Stapleton's Sustainability: Denver's Green Neighborhood

By Caren Baginski | Published: 1/20/2011

Stapleton residents share a mutual concern for the environment and their community. Photo courtesy of Caren Baginski

"We sent out info to all the residents about where they should park so that we didn't push parking across the street to the other neighborhoods," said Tom Gleason, vice president of public relations, Forest City Stapleton, Inc. "There were probably about 2,500 people there. At the height of our event, I went out to the parking zones and they were virtually empty."

Denver's newest neighborhood attracts active families who share a concern for the environment and the neighborhood's design is a testament to that, said Tom. Stapleton operated as an airport for 66 years, owned and operated by the city and county of Denver. Thanks to community visionaries, the 7.5-acre site didn't remain fenced off, but underwent a massive "greening" to prepare it for residential living when the airport closed in 1995.

By Federal law, the City of Denver was required to remediate all land before selling it at full market value to their chosen master developer, Cleveland-based Forest City. "They did an assessment to determine what had been left over after 60-plus years of an airport's operation," said Tom. Jet fuel, deicer, asbestos from old buildings and a groundwater plume of pollution that cut across the southwest corner (originating from the Lowry Air Force base a mile south) were all cleaned up before development began.

Then, the sustainability vision began.

NEXT: Read more to learn about the ongoing green efforts in Stapleton >>

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