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Members of our Community Editorial Board, a group of community residents who are engaged with and passionate about local issues, respond to the following question: Later this month, Boulder will reopen West Pearl to cars, but the city is exploring the possibility of repurposing streets and public spaces throughout the downtown area. Your take?

Two blocks on West Pearl, from 9th to 11th street, were closed during the pandemic to allow the restaurants on those blocks to expand their operations outdoors given social distancing requirements. The pandemic is over, and many of those restaurants are asking that the blocks be reopened. This isn’t surprising given that city sales tax data reports that West Pearl is currently at only 78% of its pre-pandemic 2019 sales tax revenue levels, while Boulder as a whole is at 123%. However, some citizens and City Council members have expressed interest in the continued closure of the two blocks to encourage people not to drive and to preserve those blocks for public gatherings by pedestrians.

It is far-fetched to think that the closure of two blocks will change anyone’s calculus on whether to walk or bike rather than to drive. On the other hand, the closure does change traffic flow and where people park downtown. There are plenty of restaurant options in Boulder, and the lack of drive-by traffic or parking can adversely affect the businesses located on the closed blocks.

It also bears noting that internal combustion engines, rather than four-wheeled vehicles, burn the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. Automobiles are increasingly becoming battery-powered. They provide protection from inclement weather and winter temperatures and are safer than two-wheeled travel. Put simply, cars are not going away. Eliminating cars downtown will not make fewer people drive, it will just decrease downtown visitors. Rather than making a statement by closing two blocks, should we be focused on meaningful changes such as increasing incentives and eliminating barriers for use of the streets by electric vehicles of all sorts, including golf cart-type vehicles?

What about public gathering spaces — does that justify closing West Pearl? West Pearl has always been a popular gathering spot, and the restaurants that want West Pearl reopened are key contributors to its popularity. West Pearl works really well. In contrast, many well-intentioned pedestrian plazas don’t work — take One Boulder Plaza. Vibrant blocks are like small ecosystems, and numerous factors contribute to their success. Boulder’s bricked-in pedestrian mall is charming. But West and East Pearl, or College Avenue in Fort Collins, demonstrate that authentic streets used by cars can be very vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, and inclusive gathering places.

Yes, we should continually explore redesigning our streets. But there are plenty of places to redesign other than West Pearl.

Andrew Shoemaker, ashoemaker@sgslitigation.com

We’re talking about two blocks here. Two blocks do not make a walkable city. The reasons listed to keep these two blocks closed to traffic are a good indication of how good this idea is … and if this is the best they can do, it’s not a good idea.

The worst justification, by far, is the climate change argument. The most asinine item in the city budget is the millions spent on reducing CO2. The total effect on the climate of all this spending is zero. Not approximately zero, but exactly zero. Mentioning climate in the same sentence as city spending labels the speaker either as a pure virtue signaler or one that must actively work to remain ignorant. The city can have significant positive effects on the citizens’ lives in areas like homelessness, traffic, flood mitigation, etc., but they have zero control or effect on the climate. The money we waste here when actual improvement can be had elsewhere is intensely aggravating. Our city council members aren’t dumb. They are clearly smart people but are acting idiotic on this topic.

What are the reasons to reopen the two blocks to cars? The West End revenue is at 78% of pre-pandemic levels while the rest of Pearl Street is at 123%. Not surprisingly, 100% of the businesses wanted cars back at least in some capacity and two-thirds want the street to return to its pre-pandemic state. The road here doesn’t go anywhere but to these businesses. It exists solely for these businesses. Proponents of the closure claim that it will increase revenue for such businesses, but aren’t the businesses themselves the best judge of this? Yes, they are. And revenue is still well below where it was with open streets. Even the biggest proponents of walkable cities recommend measuring success through business revenue. The streets were closed in the first place to help businesses, but now, at least so far, this closure is a failure. Should we spread this idea elsewhere in the city? It depends.

True, the Pearl Street Mall has been a big success and it is only four blocks long, but that was an extensively planned project with the street completely redone for pedestrians, complete with playgrounds, fountains, trees, etc. Closing the two blocks of West Pearl is not the same. Not by a long shot. And it shouldn’t be done on a whim that goes against the wishes of the businesses that reside there.

Bill Wright, bill@wwwright.com

As much as the community may have loved having access to the west end of Pearl Street during COVID, it turned out to be a financial hardship for the businesses located along that two-block stretch. Downtown Boulder Partnership (DBP) conducted a survey of the businesses along that corridor and virtually every restaurant was against keeping it car-free. Their businesses took a hit and have continued to under-perform since COVID restrictions have ended but Pearl Street remains closed along those two blocks.

The idea of repurposing streets and public spaces is a great one, however, and this past summer, the Downtown Boulder Partnership and the city began working on a five-year Vision Plan for downtown that will culminate in the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Street Mall in 2027. its staff and board of directors along with the boards of DBP’s affiliates Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives and the Downtown Business Improvement District have been hard at work doing just that. The baseline for this reimagining project is the oft-stated sentiment of the late business pioneer and downtown visionary Virginia Patterson, that our downtown is the heart of our beautiful city.

Under the inspired leadership of Chip, CEO of Downtown Boulder Partnership, DBP’s staff along with city staff, some City Council members, business owners and other stakeholders of the downtown area have been meeting regularly to reimagine downtown with the goal of making it more meaningful, inclusive, interesting and just plain fun for more people.

As a member of the Board of Directors of Downtown Boulder Partnership, I know that we have a downtown that is a model of excellence to which other downtowns around the world aspire, and our community often hosts visitors from around the world.

But we know there is always room for improvement and there have been focus groups, workshops, charettes and surveys to include as many diverse voices as possible to help determine downtown’s identity, and what additional programs and projects would attract some people to Downtown who haven’t been known to frequent the area.

To quote the DBP website, “The Downtown Boulder Vision Plan will be developed for the community and by the community, focusing on meaningful engagement and building upon existing partnerships and plans. This vision plan will tell a story of the future of downtown Boulder while focusing on identity, economic vibrancy, infrastructure, programming, and the relationship to a changing city.”  I encourage everyone to check out the Downtown Boulder website because a report on the Vision Plan is expected sometime this fall.

Fern O’Brien, fobrien@fobrienlaw.com

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