What is your life radius?
How close is your nearest coffee shop, library, or worship center?
How close is your nearest park, farm stand, or natural area?
How close is your nearest store or work center?
Your nearest school?
Can your children or grandchildren walk or bike to these places? Think about that for a moment, because for most people the answer is "no".
Healthy places grow, and Fort Collins is a healthy place. The City Council unanimously adopted the City Plan in April of 2019 and Montava is the embodiment of this plan. If the northeast area of Fort Collins is developed in small disconnected pieces, the vision set by City Plan will simply not happen. We are creating a community that enables people to walk and bike to many of their daily spots. Our plan establishes an active town center, central and connected to the entire NE, that will best enable transit and other future mobility options. Parks, Natural Areas, recreation, entertainment and education are all connected in extraordinary ways.
We will also be making what is likely the largest investment in affordable and workforce housing of any private development in the history of Northern Colorado. We cannot leave behind our teachers, police officers, seniors, wait staff, custodians and ALL the members of our community. Fort Collins is not an elite community only for the wealthy.
Did we mention the heartbeat of Montava is a farm serving the whole region? If you are retired and want to till soil to stay active, or a young family who wants to teach young kids where their food comes from, the Native Hill Farm @ Montava will be life changing. BTW, you can sign up for summer/winter farm shares now!
When all this is done in a compact development pattern, it significantly decreases dependency on cars. Montava's plan reflects these life radius principles, and we have a chance to create this unique life radius for thousands of people who can walk and bike to meaningful places in their lives. This is balanced, healthy, complete community development.
Healthy places grow, but without thoughtful planning they may not always grow in healthy ways. If we cultivate the soil well, northeast Fort Collins will grow into a very healthy community.
P.S. Next I'll share a story of the 6 weeks my wife and I spent in Rochester Minnesota this summer, and how it brought all these things to life in a very personal way.
Click here to view Bluezone’s Dan Burden speaking at the 3rd Healthy City Design 2019 International Congress, organised by SALUS Global Knowledge Exchange and the Royal College of Art.