Commentary: For Denver’s Next Mayor, a Potential Legacy Project

Denver has myriad plans that envision a future where our city has complete, connected transit; sidewalk and bike networks; and development patterns that make it easy and practical for people to choose options other than driving to daily destinations. Reducing our dependence on driving, in turn, will make our city more safe, healthy, inclusive, affordable, sustainable and livable. A key theme throughout these plans is the importance of coordinating transportation and land uses.

A major stumbling block in achieving this vision, however, has been the classic chicken-and-egg problem. Proposals to increase density before good transit, walking and biking options exist cause people to protest that new development will only increase car traffic and parking woes. Conversely, proposals to add…