JEFFERSON COUNTY: an economic overview.

THE REGION:

From the mountains to the cities

Growing up in Minnesota, Tom Clark -- president of the Jefferson Economic Council -- used to daydream about the West.

"I'd never seen the West, but I'd fantasize about riding the range," he said. "And you know, when I thought about the West, it looked like Jefferson County. In many respects, this area is the embodiment of what a Midwesterner thinks of when he thinks of Colorado. But Jefferson County has urban places, too. We have mountains and cities, and they are close enough to each other to enjoy both to their fullest."

That mixture of classic Western topography and lively urban centers is Jefferson County's most unique asset, and the single most important factor behind its economic vitality. From the mountain communities of the foothills to the urban centers of Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Arvada, Jeffco's strength is its diversity.

An overview of the county's current economic picture highlights the efforts to maintain that balance of quality of life and commercial vitality -- starting with the high-profile issue of growth and development.

Jeffco's towns and industrial areas have deeper roots than some of its suburban neighbors to the south and north. Many of its more urban areas took shape in the three decades after World War II. Yet there has always been a physical limit to its expansion: the rugged slopes of the Front Range, more suited to mule deer than middle managers.

That scenic barrier of spruce and granite has kept development pretty much confined to the wedge of rolling plains between Denver and the mountains. And while large chunks of undeveloped land are still available at the fringes of the county, continued growth in central Jeffco can only come via careful planning and husbanding of resources.

To that end, the Jefferson Economic Council recently completed a year-long survey of available commercial and industrial land in the county.

"Commercial and industrial land is becoming as endangered as the Preble's jumping mouse," said Clark. "It's difficult in a time of plenty to convince anybody that 20 years down the road there might be a problem, but that is the reality." As proof, Clark cited a few numbers. "If we continue losing land to residential development at the present rate, we'll be generating an average of 450 new jobs a year; contrast that with the last seven years, when you had an average of 4,500 new jobs a year. Our study confirmed that there are roughly 4,000 acres left in the county for job creation."

The solution? Intelligent land-use policies, designed to save open space, limit sprawl, and concentrate industrial and commercial uses in accessible mixed-use areas, where people can live and work and shop without spending hours in the car.

"We drafted a new land-use proclamation which went to the county commissioners and is now making its way through the cities with very positive response," said Clark. "It's a movement toward mixed-use development and a discouragement of vast residential tract development with no available services, a move to stop down-zoning commercial property into residential property. It presents the idea of commercial land banks, which would acquire land under residential pressure. Rather than covering that land with homes, you hold it until you can develop a portion industrially."

Such a policy need not conflict with Jeffco's popular and much-recognized Open Space program, which has set aside thousands of acres for conservation and recreational use over the past two decades. Again the key is balance.

"People are still worried about growth, but generally they realize that going after the symptoms of growth only creates its own anomalies. You have to go to the root causes of sprawl," said Clark.

"Our argument has been, inside the business parks, let's build housing to make it a community, so that workers can live nearby. We have some great examples of that: at the Denver West retail center in Lakewood, we have the apartments and attached homes, at Church Ranch at 104th, in Interlocken, and now in Broomfield. There is still a generation of managers and land developers who are wedded to the idea that there are sleeping places and working places and eating places and entertainment places, and all of us stuck in the middle in cars. But we're slowly moving away from that, and seeing market enthusiasm for the alternatives."

The late '90s labor shortage is another factor pushing large employers toward infill developments with integrated housing and shopping possibilities nearby. Typically, when you create isolated business parks, the housing built around them is single-family and...