New Urbanism Comes To Denver

In Denver, where an abandoned railroad yard long considered a blight on the downtown area has been transformed into “a vibrant new inner-city neighborhood with a mix of offices, residential units and retail businesses,” architect Todd Johnson and his Design Workshop are being celebrated as shining examples of the New Urbanism. At the heart of the Denver design was the notion that it is no longer enough just to build an urban landscape and expect people to flock to it. But the tired notion of getting suburbanites to return to downtown by bringing the suburbs to the city hasn’t worked either. The key to a successful urban design, says Johnson, is to create a space that makes people want to move around in it, preferably on foot, with lots of other people.