of licensing and permitting requirements; and navigation support will be continued.

Recommendation No. 9

Future Land Use

Neighborhoods should develop their own programs to enable neighbors to support multiple local businesses around them (54% support)

NA

Why: This recommendation to prospective 15-minute neighborhoods encourages the development of incentive programs that support local businesses. For example, neighbors may be able to purchase neighborhood bucks that can only be spent at participating neighborhood

Policy NA Other

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businesses. Small subsidies may increase the purchasing power if neighbors could pay $80 for $100 neighborhood bucks that all go to neighborhood businesses.

This recommendation is outside of the scope of a comprehensive plan. Downtown Boulder Partnership does have an existing program like this for downtown businesses.

❖ Other Assembly Recommendation

Influence on the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan

Recommendation No. 10

Future Land Use

Reduce barriers to neighborhood organized parties and festivals to enable more neighborhood events that foster interaction and support neighborhood micro businesses. (98% support)

The five designations that support housing also support public and private gathering spaces that could be used for neighborhood organized parties and festivals. Policy

Why: This recommendation recognizes the importance of The need for the city to facilitate more community gathering and neighborhood gatherings for building community and connection is reflected in the Social Infrastructure Policy. economic opportunities. This could come in the form of Future work built infrastructure that enables gathering as well as facilitating the permits and fees or shutting down streets. Any barriers to neighborhood organized parties and festivals could be considered in future code update projects in line with the Social Infrastructure policy. The city has been working to simplify the permitting process for small events held on public streets; and can build more awareness of the existing opportunities, such as the Block Party Permit, which allows closure of a residential street for a neighborhood gathering.

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City staff will also look to this recommendation as they consider when and how to restore the paused Neighborhood Connections Fund grant program. Recommendation No. 11

Future Land Use

15-minute neighborhoods should have city support for ongoing snow removal and yard overgrowth so that sidewalks, crosswalks, and streets are safe and accessible for everyone across all seasons. This includes enforcing current policy and creating ongoing maintenance of areas like curb cuts that tend to get icy and built up with snow during and after storms. (98% support)

NA Policy This recommendation aligns with policies about safety and accessibility. The operational aspects are outside the scope of a comprehensive plan. Future Work

The recommendation will be shared with the city Enforcement Why: Assembly members note that this recommendation staff. does not need to be restricted to 15-minute neighborhoods. This would improve the accessibility of neighborhood infrastructure across Boulder. This recommendation comes from realizing that the current neighborhood infrastructure is not maintained in ways that allow year-round accessibility, especially for people using wheelchairs or strollers. A 15-minute neighborhood relies on year-round accessibility for pedestrians of all abilities.

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Recommendation No. 12

Future Land Use

Conduct accessibility audits within 15-minute neighborhoods as part of implementation to identify infrastructure that is inaccessible and develop specific plans to reduce barriers. These audits can include moving through neighborhoods on paths as well as accessing essential services. (95% support)

NA

Why: This recommendation draws attention to identifying specific barriers to accessing services and pathways within 15-minute neighborhoods so that these barriers can be reduced. Audits are key to ongoing attention to these barriers and putting together plans that address them in an ongoing way.

Other

Recommendation No. 13

Future Land Use

The city and county should study how other cities have successfully managed change while implementing 15-minute neighborhoods, and apply relevant insights locally. (90% support)

NA

Why: “Change management” attends to all of the ways that cities have implemented 15-minute neighborhoods to learn from what they have done, the problems they have encountered, and the lessons they have learned. This recommendation pushes Boulder to continue to learn from other places that are also creating 15-minute neighborhoods in new areas. This recommendation

Other

Policy Aligns with existing and proposed policies related to safety, accessibility and providing a robust multi-modal transportation network that emphasizes non-vehicle travel.

This is outside the scope of the comprehensive plan but is a great implementation concept. The Transportation & Mobility Department would lead this work and will need to consider it as part of future workplans.

Policy NA

This is a great recommendation. The city will continue to seek out and learn from peer cities with experience implementing 15minute neighborhoods as policies are implemented in the Boulder Valley.

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anticipates challenges implementing 15-minute neighborhoods and seeks to integrate learning from other places doing this work. Recommendation No. 14

Future Land Use

Facilitate public events that attempt to foster connections between neighborhood areas and promote awareness of 15-minute neighborhoods. (88% support)

NA

Why: This recommendation recognizes that thriving 15minute neighborhoods need to be cultivated. One way to do this is to facilitate events that bring people together and help people recognize the opportunities that come with 15-minute neighborhoods. This can include providing grants or streamlining event planning.

Policy Aligns with the policies on Community Resources and Education and Social Infrastructure Other This is a great recommendation. The city will share with all relevant departments that work on community engagement, education, special events and that provide small community grants.

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Recommendation No. 15

Future Land Use

Actively promote ways to learn about 15-minute neighborhoods and how they can be developed to meet the long-term vision of specific neighborhoods. (81% support)

NA

Why: This recommendation recognizes that many people in Boulder are not aware of 15-minute neighborhoods despite it being part of the comprehensive plan for ten years. This recommendation supports learning about 15minute neighborhoods so that people can imagine how their neighborhood might become a 15-minute neighborhood. This public education may also spark organic development by people already living and working in an area.

Other

Policy Aligns with the Community Resources and Education policy

The comprehensive plan includes some educational information about 15-minute neighborhoods. Additionally, the concept can continue to be communicated about and integrated into other long-range, collaborative planning projects.

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C. PRINCIPLES FOR IDENTIFYING LOCATIONS The Community Assembly identified four principles to help guide the selection of locations. Staff response: An early step after the adoption of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan will be to update the city’s 15-Minute Neighborhood analysis using the Assembly’s definition. The city will continue to use all four of the Assembly’s principles to identify the opportunities and inform future long-range planning efforts. Principles No. 1: Selecting neighborhoods where there is space available (through large parking lots, lots for sale, industrial lots) to build the needed housing types to create a 15-minute neighborhood. (88% support) Why: This principle centers the importance of mixed density within the assembly’s definition of a 15-minute neighborhood and looks for areas with underutilized land to build housing types currently missing to create a 15-minute neighborhood with mixed density. This approach enables 15-minute neighborhoods in new areas (that don’t already have mixed density) where it is also realistic because there is space available to build what is needed and/or landowners are open to developing in ways to work toward mixed density. The tradeoff here is that there is not a lot of land available in Boulder; relying on space available often means losing existing businesses or industry in “underutilized” spaces. Principle 2: Areas that already have mixed density. (86% support) Why: This principle centers the importance of mixed density within the assembly’s definition of a 15-minute neighborhood, recognizing that developing new housing types can be a long, difficult process. Therefore, this principle starts in places that already have a mix of low, medium, and high-density housing and business activity within the same area. Principle 3: Prioritize areas with high or intermediate high priority areas with the city’s equity index. (79% support) Why: This principle advances the assembly’s value of equity by prioritizing areas that are high priority areas based on racial and ethnic diversity as well as economic needs. The assembly recognized that the city’s equity index uses census blocks, which may require interpretation and translation to work at the level of the neighborhood. Since the goal of this principle is to prioritize equity, attention should be paid to equitable outcomes of creating 15-minute neighborhoods. This includes the potential of displacing existing residents and businesses as well as gentrification that pushes people out of the neighborhood over time, both of which would counter the intention of prioritizing high priority areas from the city’s equity index. 18

Principle 4: A moderate number of services/amenities currently. (82% support) Why: This is a place where some services and amenities within the definition are in place and some things would need to be added. It represents a balance between the efficiency of being able to more easily become a 15-minute neighborhood and the desire to support amenities in places that do not currently have them. This principle reinforces that the assembly does not prioritize facilitating 15-minute neighborhoods in the areas that are already closest to being 15-minute neighborhoods. Do not just pursue the “lowest hanging fruit.” D. CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES The Assembly identified key challenges and opportunities that the city and county decisionmakers should consider over the next twenty years as they facilitate 15-minute neighborhoods. (see list below). Staff response: Future project teams shall consider all of these challenges and opportunities as 15-minute neighborhood policies are implemented in the future. Challenges 1. Fully creating 15-minute neighborhoods that have all of the benefits we seek cannot be accomplished through policy or city and county-led actions alone. 15-minute neighborhoods will also require organic changes by individuals, developers, and neighborhoods. (100% support) 2. Boulder has a history of making visionary changes around land use. Unlike big landmark decisions like creating the Blue Line or creating a dedicated sales tax to purchase open space lands, 15-minute neighborhoods are a vision that requires many ongoing changes, some of which will necessarily vary by neighborhood. Creating 15-minute neighborhoods requires multiple, ongoing decisions that may each face opposition. (98% support) 3. Historically, the city has left businesses to make it on their own. This has resulted in an economy dominated by companies and businesses that have the capital to start and sustain businesses in Boulder. We currently have a local economy full of exclusion without many structures to reduce the substantial barriers (cost, complex city codes) to starting a business in Boulder. (91% support) 4. Despite efforts and incentive programs, housing in Boulder is unaffordable for many who want to live here. The consequences of this shape our community in profound ways. (88% support) 19

5. Boulder has made principled decisions, often on behalf of preserving the natural environment, that have reduced space available for housing and created regulations to restrict how housing can be built. The cumulative effects of these decisions has simultaneously made Boulder a good place to live while constraining action on other values. This trade-off between the environment and housing is not inevitable, but we should recognize this history. (62% support) 6. Vibrant 15-minute neighborhoods have the potential to invite gentrification that undermines the city and county’s equity goals. (66% support) 7. Many folks in Boulder do not live close to where they work. A significant number of people commute into Boulder for work while living elsewhere. The Boulder housing market makes it difficult to move if you change jobs. 15-minute neighborhoods will have a limited impact on this problem. In other places, 15-minute neighborhoods may include work; in Boulder, work is not included. (61% support) Opportunities 1. 15-minute neighborhoods can intentionally create connections and community by developing services and amenities that create interactions across the neighborhood, including parks, schools, and community centers. 2. 15-minute neighborhoods need neighborhood-serving businesses. If done well, 15-minute neighborhoods can support a range of small neighborhood-serving businesses that create a more inclusive local economy by fostering connections between neighbors and the businesses close to them. 3. 15-minute neighborhoods provide the opportunity to develop livable and desirable neighborhoods that are places to live because they provide access to what people need without relying on motorized vehicles. 4. 15-minute neighborhoods provide opportunities to increase density in ways that foster community connections and make Boulder a better place to live for a wider range of folks. 5. 15-minute neighborhoods are a new vision of where we want society to go on a level that we can actually imagine—the neighborhood. They provide a way to focus on hyper-local development and investment across housing, business, and transportation. 6. 15-minute neighborhoods can be a meaningful part of responding to bigger problems, such as climate change.

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Attachment 2 – Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Feature on 15-Minute Neighborhoods (Adoption Phase)

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Message of Appreciation for Community Assembly Members The City of Boulder and Boulder County comprehensive plan team are deeply grateful for the thoughtful recommendations you shared with the Boulder Valley community on the future of 15-minute neighborhoods. Your work shows that people with different backgrounds and perspectives can come together to listen, learn, find common ground and act in the community’s best interest. The city and county commit to revisiting your recommendations as the plan is carried out in the years ahead. Thank you for signing up to our first ever Assembly – and for your time, care, and service to the Boulder Valley community.

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