Solutions for Our Affordable Housing Crisis

Aldo Svaldi wrote a story on this topic last Saturday in The Denver Post based on a new white paper from the Common Sense Institute. CSI interviewed 40 housing experts across CO on how to address Colorado’s housing shortages, what is working and what is not working, and what they would do to fix the problem.

The co-authors of this white paper say “Colorado needs to build 54,190 new housing units a year over the next 5 years just to cover its deficit and keep pace with population gains.” But, our state is only building a little over half of this amount. They believe CO has the 4th WORST housing shortage in the country. Here are some potential solutions—
· Donation of public lands to affordable housing.
· Waiving existing buildings, zoning, and design standards.
· Dedicating a significant chunk of money from the federal government to address the housing gap. This could include providing the infrastructure that cities and counties have required developers to provide, which is why we have Metro Districts. Builders need to “leave behind the labor-intensive model of stick-building homes and using more efficient modular construction at off-site plants.” Who else has been saying this for years?
· We need to “create a statewide uniform building code to replace the hodgepodge of local rules that deter competition and complicate the construction process.” AMEN!!!
· Redeveloping large sites such as malls and large retail sites for redevelopment and new housing.
· We need to create more training programs for construction trades to attract young people into the trades. YES!!!