As the central gathering space for the City of Boulder, the red-brick, pedestrian-only Pearl Street Mall is home to more than 1,000 mostly locally owned businesses, where musicians and performers entertain, kids clamber on play installations, diners enjoy meals al fresco, and friends gather on benches to simply people watch. 

But the Mall is approaching its 50th anniversary and needed a bold strategic vision plan to guide projects and programs for the next 10-20 years—with input from everyone. The process included Board work sessions, a Visioning Stakeholder group, focus groups, surveys, coordination with City staff and other partners, and community pop-up events. The discussions were open and frank about retail, homelessness, downtown housing, mobility, connectivity, diversity and equity. An honest look back at the history of downtown’s success and a look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

The result is a Vision Plan with six “big ideas” about expansion, infrastructure and connections, strategies for achieving them, and recommendations for projects, programming, organizational development, engagement, partnerships and co-creation.