Soapbox: Urban renewal fights sprawl, keeps cities vibrant
“Due to the added risk, these types of activities are not where private-sector real estate developers typically want to spend their money. So assistance is often necessary to attract private sector investment, which is necessary to achieve the community’s desired land-use pattern.
As a result, Colorado enacted the Colorado Urban Renewal Law (CRS 31- 25-101), to provide communities with a mechanism to close the financing gap between the costs of redevelopment and the cost of new, green-field development. Colorado’s urban renewal law is the only mechanism the state provides to communities to finance redevelopment and the removal of slum and blight conditions in urban core areas.
Urban renewal projects “level the playing field” for older, inner-city communities and stimulate millions of dollars in private sector investment into our economy every year. Since 2005, Fort Collins’ urban renewal projects created $6.71 in private sector investment for every urban renewal dollar spent.”
Coloradoan 23 August 2013.