Let's Talk Resident Engagement Program

About the Program

Every Wheat Ridge neighborhood is unique. The Let’s Talk Resident Engagement Program is designed to learn more about what's important to residents in each neighborhood.

The program breaks the city down into 10 neighborhoods (see map below). Each neighborhood will see a five to six month "blitz" of engagement opportunities.

During these blitzes, the city will first send out a survey to residents to start the conversation. After that, city staff follow up with a range of in-person and/or virtual events to home in on what's important to residents in each neighborhood. 

Resident feedback is the basis for an action plan presented to city council following each engagement blitz. Each blitz is structured to first identify what the most important topics are to residents, then to discuss how to address these topics through the lens of timing, resources, and tradeoffs. Resident feedback on the “what” and “how” will be documented in the action plan and presented to city council to assess responsive actions.

All 10 blitzes are complete. They covered East Wheat Ridge, Bel Aire, Leppla Manor, Applewood, Anderson Park, Fruitdale, Paramount Park, Southeast Wheat Ridge, North I-70 and Lutheran / Crown Hill. 

Contact Us

  1. Ella Stueve

    Senior Neighborhood Planner
    303-235-2810
    Email

  2. Ashley Holland

    Neighborhood Engagement Specialist
    303-235-2858
    Email

Map of Let's Talk Neighborhoods

Why did the city create this program?

In 2018, city officials heard loud and clear that residents want more and better opportunities to weigh in on issues that impact their neighborhoods. This resulted in the 2019 adoption of an updated Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy (NRS) by city council. The update was led by a 26-member Wheat Ridge resident committee.

The NRS is a citywide policy document that reflects a year of robust community input. The primary recommendation is for the city to conduct focused engagement of residents at the neighborhood level. Learn more about the NRS here.

Program goals

The program goals are to: 
  • Develop a thorough, well documented understanding of the issues and opportunities at the neighborhood level;
  • Build trust between city staff and neighborhoods through demonstration that the city is listening and being responsive;
  • Better empower neighborhoods to take initiative and work effectively with the city for positive outcomes that respond to neighborhood changes;
  • Ensure that all neighborhoods in the city have an opportunity for focused listening and responsive actions from the city within approximately two year cycles; and
  • Ensure that the feedback received during the engagement "blitz" is robust and represents a diversity of opinions in each neighborhood.

Program FAQs

FAQs for the Let's Talk Resident Engagement Program can be found here. 

For questions about Let's Talk, contact Senior Neighborhood Planner Ella Stueve at estueve@ci.wheatridge.co.us.