Busting Out the Block Parties in Golden, CO

If you’ve read the project page about Golden Vision 2030, you’d know that Golden, Colorado is well poised to change the way they do business as a city government. Their radical public engagement tools (okay...so not really radical...at the core, they’re based on good ol’ fashioned getting-to-know-one-another efforts) have Planning Commissioners and Advisory Committee members shedding their “public official” image and mingling with citizens like us.

How is such a thing done? Early adopters of Heart & Soul Community Planning have found block parties, held in neighborhoods all over the City, to be a particularly useful tool. City staff met with residents and business owners of each of these neighborhoods, and together, everyone learned about each other’s plights and passions.

Through many informal conversations at these block parties, community members were compelled to share their perspectives about Golden on video. Dozens of residents later watched these videos to learn about and identify the core values of their community.

So what if your town doesn’t allow block parties? Well, Golden didn’t have an official process for this either, but after realizing the impact of bringing people together—especially around food and fun—they developed a Block Party Application Packet. Residents have since held several of their own very successful block parties and even developed some electronic neighborhood sites.

Want to learn more about the electronic neighborhood? Stay tuned and I’ll bring you more tools from this Heart & Soul Golden Vision 2030 project.