Strengthening Colorado Communities

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Governor Bill Ritter Kicks Off Sustainable Main Streets Initiative

Governor Bill Ritter Kicks Off Sustainable Main Streets Initiative

On April 28, Gov. Bill Ritter announced four communities around Colorado will pilot a new Sustainable Main Streets Initiative, which will target state resources to help communities overcome their unique challenges and achieve long-term stability and prosperity. Gov. Ritter signed an executive order directing multiple state agencies to partner and concentrate on creating more livable local communities.


“One of the greatest things about Colorado is that we are bound together by a fabric of distinct cities, towns and communities,” Gov. Ritter said during a news conference in Denver’s historic Five Points Neighborhood. “Each of these places has a center or a heart or a Main Street that reflects the community’s unique character and personality.

The Sustainable Main Streets Initiative will direct state agencies to identify and target specific resources to support community projects, ranging from increasing disaster readiness plans to improving energy efficiency in downtown areas to preserving the cultural integrity of the community’s core.

DOLA is leading the initiative to help communities achieve their desired outcomes.

The four pilot communities are Five Points, the Town of Fowler, City of Monte Vista and the City of Rifle. The communities are geographically distributed throughout Colorado with demonstrated management capacity and readiness to move forward with specific strategies to achieve sustainable outcomes for their downtowns.

To read more about the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative, go to DOLA's Sustainable Main Streets Initiative page or the Governor's website.