Connecting the “Forgotten”: Transportation Engineering, Poverty, and Social Justice in Sun Valley, Colorado

Yet [Sun Valley] has persisted. Out of neglect. Or the lack of resources and political will. It persists because Sun Valley represents in pure form the daunting legacy of social and economic segregation and the challenge of providing economic and educational opportunity to the neediest among us.

-Tina Griego, The Denver Post , 2010

The light rail stop at this location would be creating a means for companies to move into the community and the Sun Valley residents should not be forgotten when serving the area is concerned...the permanent residents of this area must not be forgotten.

-Student, Sustainable Engineering Design, 2011

This chapter explores the role that transportation engineering, economic planning, and community engagement play in the development of a lightrail system station in Sun Valley, Colorado, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the state. It describes how such a case can be used to teach principles of social justice, sustainable community development and sustainable engineering in the undergraduate engineering classroom. Students in the course "Sustainable Engineering Design" at the Colorado School of Mines were asked to study the Sun Valley community, meet with members of the community, and study the lightrail project not only as a sustainability project but as one with significant social justice dimensions. This chapter examines the challenges and rewards of integrating engineering and the social sciences in this kind of real-world context, emphasizing the importance of integrating Cech's critiques of depoliticization and meritocracy in engineering culture.