2008 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

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ECONOMIC CONDITION AND OUTLOOK The City of Louisville has recently been nationally recognized for its livability. In 2005, the City of Louisville was selected by MoneyMagazine as the Fifth Best City in which to live for the entire United States. In 2006, Frommer’s published st the 1 Edition of the “Best Places to Raise Your Family” and the City of Louisville was chosen the “Best of the Best” from a list of top 100 affordable communities in the United States. Frommer’s is known as one of the most trusted travel guides throughout the world. The City of Louisville is located in the Denver metropolitan region, approximately 6 miles east of the City of Boulder and 25 miles northwest of Denver. Louisville has an incorporated area of approximately 7.9 square miles and a population of approximately 20,000. The City’s residential growth peaked in 1992 and has since slowed significantly as the City nears the target population of about 23,000 that is contained in the Community Vision section of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The City is strongly influenced by the U.S. 36 corridor from Denver to Boulder, and development in adjacent municipalities. In 2008 ConocoPhillips purchased the 420 acre Storage Tek/Sun Microsystems campus in Louisville. ConocoPhillips is currently deconstructing the 1.6 million square feet of existing buildings on the site and intends to open corporate learning and global technology centers on the site. In 2009 ConocoPhillips hired HOK as the architecture and design team to help lead the redevelopment effort. Company news releases indicate the learning center will be a, “best-in-class training facility…for all [ConocoPhillips] employees worldwide.” The technology center is expected to support many new and alternative energy research and development opportunities; work closely with nearby universities, including CU, CSU, the Colorado School of Mines, and Denver University; and take advantage of ongoing collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Downtown Louisville is also designated as the site for a Regional Transportation District (RTD) FasTracks commuter rail station on the Northwest Rail line. The NW Rail will extend from downtown Denver through Louisville to Boulder and Longmont and is currently scheduled to be completed in 2017. MAJOR INITIATIVES IN 2008 The City of Louisville Home Rule Charter suggests that the City’s mission is to provide basic municipal services in an efficient and cost-effective manner and maintain the qualities that make Louisville unique by protecting and enhancing the City's natural, cultural, and recreational resources, and preserving the City's scenic, historic, and aesthetic features through open and ethical government in which every member of the community has an opportunity to participate.