The Broomcorn Express, Quarterly Publication of the Friends of Broomfield History
Vol. 3, No. 3, July-September 2023
It’s summer—it’s time to go outside and enjoy all of the open spaces in Broomfield. And in case you are wondering why there are so many open spaces in Broomfield, here is a short history for you to enjoy.
But before we get into the history of open space in Broomfield, let’s take a quick look back at why open space is important. Some theorists say that open space is valuable because it contributes to the social, political, and physical health of urban communities. Other theorists say that these spaces in neighborhoods are beneficial to interpersonal connections. Still others have looked the benefits of urban open space from an even broader perspective and believe that open spaces in urban areas create a “public sphere” where democracy is strengthened by encouraging exchange and understanding among diverse groups. They theorize that urban open spaces allow for contact between different ethnic and class groups, thus generating healthy psychological, social, and political development of the citizenry. And last, but not least, health experts who have studied the impacts of urban open space have found that it improves the health of the populace.
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the 1970s, urban planners typically had bought into the concept of a city center surrounded by residential neighborhoods and an outer ring of open spaces that included agricultural areas and undeveloped land. In addition, this outer ring served as a means to delineate one community from another. The City of Boulder was an early adopter of this open space concept and systematically created a green belt surrounding their town. The concept then expanding to other communities in the county, and Boulder County proceeded to create open areas between each of their cities.
As the 1970s became the 1980s, the concept of creating open space as a tool for urban shaping expanded to include the concept of using open space as a means to preserve areas that were ecologically sensitive and/or had environmental value. Boulder County then proceeded to pass legislation that would guarantee funding to allow them to continue to be a trendsetter in the preservation of open spaces.
In the early 1990s, few communities had permanently undeveloped areas other than those that might be ecologically or environmentally sensitive. But to the surprise of urban planners and community development offices, grassroots contingencies of citizens began to campaign for the inclusion of open spaces within city limits simply for the purpose of having areas of “relief” from urbanization. And this is exactly what happened in Broomfield.
Much of the Boulder County open space bordered on Broomfield, so as Broomfield was beginning to grow and thrive it was not a far leap for some of the citizens in Broomfield to think that open space would be a positive component of their city as well. But there is an interesting twist in the open space story in Broomfield. There were several people in Broomfield who considered open space to be wasted space. Their arguments were basically three-fold. The first was financial. Land in Broomfield was (and still is) expensive and many thought the city should not be spending limited resources on this “wasted space.” The second, somewhat similar argument was that land in Broomfield was not only expensive, it was also a finite resource. Therefore, leaving some of it in its natural state could deprive the city of businesses, residences, parks, playing fields, and eventually curtail the amount of sales and property taxes the city/county could collect.
And the third argument was that some people felt it was not government’s role or responsibility to tell anyone what they could or could not do with a piece of property, including leaving it open and “wasted.”
As previously mentioned, open space was not a foreign concept to people in Broomfield. In fact, there actually already was an open space in the city (Lac Amora was the first open space, dedicated in 1977). But creating open space on prime development property in the middle of town—now that was a totally different can of worms. On the other hand, a small, but adamant group of people in town came together to convince the rest of the citizens and the elected officials that open spaces would not be a detriment to development and in fact, it would be one of the primary things that made Broomfield great. What they undertook was not easy. Some involved in this experience would say it was a contentious battle – combating developers, a conservative city government, and a somewhat apathetic population in order to pass legislation that added a small amount to sales tax to fund the purchase and restoration of open space. And in many respects, it was contentious. First came a campaign and vote to pass an open space sales tax, with accusations of purposeful spreading of misinformation and fear mongering about the dire impact of increased taxes. When this measure lost by a very few votes, those who had worked so hard to get it on the ballot were very disheartened. But after a few deep breaths, some of those individuals revitalized the cause and got the measure reworded and put up for election a second time and, wonder of wonders, it passed. Victory was theirs (and ours).
So there we have it. Because of that persistent group of people, Broomfield is full of permanent open spaces. Now it’s time to get out there and show our appreciation as we walk, and jog, and ride our bikes, and just enjoy the natural areas that surround us and make our lives better.
Featured image: Brunner Farmhouse garden with open space, “The Field” in the background
