Community Foundations and Principles

Overview

This part of PlanCheyenne-ShapeCheyenne, presents the foundations, principles and policies that will help our community build on its assets. As the Cheyenne area grows, they help to maintain and enhance the qualities that make this a great community. It is the basic framework to guide decisions and other future actions that landowners, staff, and elected and appointed officials will use. The decision framework is expressed as:

Foundations, which represent the values and ideals of our community. They are also the organizing elements for this part of PlanCheyenne.

Principles, which are broad‐based directions for our community, much like goals. They carry forward many of the ideals our community seeks—from Vision2020 and as defined during the PlanCheyenne planning process.

Policies, will guide decisions to achieve our principles and help outline our actions.

The Seven Foundations

The seven foundations that follow bind together the principles and policies for PlanCheyenne. The foundations guide how the Cheyenne area should maintain its distinctiveness and livability, and grow and prosper in the future.

In the future, the Cheyenne area will continue to celebrate and enhance the character, quality, and authenticity of our community by building on these seven foundations:

1. Growing as a Community of Choice;


2. Creating Livable "Hometown" Neighborhoods;


3. Fostering Vital Employment and Activity Centers;


4. Developing a Connected and Diverse Transportation System;


5. Celebrating Our Character and Varied Heritages;


6. Creating a Legacy of Parks, Open Spaces, and Trails; and


7. Developing in a Fiscally Responsible Way.

1: Growing as a Community of Choice

The focus of Foundation 1 is maintaining "quality of life" and attracting new jobs to compete in the region as our community grows. The community will continue to plan for growth that provides opportunities for people of all generations and retains traits that have made it livable and that will attract businesses and economic development. In addition, the Cheyenne area will be a community that provides a variety of housing (predominantly in attractive hometown neighborhoods), opportunities for employment, and essential retail and other services. Focusing on quality of life factors, including conserving land resources, retaining our western heritage, and planning for distinct urban neighborhoods that are efficiently served, will help our community attract a broader variety of employers to a place with a diverse and multi‐generational workforce. Cheyenne will be a community with a reputation as a great place to live and do business.

2: Creating Livable "Hometown" Neighborhoods

As we build new neighborhoods, the Cheyenne area will strengthen our community by raising the bar on the quality of new residential development and ensure that neighborhoods contain a mix of uses and amenities such as parks, integrated trails and open space, schools, convenience retail and personal services, and civic uses. In addition, neighborhoods should continue to be safe, to showcase our civic pride, and provide options for housing, including workforce housing and housing for seniors.

3. Fostering Vital Employment and Activity Centers

This Plan aims to continue to support a solid economy built on family‐wage jobs and a vibrant business community. It promotes on‐going partnership efforts among the many economic development organizations (e.g., the Chamber, Cheyenne LEADS) and others (such as the city, county, and Laramie County Community College ‐LCCC) to selectively recruit and foster business and industrial development. In addition, one of the strengths of this Plan is its focus on providing new employment business parks, regional commercial activity centers, and mixed‐use commercial activity centers. These places will provide jobs and services and continue to keep the Cheyenne area and our neighborhoods vital, safe, and livable.

4. Developing a Connected and Diverse Transportation System

As the Cheyenne area grows, the transportation system will need to grow also to meet our mobility needs. The city and county will improve existing roadways and construct new roads. In addition, improvements to roads must occur with minimal impacts to our existing neighborhoods. For new development areas, the mixed‐use pedestrian‐friendly areas shown on the Future Land Use Plan provide opportunities to support and improve transit, bicycle, and pedestrian mobility throughout the Cheyenne area to serve not only people who cannot drive, but also those who prefer not to use a car. Trails and streets are part of the transportation system.

5. Celebrating Our Character and Varied Heritages

As Cheyenne grows, we will celebrate and enhance our character and heritage by focusing on preserving our historic areas and downtown, creating and maintaining public places, supporting cultural events, and preserving our rural ranching and cultural landscapes. Cheyenne area citizens will continue to have opportunities for cultural exchange, recreation, and learning—it fosters our well‐being as a community, strengthens community involvement, and makes Cheyenne a unique places for residents and visitors. In addition, our natural areas and wildlife are part of our character and heritage, and we aim to conserve natural landscapes to the extent we are able and support continuing farming and ranching. Our heritage consists of the land, historic resources and our community.

6. Creating a Legacy of Parks, Open Spaces, and Trails

This Plan aims to improve neighborhood and community parks—providing adequate land to meet our needs and provide high quality, accessible parks that are integral parts of neighborhoods. As our community grows in the urban area, we will add new community and neighborhood parks that and extend the Greenway and trails to serve new neighborhoods and connect activity centers. Our public park system will continue to be enhanced by a system of smaller private "pocket" parks and green spaces. This Plan also aims to conserve "significant" open space lands—to weave the natural environment through our built environment and around it. Open space adds beauty, creates a unique image and sense of place for the Cheyenne area, provides relief from our built environment, helps maintain water and environmental quality. This is an opportune time to identify and conserve natural and cultural landscapes before development changes them. Parks and recreation are important to quality of life in Cheyenne.

7. Developing in a Fiscally Responsible Way

This Plan aims to guide future growth to promote efficient use of public and private resources and to provide adequate public facilities. On the private side, new development should "pay its own way" and provide the necessary services for the new development concurrent with the development. Government and the public should determine how to invest our fiscal resources strategically to achieve our vision and principles in this Plan.