Bradburn Village is a $220 million,125-acre New Urbanist community located in suburban Westminster,Colorado.  Four distinct neighborhoods are an easy walk from apedestrian-friendly village core—with shops, restaurants, office space,live/work units, and a mix of a residences interspersed with parks andcommunity centers, adjacent to a regional open space trail system.  Ofthe more than 300 single-family homes, 42 will be solar-powered, makingBradburn Villagehost to the largest solar-powered neighborhood in Colorado, accordingto representatives of McStain Homes.  A total of 865 residential unitsis expected at buildout. Though situated close toemployment centers and halfway between downtown Denver and Boulder,Bradburn Village draws many who prefer to work from home.  One residentnoted in a recent Boulder Daily Camera article that withinone block, he knows five neighbors who work at home like himself. Additionally, he notes, “Bradburn is designed around community. Everyone introduces themselves.  Everyone’s invested not justfinancially, but for the quality of life.  We wanted to raise our kidshere; there aren’t many places left where the environment is such animportant part of life.”Community History ContinuumPartners—which is “dedicated to creating ecologically sustainable humanhabitats of extraordinary character and enduring value,” according toits marketing materials—sought to build a project incorporating theprinciples of traditional neighborhood design in the greater Denvermetropolitan area.  Previously, Continuum’s focus was on smaller urbanprojects near central Denver, including Union Station, 16 Market Square, and the downtown redevelopment of Lakewood known as Belmar,west of Denver.  For this project, the developer originally lookedsouth, but suburban areas like Highlands Ranch—featured more than adecade ago in National Geographic as the epitome of America’ssprawling suburbs—offered little in the way of innovative land-useopportunities.  Continuum located the current parcel in the northernDenver metropolitan area, where the City of Westminster was alsoseeking to create a smart growth community.  The parcel was originally an actively farmed wheat field, bordered on two sides by the city-maintained Dry Creek Open Space,featuring more than forty miles of trails.  Continuum purchased theland in 2000, when it began working with the city to changeWestminster’s single-use zoning codes to allow for a New Urbanistdevelopment. Continuum’s first challenge was updatingthose codes.  “The city knew that it wanted something like this,” saysKevin Foltz, Continuum Partners director of development. “We showedthem many projects that town planners Duany Plater-Zyberk & Companyhad designed.  The city liked the designs, but the existing zoningwouldn’t allow for it.”
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