Breathing New Life into Casper’s Downtown: The Old Yellowstone District

The once-thriving district is in the midst of a dramatic revival. Find out how it’s again becoming a top destination to live, work, and play and how Brick & Bond is investing in its future. 

Cities are never static. Thriving districts can, over time, become derelict. And the reverse can happen, too, as distressed neighborhoods are given new life. But this takes vision, commitment, and many individuals and organizations pulling together. It’s a story that has played out in recent years in many of America’s cities, as once-healthy neighborhoods have been brought back from a period of decline. 

It’s also a story unfolding here in Casper. Keep reading to learn how the Old Yellowstone District is regaining its place as one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods and why its best years are yet to come.  

When the Cars Stopped Coming

The Old Yellowstone District was once humming with life. It benefited from three key advantages of its location. For one thing, it was on the main route to Yellowstone National Park for travelers from the East. Businesses servicing the tourist industry, including gas stations, restaurants, and stores, boomed. It was also right next to the massive Amoco refinery and hosted a network of industrial support companies. Finally, the train ran through the heart of the district, making it a hub for distribution and associated enterprises. 

But when First Street to the North was designated a state highway, traffic patterns shifted. The tourists — and their dollars — went elsewhere. Then, the refinery closed in 1991 after 77 years in operation. In 1995, the rail line was abandoned. (It’s now the Casper Rail Trail.) The life of the Old Yellowstone District was gutted.

A New Vision

It wouldn’t stay that way. In 2002, the city began a process of re-envisioning the district, creating an initial plan to spur investment and revitalization. That led to the publication of a master plan in 2007 that laid out a detailed vision to create an urban zone that would draw residents and visitors alike. 

The planners identified some foundational principles. The renewed district would:

• Be mixed-use, including a blend of residential, commercial, recreational, and civic structures.
• Be walkable, ensuring residents could access basic amenities without having to get in the car.
• Include public spaces, like parks, trails, and squares.
• Incorporate sustainable building practices.
• Increase residential density. 
• Encourage broad participation and diverse partnerships, from public input to private developers. 
• Pay attention to aesthetics, with architecture that fits with local traditions and a prominent place for public art.

A Neighborhood Reborn

With the new master plan in place, work began in earnest. The project found strong community support and active engagement from local businesses, investors, and residents concerned for the city’s future. Early changes included a major streetscape renovation of four blocks along the Old Yellowstone Highway. 

Then businesses that shared the vision for the district started moving in. They included innovative restaurants like Racca’s Pizzeria Napoletana, places to socialize like Metro Coffee and The Drinkery, growing regional enterprises like Black Tooth Brewery, arts hub The Lyric, and a variety of professional offices, stores, and service providers.   

In 2017-2018, the completion of David Street Station represented a major step forward. Serving as a central outdoor gathering place in both summer and winter, the venue created a neighborhood anchor that draws people together and encourages a sense of community.  

But something important was still missing: residential density.

A Place to Call Home

Brick & Bond got involved in the Old Yellowstone District in 2019. From the beginning, the project was a natural fit. We share some of the same intuitions about what makes great neighborhoods work, especially the focus on creating a vibrant blend of residential and commercial uses close to one another. 

The city has captured the vision for the district in a brief phrase: Live, work, and play. With a blend of businesses and venues like David Street Station, opportunities to work and play had become increasingly common. Yet right away, we saw the greatest growth opportunity in the initial word in that phrase: Live.    

That’s why our first major project in the Yellowstone District was The Nolan. From the design to managing the project’s construction, it gave us a way to bring a new part of the vision articulated in the master plan to life. We created sophisticated homes and reimagined commercial space in the heart of the rebuilding district so those living there can access community amenities and also add to the critical mass of residents needed for the area to achieve sustained growth.

Building on this beginning, we’re presently in the midst of another residential development: The Yellowstone. This six-story, 104-unit apartment building will bring needed variety to housing in the district, featuring a range of apartment sizes to fit residents in different life stages and will serve as a catalyst for further development. 

The Future

At Brick & Bond, we’re invested in the Old Yellowstone District for the long haul. We’re in various stages of planning for additional development to help push forward the vision of a thriving, dynamic district in the heart of Casper that fuels growth for the entire city. We’re committed to continuing to help build a great neighborhood where people will still love to live, work, and play decades from now.