Laramie Launches Community Engagement Process for New Downtown Development Plan

A planning effort 15 years in the making is now taking shape block by block along downtown Laramie's streets, and city officials want every resident, business owner, student, and visitor to have a say before the drafting goes too far.

The City of Laramie, the Downtown Development Authority and the Laramie Main Street Alliance launched a community-wide engagement strategy in mid-March to build a new Downtown Development Plan, the first overhaul of the 2011 blueprint that has guided the corridor for a decade and a half. Consultants Logan Simpson and the PUMA Project Team are leading the planning work alongside the City's Community and Economic Development Department, the DDA, and the LMSA.

The scope of the new plan is broad: buildings, streets, public spaces, transportation, housing, economic development, and infrastructure are all on the table. According to the city's release, community input will be central to shaping the priorities, timelines, and responsibilities that guide how downtown partners move forward together. "Even just a single comment about what is or isn't working can help inform the plan," the city stated.

Two in-person engagement tracks are already running. A Forge Exchange Pop-Up Interactive Display at 103 Grand Ave, inside the Laramie Main Street offices, runs through March 27. The pop-up is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 8 to 11 a.m. Appointments outside those windows can be requested at planning@cityoflaramie.org.

The engagement calendar intensifies this week with a Downtown Charrette at the Laramie Railroad Depot, 600 S 1st Street. Community interviews are scheduled for March 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a business and property owner work session that evening at 6 p.m. A second business and property owner session takes place the morning of March 26 at 8 a.m., with visioning workshops on March 26 at 5:30 p.m. and March 27 at 9 a.m.

Those who cannot attend in person can submit comments directly to planning@cityoflaramie.org or call the City of Laramie Planning Division at 307-721-5207. An online questionnaire is available through the project website, though the city had not published the direct URL as of this reporting.

The 2011 downtown plan has guided more than a decade of decisions about Laramie's central business district, and its replacement will set the direction for what comes next on Grand Avenue, First Street, and the surrounding blocks. Whether that means new housing near the depot, changes to how streets move traffic through town, or investments in public gathering spaces will depend, in large part, on how many people show up or send an email before March 27.