Belmar is another Denver new urbanist community that’s appeared frequently in the press. It’s an innovative redevelopment of an old greyfield mall in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado.
Belmar is very urban, it’s like a downtown area built from scratch. Most of the buildings are three stories or more, giving it a nice enclosed feeling. The architecture is a mix of traditional and modern that works well, especially the lighting. Belmar has really cool retro lights strung across the main drag, and a cool retro looking movie theater to match. There is also an enormous Whole Foods located in Belmar, which in my opinion, isn’t very well integrated into the pedestrian fabric of the neighborhood, but adjoining sections are not yet complete, so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.
One very unique thing to Belmar is the Laboratory of Arts and Ideas, a think-tank/cultural center/gallery that is located across from the Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret. I can’t help but wonder how many people have wandered into the Lab, looked around, and wondered where all the thongs are.
Downtown Area: Belmar has the largest and best downtown area of any new urbanist development in Colorado, and I’m willing to bet, probably the nation as well. There are an incredible number of shops, restaurants, and activities (like a fun bowling alley) in Belmar, and a significant number of these places are independent (although there are quite a few chains as well). Many of the homes are seamlessly integrated into the business aspect–the movie theater for example hosts lofts above it, and one of the condo towers is smack in the middle of retail buildings.
Architecture-how non-cookie cutter?: Belmar currently contains no single family detached homes (a few “modern cottages”are planned but not yet built). Housing in Belmar is predominately condos, townhomes, and apartments. I’ve been in the townhomes which are very nice, but being townhomes, are identical, lending a bit of cookie cutter feel. Overall I think the architecture is excellent in Belmar, and there are some really fun, interesting elements like a very industrial but cool glass elevator tower to one of the parking garages, the aforementioned lights, and a fun plant inspired covered walkway.
Open Spaces/Parks: Belmar has a few small parks integrated into the neighborhood which are very nice, especially in such an urban area. The best is the area between some retail buildings and the new condo tower which houses an ice skating rink in the winter and concerts/evens in the summer. It has a really neat fountain in it, and interesting sculptures–and the restaurants adjacent to this open area have really great open air patio areas. The place is always hopping and interesting.
Walkability: Excellent. There are very large sidewalks everywhere, and Belmar is all connected. Parking is on the periphery in tall parking garages, although there is also on street parking that is metered.
Sociability: I haven’t interviewed anyone in Belmar so can’t really speak to this. But I wondered if the lack of porches in Belmar would make it a bit less social but don’t really know. The developer of my neighborhood, Continuum Partners, is also the developer of Belmar, and I’ve asked them if Belmar is as social as my neighborhood and they’ve said no.