The following terms are defined for their particular use and application with this Comprehensive Plan. In some cases these terms may defined and used differently in City Code or other City documents.
Activity Centers - A general term for mixed-use centers that integrate a range of uses and activities which complement and support each other. Typically, an activity center includes a predominant type of use, such as commercial or employment-related, that is then supported by a mix of one or more other uses, such as residential, civic, or institutional. The predominant use generally determines the type of center. Activity centers vary in size, intensity, scale, and their mix of supportive uses, depending on their purpose, location, and context. Activity centers are intended to include mixed uses, be pedestrian-friendly and provide good connections and transitions to surrounding areas.
Arterial Streets - Similar in role to arteries in human physiology, arterial streets are high-volume roadways that deliver motorized traffic between urban centers and connect local streets to highways. They are often classified as major or minor arterial streets depending on their capacity and particular functions.
Arts and Culture - A range of cultural sectors: high or fine arts and literary arts, as well as ethnic, film and commercial arts and historic preservation; a range of visual and performing artists, craftspeople, designers, arts educators and cultural practitioners; radio and film; and a range of cultural events: performances, exhibitions, festivals and celebrations.
Attainable Housing - Decent, attractive, safe, and sanitary accommodation that is affordable for the full spectrum of the City’s residents. While a cost of no more than 30% of gross household income is a good rule of thumb for affordability, there will be some circumstances where higher or lower thresholds may be more applicable.
Autonomous Vehicles (AV) - A vehicle in which some aspect of control is automated. AVs do not necessarily need to communicate with infrastructure or other vehicles if they have their own sensors and cameras.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) - A bus-based public transit system combining the quality of rail transit and the flexibility and economics of a traditional bus system. BRT systems are usually constructed on designated multimodal corridors connecting increased population and employment densities with transit oriented land uses. BRT can operate on bus lanes, HOV lanes, expressways or ordinary streets. A BRT system typically incorporates a simple route layout, frequent service, limited stops, passenger information systems, traffic signal priority for transit, cleaner and quieter vehicles, rapid and convenient fare collection, high-quality passenger facilities and integration with supportive land use policy.
Community Hub - A location that serves as an accessible community focal point and gathering place with retail uses, resources and services, and is designed and oriented to meet the needs of a particular neighborhood or subarea of the city.
Complete Creeks - Major waterways within the city that serve as stormwater, wildlife and greenway corridors and which often provide additional complimentary functions including non-motorized trail connections and routes for utilities.
Complete Streets - Complete streets are streets that have been built for safe and convenient travel by all road users, including people on foot and bicycle, as well as transit users. Complete streets policies call for routinely providing for travel by all users when building and reconstructing streets and roads. (Adopted by 2005 Ordinance 05-196)
Comprehensive Plan - A vision of what we want our city to become; a guiding document with a framework of maps, vision themes, goals, policies, and strategies; a tool for making decisions about how the vision should be achieved; strategic steps to make the vision a reality; targeted, directional, and measured metrics and indicators to illustrate the state of progress of the city.
Connected Vehicles - Vehicles that can communicate with other vehicles and the infrastructure they use. The most common wireless technology used for connected vehicles is dedicated short range communication (DSRC).
Co-Working - Work activities occurring in flexible workspaces shared by people who are self-employed or working for different employers.
Creative Class - For the purposes this Plan, this term is broadly defined as a socioeconomic class that encompasses a wide range of knowledge-based occupations and industries with a focus on innovation, such as education, design, computer programming, engineering, science, the arts, healthcare, and business. The term was originally coined by economist and social scientist, Richard Florida, PhD.
Creative Industries - A range of economic activities associated with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. While no formally agreed-upon list of businesses exists, examples include publishing, advertising, performing arts and architecture.
Creative Placemaking - Incorporation of artistic or creative solutions as part of urban design and development.
Critical Support Services - The service centers, industries and City services necessary to meet the fundamental needs of residents and businesses, on a day-to-day basis. Industry services are usually located along rail and highway corridors and are buffered from residential areas. Service centers and City services can be located closer to the neighborhoods and business areas they support and provide services.
Cultural Ecosystem - The interconnected system of places, businesses, facilities and supporting elements that promote the creation, experiencing and performance of education, arts and culture throughout the city.
Cultural Focal Point - Any place in the community with one or more special features of art, performance or architecture that are part of the public realm. These can include but are not limited to public art, fountains, band shells, and amphitheaters.
Cultural Hubs - A community focal point for arts, cultural, and educational uses and activities.
Datacenter - A facility made up of networked computers and storage used by major companies to organize, process, store, and distribute large amounts of data.
Design Guidelines - Written statements, explanatory material, graphic renderings and/or photographs intended to inform property owners and the public of specific examples of techniques and materials appropriate to achieve identified design goals and objectives.
Design Standards - Written requirements adopted by the City that set forth criteria, the design of particular areas, buildings or elements related to the physical development of the city.
Destination Travel - All travel to Colorado Springs by persons who do not ordinarily reside, work, attend school, or shop and obtain services within the City. This includes tourists, conference goers, event attendees, visiting athletes, business travelers, shoppers from outside the region, and other visitors from outside the City.
Electric Autonomous Vehicles - Autonomous Vehicles powered using electric energy stored in rechargeable batteries.
Employment Centers - Activity centers that include major concentrations of employment supported by a mix of uses that meet the needs of employees and visitors, such as restaurants, lodging, child care, higher density residential, and educational facilities.
Enclaves - Unincorporated areas entirely surrounded by property within the municipal boundaries of the City, as further defined in the Colorado Revised Statutes.
Facility Master Plans - Documents that describe and provide planning guidance for the physical components of public and specialized private sector facilities. Examples include the Colorado Springs Airport Master Plan and hospital or university plans.
Festival Streets - Streets with an identified public space and enhanced streetscape treatments that allow for year-round activities. These streets act as connections among districts and the amenities within them, Examples of existing and proposed festival street include Vermijo Avenue, Sierra Madre Street, Pueblo Avenue, and the future Champions Boulevard.
First and Last Mile Connections - A combination of short segment transportation solutions and facilities that are focused on the origins and destinations of what may be longer and higher speed trips of varying purposes. These connections often encompass some combination of a need to connect from a mode with higher speed or capacity to one with slower speeds and more localized capacity.
Frequent Transit - Fixed or flexible route transit service of varying types and designs with intervals of 15 minutes or less between trips during peak travel periods.
Goal - A statement about an end toward which efforts are directed, and that provides the community with direction. A goal is a desired ideal and a value to be sought.
Green Infrastructure - The interconnected system of parks, open space, trails, waterways and other natural areas that connect the city to its natural environment and which provides environmental functions.
Greenfield Development - Development of previously undeveloped sites located outside predominantly developed areas or within recently developing outward expansion areas of the city.
Greenway - A linear open space established along either a natural corridor, such as a creek or stream valley, a ridgeline, a railroad right-of-way converted to recreational use or any natural or landscaped course for pedestrian or bicycle passage. Greenways often serve as open space connectors linking parks, nature reserves, cultural features, or historic sites within populated areas.
Grid Pattern - Streets that are built at right angles to each other to form a grid. Fine-grained street grid refers to a pattern of shorter blocks and more intersections.
High-wage jobs - Jobs that pay above the county average.
Historic Preservation District - A geographic area composed of structures, objects or improvements that display historic and/or architectural significance and that the City has designated to be appropriate for preservation.
Homeowner and Neighborhood Associations - Home owners associations (HOAs) ordinarily have dues and enforceable covenants, whereas, a may or may not have dues and generally cannot not enforce covenants.
Human Scale - Elements of the physical environment and design that match and compliment the size, scale and speed of an individual operating as a pedestrian, and that encourage activity and interactions at an interpersonal level.
Incubator - A facility used by startup companies that provides affordable workspace, shared equipment, training and mentors, and access to financing, to help these new businesses grow.
Indicators - Numerical measures of progress toward achieving the City’s vision and goals. Indicators are meant to be reproducible, attainable, affordable, and quantifiable. (Also see Keystone Indicators)
Infill Development - Development of vacant, blighted or underutilized land within previously built areas. These areas are already served by public infrastructure, such as transportation and utilities. Parks and open space are also considered as infill, since they represent permanent uses for vacant parcels.
Innovation Districts - Districts that encourage a density of institutions and technology-related firms and start-ups and utilize their proximity to collaborate and share knowledge.
Intermodal Transportation Plan (ITP) - The 2001 master plan for City transportation activities. It includes the Major Thoroughfare Plan, a Truck Route Map, a Transit Plan and a Bicycle Plan, as well as a plan for managing travel demand and pedestrian programs. The purpose of the ITP has been to guide policy and decision making with respect to serving the City's existing and long-term future transportation needs and to carry out the goals of the Strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.
Intermodal Mobility Plan (IMP) - The anticipated name for the recommended update of the 2001 Intermodal Transportation Plan.
Internet of Things (IoT) - The concept of any modern electronic device’s ability to connect to the internet and/or to each other. The inter-networking of vehicles, “smart devices,” buildings, sensors, actuators and other embedded electronics where network connectivity enables these objects to collect, interact and exchange information.
K-12 School System - The combined system of traditional public, charter, private, and non-traditional schools and other facilities providing education to preschool through 12th grade students, and in some cases including post-secondary opportunities.
Keystone Indicators - Set of numerical measures of progress toward achieving the City’s vision and goals. Indicators are meant to be reproducible, attainable, affordable, and quantifiable (also see Indicators).
Land Use Master Plans - Plans that identify or guide allowable or desirable land uses and densities for specific geographic areas. These plans provide information about such issues as land use, transportation, open space, parks, and schools. Plans for undeveloped land are most frequently prepared by the private sector, while plans for established or redeveloping areas are prepared by neighborhood organizations or the City, either singly or collaboratively.
Low-Impact Recreation - Activities, such as hiking, that are accommodated within open space areas in a manner that recognizes and sustainably manages their impacts, especially to the most sensitive natural environments within these areas.
Maker Space - Similar to co-working and incubator facilities, a space that provides technology and equipment (such as 3D printers), used by entrepreneurs to experiment, test ideas, and build product prototypes.
Master Plan - A plan for the development of a portion of the City that contains proposed land uses, a generalized transportation system, and the relationship of the area included in the plan to surrounding property.
Mature/Redevelopment Corridors - Corridors that line older arterial streets and state highways with retail uses and auto-oriented services developed in a typical strip commercial pattern, often with multiple curb cuts, individual parking lots, cluttered signage, and small lots. These corridors include significant infill and redevelopment opportunities.
Millennials (Generation Y) - Existing and future residents born between about 1982 and 2004. Millennials comprise the single largest segment of the city’s population.
Mixed-Use Development - Development that integrates two or more distinct land uses, such as residential, commercial, and office, with a strong pedestrian orientation.
Multimodal - Incorporating more than one mode of transportation. For example, a multimodal transportation corridor is one that is proactively designed and operated to accommodate more than one mode (i.e. a street with motor vehicle travel lanes, but also separate defined bike lanes, transit facilities, and enhanced pedestrian infrastructure).
Multistreet Corridor - A transportation corridor consisting of two or more parallel streets planned and managed in a coordinated and integrated fashion.
Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Units (NOAHs) - Market rate housing units that are affordable for various segments of the population at or below the median household income levels of the city.
Near Enclaves - Unincorporated areas -mostly surrounded by property within City limits but not technically qualifying as enclaves, in some cases because they are bordered on one side by property within another municipality or by federally owned property.
Neighborhoods - Geographic sub-areas within the city that contain and derive at least some of their identity from residential land uses, but which also encompass and incorporate a variety of other land uses and facilities. The extent of a neighborhood is variable and may be defined by tradition, period of building and development, subdivision patterns, or formally adopted boundaries.
Neighborhood Centers - Small, low impact, limited use centers that fit into the neighborhood and are a benefit and amenity to neighborhood residents.
Neighborhood Planning Templates - Anticipated City adopted and standardized templates for both the process and format for new and updated neighborhood plans and intended to result in more efficient creation and use of these future plans.
New/Developing Commercial Corridors - Major street corridors with high volumes of traffic that have recently developed, or are now in the process of developing predominantly with non-residential uses.
Opportunity Zones and other Investment Areas - A term intended to encompass a broad spectrum of existing and future areas designated or otherwise qualified for the purpose of providing location-specific grants or incentives to support investment or reinvestment. Examples may include, but are not limited to federally qualified opportunity zones, Community Development Block Grant (CGBG)-eligible areas, state enterprise zones, and urban renewal areas.
Pedestrian-Scale - Physical development and facilities sized and designed so support the pedestrian experience. (Also see Human Scale and Pedestrian-Oriented Development)
Pedestrian-Oriented Development - Development that incorporates safe, attractive, and continuous connections and walkways for travel and access by foot at a human scale as an integral part of its overall layout and design.
Placemaking - The process and philosophy that results in the creation or enhancement of quality places that people identify with and want to live, work, play or learn in.
Plan - This Colorado Springs Comprehensive Plan (PlanCOS along with its appendices and referenced documents).
Policy - A statement of principle or a course of action that provides a broad framework for guiding governmental action and decision making.
Pop-Up Culture - A term used to label a PlanCOS typology that refers to wide variety of temporary events, activities, art installations and performances, taking place primarily but not entirely in outdoor settings and contributing to the cultural diversity of the city.
Pop-Up Retail - Temporary retail shops where business owners can test products and ideas without committing to a permanent location. Pop-up shops are often used to help activate vacant and underutilized spaces.
Primary Employment - Jobs that primarily bring external funds into the city and region in the form of wages, sales or investments. Examples include federal employees paid from the U.S. Treasury, manufacturing jobs, or national organization headquarters jobs.
Privately Initiated Land Use Master Plan - A Land Use Master Plan initiated by a private developer or group of developers.
Public Realm - The public and private, primarily outdoor areas of the City, with high levels of open public access, including street rights-of-way extending from building face to building face, plazas, publicly accessible parking lots, and public parks. Note: this term is defined more specifically for use in the Downtown Form Based Code.
Publically Accessible Outdoor Spaces and Amenities - A broadly defined term intended to include City owned and other parks, open spaces, off-street trails, playgrounds, public plazas and other similar outdoor spaces that are widely accessible either to all city residents or to residents and employees within the serviced area of that amenity.
Publicly Initiated Land Use Master Plan - A Land Use Master Plan initiated by the City or another public entity, including neighborhood or corridor plans advocated for by existing neighborhoods or business groups.
Purposeful Density - Thoughtful and well-planned increases in density will be an important part of our future as a growing metropolitan area, particularly in areas of focus such Downtown, along designated corridors, and in activity centers. Increased density will support our transit and walkability visions, maintain the vitality of our mature areas, contribute to our long term fiscal sustainability and help us create desirable places.
Redevelopment - Conversion of existing built property into another use, ideally resulting in better use of the property that provides an economic return to the community.
Regional Centers - Large, intensive activity centers that combine the uses of commercial centers and employment centers and serve the city and region as a whole. They often encompass regional malls or corporate headquarters.
Residential Density Bonuses - A general term referring to a potential combination of additional allowable density, increased building heights, or reduced building setbacks as otherwise permitted in a zone district
Resiliency - The capacity for the City, and its residents and businesses to prepare for disruptions, to recover from shocks and stresses, and to adapt and grow from a disruptive experience.
Ridesharing - A variety of options for the shared use of smaller vehicles including traditional car and van pooling, a taxis or systems like Lyft or UBER that provide individualized transportation options.
Signature Streets - Streets that provide a walkable environment by incorporating: wide sidewalks, sidewalk patio dining, adjacent retail and entertainment activities; streetscape design features, low-level pedestrian lighting, ornamental landscaping, pedestrian benches, and public art. These streets support key retail, entertainment and employment nodes, i.e., Pikes Peak Avenue, Vermijo Avenue, and Tejon Street in Downtown.
Significant Natural Features - Ridgelines, bluffs, rock outcroppings, view corridors, foothills, mountain backdrops, unique vegetation, floodplains, streams, surface water, air, natural drainage ways and wildlife habitats that contributes to the attractiveness of the community.
Single Point Urban Interchanges - A type of grade separated interchange with a comparatively small property footprint and allows free flow of traffic on the major highway, and focuses the flow of traffic on the more minor facility to a single signalized traffic control point.
Smart City/ies - To utilize technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) to address challenges facing our community and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
Special Districts - Districts authorized by the City and created under Colorado Revised Statutes or City Code for the purposes of financing and/or maintaining public improvements for particular areas of the City. Special districts include but are not necessarily limited to metropolitan districts, business improvement districts (BIDs), and general improvement districts (GIDs), special improvement maintenance districts (SIMDs), and City special assessment districts.
Sports Ecosystem - The interconnected system of sports venues, governing bodies, associated businesses, training environment and events that promote the experiencing and economic benefits of sports throughout the City.
Stormwater - Surface runoff and drainage, induced by precipitation events, and conveyed, treated and managed in pipes, channels, creeks, ponds and other public and private facilities.
Strategic Plan - A planning document approved by the City which identifies key areas requiring the resources of City government, and which identifies specific actions steps necessary to achieve desired goals.
Strategies - Plans of action intended to support a specific policy.
Street Activation - A combination of building design choices, streetscape treatments, and multimodal options that results in increased and enhanced use of and orientation towards the street, especially by pedestrians. The type and extent of desired and achievable street activation will be influenced by factors including the functional classification of the roadway and safety considerations.
Street Car - A trolley that runs on rail infrastructure and serves as an alternative mode of transportation for the public.
Street Section - A set of standards for how the public right of way is divided between sidewalks, bike lanes, travel lanes, medians, and other uses and functions.
Streetscape - The overall appearance of a street and the features related to both it and the directly associated public realm, including medians, street trees and other landscaping, street-facing building treatments, entry features, walls, fences, amenities including street furniture and public art, and associated facilities such as street lights, utilities, signage, sidewalks and trails.
Sustainability and Sustainable Development - Strategic initiatives and policies that provide both short and long-term solutions to benefit the people, environment, and economic welfare of our Colorado Springs community. From the perspective of the physical development of the City, development and redevelopment that meets the needs of our residents today without compromising the needs of generations tomorrow.
Third Place - Social environments that provide a space for people to meet, hang out, play, study, or otherwise build community. They are separate from the usual social settings: private homes (first place) and offices (second place). Examples include coffee shops, parks, and public libraries. These places are found throughout the City, but when they occur in conjunction with other features of urban places, they can add particular value.
Topophilia - A strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain peoples and a love of certain aspects of such a place.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) - Development that supports transit use through a concentration and mix of uses and pedestrian connections.
Transit-Supportive Zoning - Zoning that allows for and results in densities, land uses, designs and building orientations that can be expected to support higher levels of transit use as a result of the physical development patterns that are established. Unlike Transit Oriented Development (TOD) which responds existing or programmed higher level transit service, transit supportive zoning set the stage for higher levels in the future.
Transportation Hubs - Areas of convergence or terminals for transportation users. Includes train stations, bus stations, bus stops, park-and-rides, and airports. Bus stops or intersections that serve several bus lines are also considered transportation hubs.
Travel Demand Management (TDM) - Any program or policy that reduces demand on a transportation system. Reductions in demand can be by time-of-day, route, length, mode, or absolute reduction, and are usually a combination of the four.
Tree Lawns - The strip of landscaped area between the sidewalk and the curb.
Typologies - A tool that classifies and graphically represents areas of Colorado Springs related to the major themes of this Comprehensive Plan. Typologies are based on the characteristics, stages of development, issues, needs, and priorities of different areas of the City, and rely primarily on examples of existing areas as a means of articulating the recommended goals of the Plan.
Universal Design - Design of the built environment that promotes access, to the greatest extent feasible, for all people regardless of age, size, ability, or disability.
Urban Activity Center - Major centers with a combination of elements that typically include urban character, higher densities, mixed land uses, walkable design elements, orientation to the street or community gathering areas, and the potential to support higher levels of transit service.
Urban Core - The area of the City in and around Downtown.
Walkable/Walkability - A physical design and environment with availability of safe, accessible, connected and inviting facilities that encourage and result in more pedestrian activity for a variety of purposes. Walkability purposes will vary depending on location and local conditions City.