In a regional north-Denver landscape characterized almost entirely by single-use, car-dependent pods, Bradburn breaks the mold. Surrounded entirely by housing subdivisions, apartment clusters, office parks, strip shopping centers, and isolated institutional uses, this new neighborhood demonstrates that it is possible to build towns the way we used to, as mutually supportive combinations of homes, offices, shops, churches, and schools. Even the homes are varied, ranging from small apartments to mansions, with bungalows, rowhouses, and live/work units thrown in for good measure. These uses are all collected in a picturesque, walkable landscape of narrow, tree-lined streets, squares, and parks.

When every aspect of contemporary real estate development—from zoning to engineering to financing—is ruthlessly geared around the conventional patterns of suburban sprawl, creating complete communities from scratch presents a challenge, though not insurmountable. What was required in Bradburn was principally a shared desire among municipality (Westminster) and developer (Continuum) to plan the site collectively along a new urbanist framework. As the ULI case study stresses, “high-density, mixed-income housing can work in a suburban location... projects like Bradburn tap an unmet demand.”