Community perspective is so important. This may seem obvious, but asking what a community realistically needs and wants hasn’t always been the way of the planning world, but that is something that is thankfully changing!
An example of this was witnessed at the recent Back to School Night event at DSST Cole combined middle/high school where a fruitful community input session took place. This was a combined effort between the staff at DSST, the DOTI Safe Routes to School planning team, and staff members from Fehr and Peers consultant agency.
Arrival and departure times at DSST Cole, like most schools, can be hectic which is why the gathering of community input is paramount. Knowing the actual travel patterns and challenges of a specific location might not always be obvious unless you have firsthand lived experience of it.
Communities are aware of what it's actually like to cross a street here, to try and catch the bus there, and where it would be most helpful to have things such as stop signs based on what makes the most sense for their lived experience at this location.
At DSST Cole, parents, students, and staff alike were happy to give their input about the travel challenges they were facing and many of the same issues in the same locations were brought up again and again. The data collected will be used going forward to best inform future changes made to the area surrounding the Cole campus.
If you would like to improve your community, one way to do so today is by submitting a 311 request! Requests can easily be made online in a matter of minutes. Visit https://www.denvergov.org/pocketgov/#/report-a-problem to submit yours.
Want to dive in even further? Apply today for a Denver CALC micro-grant. We still have plenty of funds left to spend and are excited to hear how you would like to make your community a better place to be! Go to https://www.denvercalc.org/microgrants and apply today!