Denver’s New Freedom Park opened in 2012, bringing a much-needed outdoor space for the East Colfax neighborhood and refugee families who live in adjacent apartments.
But, as Denver has gotten hotter, spending time at the park — which is mostly cement and only has a handful of trees — has gotten harder. Visitors have had to get creative to find relief from the summer heat.
“It was really hot. People most of the time would stay over [near the trees] or jump into [the creek] because there's no fence here,” said Amy Ruth, who used to live in the adjacent Grace Apartments.
On Wednesday, community members gathered to celebrate a solution to their problem: a humble sun shade structure and umbrellas.
The heat protection was funded by democracy.
The improvements were paid for through Denver’s participatory budgeting program — known semi-officially as “The People’s Budget”. The program started in 2022 and has held two rounds of participatory budgeting.
The city asks residents what improvements they want to see in their neighborhood and citywide, giving them a direct vote on what gets funded. Winning projects are built using money from the capital improvement fund, which is powered by property taxes.
Throughout the process, a committee made up of residents like Ruth helps steer the ship and gather community input.
In the first-ever iteration of the People’s Budget, $300,000 was set aside for improvements in East Colfax, Montclair, Hale and South Park Hill. Other options included better sidewalks and streets, but ultimately, residents voted to build the new sun shade structure at New Freedom Park.
From there, community members provided input about the fine details of the project.
“So you're looking at this shade structure and community members voted on heat relief, but where should we put it? How should it be angled? How can we ensure that parents can watch their kids while at the park and not be too far away?” said committee member Kalena Wong.
The participatory budget process is starting its third cycle and could expand, if the cards fall right.
For the next cycle, which starts in the fall, the city is making $1 million available for citywide improvements and $1 million for neighborhoods in southeast Denver.
The program’s budget could increase, depending on a separate city entity’s decisions. Up to $3 million could be allocated to the People’s Budget through the 2025 Vibrant Denver bond. The idea has to jostle with hundreds of other potential projects, however, and may not be chosen by the bond package’s planner.
Kiki Turner, the program administrator for the participatory budgeting process, said in addition to building tangible improvements across the city, it’s meant to improve community engagement.
“We've seen people go back to school and pursue public administration degrees locally. We've seen people join their resident council boards,” Turner said participants.
