Ensuring that downtown Colorado Springs is a safe, welcoming, and prosperous destination is the goal of the Experience Downtown Master Plan, being updated this year. Downtown Partnership COO Chelsea Gondeck shares details with us, and tells us how we can provide input. Community participation is critical.

This lively conversation touches on downtown’s valued features, as well as challenges and opportunities.

On May 8th, 2025, the project team will host two open house events to discuss the draft catalytic opportunities, assets, opportunities, and challenges with the community. The community will also have opportunities to review and provide input on the vision, goals, and action steps.

Some of the topics that come up:

• Public safety
• Parking
• Vacancy rates
• Local, independent businesses
• Loud motor vehicles
• Turning Tejon into a pedestrian mall
• Current Tejon Revitalization project
• Right turns on red downtown
• The Exchange
• The 27-story high-rise – OneVela - proposed downtown
• Should Colorado Springs be more like Denver?
• Mountain Metro news:
• Ride the bus free all summer
• e-Buses

May 8 Public Events:

• 7:30 to 9:30 am - Coffee and Chat, southern lawn of the Pioneers Museum - In case of inclement weather, the Coffee and Chat will be hosted in the Pioneer Museum’s Family Fun Space.
•  5:00 to 7:00 pm - Walk and Talk - to learn about the update, visit some relevant and potentially catalytic sites, and share their own experiences and wishes for Downtown in a candid and casual setting. The group will leave from UCCS Downtown. In case of inclement weather, the second community event will take place inside the UCCS Downtown offices. 

Late Summer - open house - to review existing master plan priorities and add additional ones.

Review and Approval Schedule:

• Downtown Development Authority (October)
• Downtown Review Board (November)
• Planning Commission (November)
• City Council (November/December)

To learn more about the downtown plan update, or sign up for email updates, visit https://downtowncs.com and click on the Experience Downtown Master Plan banner: https://downtowncs.com/experience-downtown-plan-update/

Social media links:

• https://www.facebook.com/DowntownColoradoSprings
• https://www.instagram.com/downtown_cs/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-downtown-partnership-of-colorado-springs/

Loving the Springs celebrates the best of Colorado Springs and elevates the rest.

Plug into what’s happening in the Pikes Peak region, learn about awesome people, places and happenings, and explore opportunities to make life here even better. Local gadflies Al Brody and Dave Gardner love our two springs – Colorado and Manitou, so they give them the mic in this twice-monthly podcast. Nothing’s off the table – recreation, the arts, government, business, politics – if it touches your life, they'll talk about it. We’ll invite the movers and shakers, conspiracy theorists, NIMBYs, YIMBYs, yaysayers and naysayers to join them.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and give us feedback and suggestions via comments at https://studio809podcasts.com/loving-the-springs or lovingthespringspodcast at gmail.com