Olde Town Arvada

Olde Town Arvada: How a Crisis Built Colorado's Hottest Pedestrian Hub
Sometimes the numbers tell the story better than words.
In 2024, Visit Arvada's tourism website saw a 1,518% jump in traffic. That's 771,000 visits for a city of just 120,000 people. During the holiday season, their ads converted at 55%—in digital marketing terms, that's not good, that's mythical.
So what happened? How did a suburban main street suddenly become a magnet for visitors, shoppers, and locals alike?
The Accidental Experiment
It started in 2020, when restaurants everywhere were fighting to survive. Arvada made the same emergency call many cities did: shut down a few blocks of Olde Town to cars so restaurants and bars could expand outside.
The goal was survival. The result was revelation.
Without cars, the street felt alive. Safer. Quieter. More human. Families strolled down the middle. Friends lingered on patios without shouting over traffic. Suddenly, Olde Town wasn't just a place to grab dinner. It was a place to be.
From Temporary Fix to Long-Term Plan
The experiment worked so well that in 2023 the City Council approved the Olde Town Arvada Strategic Reinvestment Plan. A 20-year vision developed with Digg Studio, it asked the hard questions:
Should closures be permanent or weekend-only?
Which streets make the most sense?
How do bikes, ADA parking, and RTD fit in?
The answers became a blueprint: wider sidewalks, safer crossings, string lighting, shade trees, murals instead of parking-lot dead zones, even curbless "shared streets" like you'd see in Europe.
Hardware (the sidewalks, lights, and seating) plus software (markets, festivals, events). Build the stage, then run the show.
Proof in the Pudding (or the Whiskey)
Fast forward to December 2024. The lights were up, the streets were closed, the annual Christmas Market and Small Business Saturday brought the crowds.
The Bluegrass (running a Noel holiday bar), Adeluna, Electric Cherry, and both Outside the Box shops all reported their biggest sales days ever. Outside the Box co-owner Dorn Nainabar called it their busiest day since opening: "To see lines of people outside both of our stores—it made us happy."
This is what city planners call a "flywheel." The city invests in pedestrian space. Businesses thrive. Events explode. Visitors spread the word. Marketing lights the fuse. And back around it goes.
More Than Marketing
That 1,518% web traffic spike wasn't SEO magic. It was product-market fit. People weren't just being sold shops and restaurants. They were being sold an experience—and they showed up.
1,518%
web traffic increase
What's Next for Olde Town?
The Yukon Streetscape Project is under construction now, with wider sidewalks, more seating, better lighting, and bike racks scheduled to finish in 2026. Future plans include a redesigned Olde Town Square and expanded street closures on Old Wadsworth and Grandview.
Olde Town isn't done. It's scaling what works, fine-tuning the details, and doubling down on the lesson learned by accident in 2020:
When you give the streets back to people, magic happens.