In The Denver Gazette, Sage Kelley walks through how Front Range cities are scrambling to serve the so-called “missing middle,” the folks who earn too much to qualify as low income but too little to snag a traditional single-family mortgage. The piece details a raft of 2024 state laws on housing plans, parking mandates, and ADUs, plus the municipal pushback now bubbling across the metro.
Kelley notes prices have sprinted ahead of paychecks. Average monthly mortgage payments in metro Denver are up 134 percent since 2015, and the median single-family price in September hit $618,342. Cities are testing density, ADUs, and fast tracks, while others lawyer up on home-rule grounds. The question is whether any of it actually lowers the bill at closing.
The Bullet Point Brief
- New laws require housing action plans for cities over 5,000 people and cap parking minimums near transit. The state also forces ADUs anywhere single-family is allowed.
- Denver has already gone aggressive: killed parking minimums, opened ADUs citywide, added set-asides, and fast-tracked permits. Implementation is not the same as affordability.
- Sticker shock is real. Mortgage payments up 134 percent since 2015. Median single-family now $618,342. Families feel the squeeze.
- Voters are pushing back. Lakewood residents resist upzoning. Littleton’s Measure 3A aims to preserve single-family land use.
- Several cities, including Greenwood Village, Arvada, Aurora, Glendale, Lafayette, and Westminster, sued the state on home-rule grounds. The fight is far from over.
My Bottom Line
Government helped create this mess, and now it wants applause for “solutions” that mainly rearrange the cones. If red tape is strangling supply, the fix is not a VIP lane for a few project types. It is cutting the tape for everyone. The missing middle is not a marketing slogan. It is your kid trying to buy their first home before the interest rate eats their down payment.
Unpack the obvious. If the state can force ADUs, cap parking, and demand action plans, it can also stop piling costs on every new unit. If a 90-day fast track is good for one category, make timelines and standards predictable across the board. And respect home rule while you are at it. Local communities know their dirt better than a Capitol committee. The Gazette lays out the mandates and the backlash; the real test is whether families can actually afford the front door that follows.
Source: The Denver Gazette
