Belmar's Walk Score

My Walk Score in Belmar is an 82. Not bad-- it was only a smidge higher at 88 when I lived downtown on Capitol Hill, smack dab in the middle of everything Denver. By way of comparison, San Francisco gets an overall score of 85, New York averages 84, while Denver's citywide score is a mere 64.

Developer Requests Increased Density at Belmar

The City of Lakewood has posted notes from the Villa Italia O.D.P. Modification meeting last April 20th. Continuum Partners (the developer of Belmar) has requested an increase in residential and commercial densities on the Belmar's as yet undeveloped parcels.

The notes are here, and go to some length to explain that the city does not expect the new higher densities to ever be fully built out. Instead, it was explained that the change is merely to allow individual property owners maximum flexibility.

Personally, my fear when I first heard about the rezoning request was that Continuum might be seeking to reduce density because of lowered market demand. I moved to Belmar with the hope that it would someday truly grow into a downtown Lakewood, and density is a prerequisite for that.

KB Home Planning Belmar "Paired Homes"

According to the City of Lakewood Planning and Public Works Department, KB Home is seeking to replat Block 9 of Belmar to allow for 60 paired residential units. KB Home is already building these out at Stapleton, where they are trimmed with a vaguely Arts and Crafts look. For Belmar, let's hope KB Home goes with a more modern look (modern-- not cheap!)

At Stapleton, prices for these paired homes start at $211,995 for the 1159 square foot model and $236,995 for a three bedroom, 1667 square foot unit. KBHome.com gives more details, though nothing is up yet about the proposed Belmar construction. The word on the street is construction could start this year-- or could be delayed a year.

Urban Target @ Belmar

Our new Target store has been open almost a month now.

This article from the Denver Business Journal gives some stats on the store, which is the Denver metro area's first "Urban Target."

Particularly impressive (to me) is the ample parking for bicycles. There are also dedicated car pool parking in the parking garage. It all seems so green, but may also simply be a reflection of the kind of traffic increase this store is going to bring to downtown Lakewood. I've already seen the turn lanes off Wadsworth Boulevard onto Virginia Ave. and Alameda back up so much that southbound traffic on Wadsworth came to a halt for several cycles of the turn signals.

Traffic, of course, is part of living downtown anywhere, and in that sense the corner of Wadsworth and Alameda has truly become, at long last, downtown Lakewood.

As for me, I'll be walking or riding my bike to the new Target.