The Denver Gazette’s Deborah Grigsby reports that Denver is cranking the dials on housing policy to chase affordability. The piece details Mayor Mike Johnston’s push to speed permits, flatten parking mandates, and legalize accessory dwelling units citywide, all in the name of helping people who work in Denver actually live there.
According to the Gazette, the city says it needs roughly 44,000 affordable units over the next decade. Median sale price sits around $584,500 and the area median income clocks near $98,100. City Hall’s pitch is simple: fewer hoops, more homes. Whether the follow-through matches the press release is a different story.
The Bullet Point Brief
• City Hall cut minimum parking requirements. Each structured spot can run tens of thousands, which shows up in rent, even for folks who do not own a car.
• ADUs are now allowed citywide. Think casitas, backyard cottages, basement apartments. Helpful if the rules do not smother them on the back end.
• The city fast-tracked permitting and brought back a development lead to unclog Community Planning and Development. We will see if the line actually moves.
• Denver says it needs about 44,000 affordable units in ten years. Ambition is cute. Delivery matters.
• Prices and incomes still do not line up. Median home near $584,500 vs. AMI around $98,100. The math says “build more” and “cut costs,” not “centralize more.”
My Bottom Line
I moved my son, Jack, to Newton, Kansas, because he could not afford to start in Colorado. And our seniors cannot afford to finish here. That is not a family problem. That is a policy problem. When Denver trims a few rules, good. When the state elbows in to boss every town on land use, not good. Zoning and planning authority belongs close to the people who live with the consequences, not a governor with a whiteboard.
If you want housing to be affordable, shave costs, not freedom. Roll back the tangle of codes that turn a starter home into a luxury product. Let cities, not the Capitol, decide what fits their streets. The market will build if government quits playing traffic cone. I hear the whispers that more top-down land-use grabs are coming in January. If that is true, it is time for Coloradans to stand up, tell the state to back off, and let local communities and builders do what they do best: build homes people can actually buy.
Source: The Denver Gazette
