Fort Collins Shakes Up the Planning Paradigm

Like many cities, Fort Collins, CO is cash-strapped, but its plans are no longer dominated by handling sprawl. With development pressure out of the picture, a democratic blueprint for connecting residents to culture as well as space has emerged.

1 minute read

November 20, 2011, 5:00 AM PST

By Judy Chang


"Some planning experts said that a Fort Collins method - anchoring many elements around a centrally connected ultra-green downtown - could become a model for other cities. In any case, at least a dozen countries, and many other cities in the United States, have sent representatives here to look. And that curiosity itself, expressed through hotel and restaurant traffic if nothing else, locals said, has been helpful to local cash flow in a slow time."

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