LET’S TALK: A big crowd at West Senior Center debated Boulder’s future Feb. 27.

The City invited Boulderites to turn out Saturday morning, Feb. 27, to voice their input to the upcoming revision of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan at a “Shaping Sustainability Workshop” at the West Senior Center on Arahapoe Ave. And turn out they did — about 150 very engaged citizens, including a hefty share of teens and elders.

The result was an intense two-and-a-half hours mostly focused on breakout sections of intense discussion at about 10 tables, all with maps spread out in front of participants.

“It’s good people are so engaged,” said City Council Member Matt Appelbaum. “Of course they can’t solve all the problems of the world in 45 minutes.”

But try they did, earnestly and sometimes excitedly opining about where Boulder should go as a city for its next decade and beyond. More growth or no? Transit Village fine tuning? How can we get maximum value from the new Valmont Park? Those were just a few topics we heard being debated as table-hopped.

But enough of the verbiage. We’ll leave the serious discussion of city planning issues to the The Blue Line, the new website loosely affiliated with PLAN-Boulder County, where the discussion gets detailed and serious. Instead, let’s see the event in pictures, please.

INTENT: Huddled over table and deeply involved were (l. to r.) Elizabeth Allen, Lynn Segal and Analiese Hock.

THANKS: David Driskell, City’s executive director of community planning and sustainability, thanks participants and invites them to submit written input, too.

KIDS TOO: Alex Lopitz gives large group some ideas teens came up during their breakout session, with Jill Locantore of DRCOG in background.

EXPERT: PLAN-Boulder County Chair Pat Shanks confers with city planner Sam Assefa.

Boulder Reporter photos

Other articles by Bob Wells

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• Is the tree-thinning orgy winding down yet? - May 16th, 2011
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• Elk in the shadow of Red Rocks - March 8th, 2011
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• A sun-splashed bash to dedicate CU's big new Visual Arts Complex - September 24th, 2010
• Weekend of thanks - September 19th, 2010