2025 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Update
Boulder Valley’s Vision for the Future through a Child-Friendly Lens
“I should become a bigger part of the Boulder community and speak out more for change…after the first meeting, I felt inspired because it showed me that I do have the ability to make a change in my community.”
--17 year old participant in Growing Up Boulder - BVCP Community Conversation
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Picture the Boulder Valley twenty years from now. How will families find homes they can afford? Where will neighbors gather? How will the community weather climate change?
These questions drive an ambitious effort unfolding across the City of Boulder and Boulder County. The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP)—the community's blueprint for development, transportation, and environmental stewardship—is being reimagined for the decades ahead. To ensure Boulder’s long-range planning reflects the needs of its youngest residents, Growing Up Boulder has engaged youth in several BVCP steps along the way. In 2024, Growing Up Boulder staff took a deep dive into the 2020 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP). We compared the plan’s policies with 15 years of youth-generated ideas from our participatory projects, priorities voiced in recent Child Friendly Cities Initiative conversations, and local government data on youth well-being. We assessed where youth needs were already addressed and pinpointed where updates are needed—recommending stronger language on youth participation, mental health, nature connection, and inclusive play. Our goal: a 2025 BVCP that truly includes and uplifts Boulder’s children and teens. Next, Growing Up Boulder helped the BVCP identify youth to participate in several BVCP initiatives. Thanks to these efforts, teen helped facilitate an April 2025 community meeting, teens participated in the multi-month BVCP "Community Assembly," and teens offered input to the process via Boulder's Child Friendly Cities Youth Council. Finally, Growing Up Boulder held a "Community Conversation" with 18 middle and high school students in August 2025. This conversation, co-facilitated by an adult and a teen, was part of a city-wide hybrid event. To learn more, click on the buttons below. |
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2010 BVCP Updates
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One of Growing Up Boulder's first projects was working with children and youth on the 2010 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update. At a powerful meeting, adults fell silent and awed as a group of elementary through high school age children shared their vision of Boulder's future.
Five groups of students, ranging in age from elementary school through high school, worked with college age and adult facilitators to provide input to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. Youth circled their most favorite and least favorite places on aerial maps of Boulder, then summarized and explained their findings in a brainstorming session. The participating groups were: Arapahoe Ridge High School; BVCP Workshop – middle-school youth; BVCP Workshop – elementary-school children; Boulder Parks and Recreation Youth Services Initiative (YSI); Youth Opportunities Advisory Board (YOAB) |
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