The Durango Business Improvement District has worked for businesses in the heart of Durango since 1997. BID views itself as the protector of downtown, so we need to know what changes might be coming. One way we do that is to monitor what the city is considering. We constantly review parks and recreation projects, multimodal improvements, discussions about the fire station, housing developments and more.

BID has spent many hours over the past year monitoring the Downtown’s Next Step concept. I have personally been involved in this planning exercise from the get go. I would like to use my column this month to set the record straight about what this concept is.

The concept started because of the success of the bump-outs. Those were lifelines to businesses in downtown during the pandemic, but had flaws. BID asked the city to explore how might the bump-outs become permanent, but with several changes to address the concerns of congestion, the nonuniform look and that the proximity to vehicles. The city ultimately hired a consulting firm to lead a process called Downtown’s Next Step.

Downtown’s Next Step started by asking our community what is valued about downtown. The goal was to get 300 responses, both businesses and locals who frequent downtown. Almost 1,000 responses were received. Five goals came from this visioning process:

Four concepts for an improved downtown were provided, which were then discussed using the five goals. BID participated in and led several focus groups with businesse, and was able to get the deadline extended so that more businesses could weigh in. It is important to note that a full pedestrian-only mall was never seriously considered.

The concept that received the most support is one where sidewalks are expanded, and businesses can use the extra room in front of their building however they see fit. For a restaurant, outdoor dining comes to mind. For retail, a welcoming and sitting area could be created. Also included in the sidewalks are farther extensions of the sidewalks at some intersections to help with pedestrian visibility when stepping out into the street. Midblock pedestrian crossings are also part of the concept on some blocks, as are what are called festival blocks. These blocks can be easily closed for small events and contain event infrastructure elements, such as easy access to power. Downtown’s historic look will not be changed by this concept.

Businesses have been and will continue to be involved while this concept is explored. BID will continue to protect Downtown’s business community be closely following this concept. BID’s priorities are to protect the views of the historic buildings, protect as much on street parking as possible and replace what is traded for wider sidewalks, to make downtown safer for pedestrians and to support businesses in the heart of our town.

If you have any questions about Downtown’s Next Step, please call me at 375-5068.

Tim Walsworth is executive director of Durango Business Improvement District. Reach him at timw@downtowndurango.org or 375-5068.