East 15th Street Corridor Revitalization
Community Challenges and Smart-Growth Planning
Cheyenne has a population of 64,610 residents spanning roughly 32 square miles. Like many cities, we are facing significant housing challenges, including a shortage of available housing for all income levels, opposition to new housing developments, and the potential displacement of long-term residents due to rising housing costs. The lack of housing has driven up home prices and rents, making it even more difficult for residents to find an affordable place to live. Additionally, developers are hesitant to develop multifamily projects due to the rise in interest rates, the cost of materials, and lack of market comparables. The lack of density and overall urban sprawl of the city further exacerbates this issue by promoting development in areas that are not well served by public transportation and other services. Currently the average travel time to work is 15.7 minutes by vehicle.
By implementing smart growth strategies in under-resourced areas, Cheyenne is using resources and opportunities to redesign how we view infrastructure and community development in a way that is more sustainable and equitable. These strategies will be used to develop codes that take advantage of compact building design and creating mixed use neighborhoods that are pedestrian friendly, leading to better health outcomes, reduction of air pollution, promotion of positive social interaction, and revitalization of economic prosperity.
The East 15th Street Corridor has been identified as a Brownfield site for an equitable development planning project. This area scored in the 99th percentile for Environmental Burden and 79th percentile for Climate & Disaster Risk Burden according to the US DOT Equitable Transportation Community Explorer. Integrating cohesive, place-focused strategies with real input from the community will identify and mitigate significant environmental hazards and revitalize this Justice 40 area into a thriving and connected neighborhood. This environmentally contaminated eight (8) block area along East 15th Street previously housed industrial sites such as concrete batch plants, block plants, and multiple rail spurs. Currently, the existing infrastructure lacks sufficient stormwater drainage capacity and has unreliable water and sanitary sewer services. There is also insufficient greenery in the area and a lack of safe multimodal transportation connections. All of these deficiencies pose significant economic challenges for development in the area.
Phase 1 (Community Workshop) Goals:
1. Development
Goal: Encourage housing and mixed-use development in the 15th Street corridor that contributes to the Cheyenne community, serves the needs of existing and future residents, and both strengthens and leverages connections to Downtown and Holliday Park.
Potential Focus Topics
- Affordable housing
- Development of new affordable housing (e.g., on public land)
- Existing Habitat concept
- Community land trust
- Housing rehabilitation
- Community amenities (grocery stores, parks, amenities attractive to young adults, etc.)
- Extension of downtown
- Preservation and enhancement of community character (including historic resources/character)
- Zoning to support desired changes
2. Environment and Infrastructure
Goal: Address environmental and infrastructure-related constraints to development.
Potential Focus Topics
- Needed infrastructure upgrades:
- Water and sewer
- Stormwater management
- Electric and fiber optics
- Brownfields cleanup
3. Connections
Goal: Develop new, high-quality transportation infrastructure that supports community-building along the 15th Street corridor and connects the corridor to Downtown, Holliday Park, and the Reed Avenue corridor.
Potential Focus Topics
- Greenway extension through the 15th Street corridor
- Walkability improvements
- New transit connections
4. Engagement
Goal: Conduct inclusive and equitable community engagement to foster greater public involvement in planning for the future of Cheyenne and the 15th Street corridor.
Potential Focus Topics
- Creation of a neighborhood/small area plan for the 15th Street corridor
- Involvement of under-represented groups
- Communications and relationship-building
- Strategies for increasing community engagement and welcoming new participants in the planning processes, while avoiding “engagement burnout”
Location
715 East 15th St, 82001 View Map
41.1350835,-104.8066262
715 East 15th St ,
82001
East 15th Street Corridor Revitalization