Leadville & Lake County, Colorado | One Community Project

Nestled above 10,000 feet, the Leadville and Lake County community is home to stunning scenery, a deep mining history, and a diverse population. Long thought of as a working class community, in recent years, the City and County have faced a rising cost of living, workforce housing challenges, and cultural division. Many residents worry that their community is being “loved to death” by visitors, while those who call Leadville and Lake County home are falling or have been left behind.

The One Community Project is a chance to shape Leadville and Lake County’s future by navigating change in ways that will strengthen the community while preserving what makes Leadville and Lake County special. The project is addressing big questions about housing, infrastructure, the economy, the environment, and growth, and is an opportunity for the City and County to work together on policies, programs, and investments to support the community’s needs.

A variety of activities are underway for the One Community Project! In the first phase of the project, focused on developing a set of community values, the One Community Project connected with locals through surveys, one-on-one interviews, small group conversations, and community events for more than 800 total individual interactions. We colored with middle schoolers, ate lunch with Melanzana sewers, drank coffee with early risers, and held a community storytelling event featuring performances by 12 different locals.

Throughout the rest of 2025, the One Community Project will create a cohesive community vision, as well as a set of goals and strategies to guide the City and County’s next comprehensive plan. Check out the One Community Project website to stay up to date on the project!

The One Community Project is ongoing! The project will culminate in early 2026 with a shared vision and comprehensive plan for the future of Leadville and Lake County. This plan will seek to shape the policies, programs, and projects of both the City and County for the next 10 years to ensure a future that reflects the values of the community.