Colorado Housing Crisis: Need your help! (Denver, Colorado Springs: low income, real estate, apartments)

[GoTransient]

Hi there fellow Coloradans!

As we all have seen and very well know there is what appears to be a major housing crisis among us here in Colorado. There is such a shortage of houses that the landlords of apartment buildings have never seen such low vacancies. Rent is rising, housing costs are rising; taxes, water, etc.

My questions to you all is how do we combat this dire situation? How do we continue to grow as a state with such a shortage of housing, such expense, such sacrifice that we all are being forced to make?

If I could be so humble, we ask the opinion of our neighbors and friends. Please, if you could, fill out a quick survey that may help solve this problem

We are Go Transient, and are a group of people aiming to solve this crisis in Colorado, and maybe even the United States, if not the whole world. Be part of the start of something incredible.

Please add to the discussion if you see fit to do so!

[Sobe Itsavized]

Build up as well as build down. Parking garages are more efficient than vacant lots held together by metal poles and chains with signs saying PAID PARKING ONLY or NO TRESPASSING. Boulder has the same issue but it's because they don't want to build any higher to preserve the views but (this is their main problem) they don't want to build below the ground as much.

Or, you know what, put some if not all of the parking garage UNDER the living structures. Honestly, renting out an extra room is asking for trouble and headaches since the effort is quickly washed away by mishaps and the wrong audience. When people WITH CHLDREN rent out extra rooms and expect to make enough money to cover the trouble, it won't cover up the fact that the door to their children is open to complete strangers.

It's easier to hide what you are than who you are.

[Sunderpig2]

If government, real estate, and even businesses did not get away with making the state so expensive and have a high cost of living, this would be less of an issue. It's backwards and misguided to have us solve the matter by making more space available for others to live.

Let's put attention and pressure on those at the heart and root of the issue. Other states with a much lower cost of living easily and routinely make more affordable living options available, without putting any burden on home owners. CO could learn a lot from other states. Like with the proverbial ostrich, maybe it's time to pull the head out of the ground and start looking around.

It's really more of a cost of living crisis than a housing crisis. Making more places available doesn't solve the root issue. Having more places to squat on will simply lead to more people (and poor people) coming in. It would only aggravate the situation. Let's actually think about this instead of just doing low-level brain work.

[jwiley]

How about the state and federal government take some of the land they own, which is by far a majority of the land in the state, allow some low income high quality apartments to be built by local developers and sell the units through a program like Chafa who offers the mortgage and targeting income limits much the same way the USDA direct loan program works.

[Sunderpig2]

That's a great point. If you look at the amount of state/federal land in CO reserved and set aside, it's a HUGE amount of land. Just take a look at any detailed state map, such as the DeLorme Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer that is in many book stores. That huge amount of land just sits idle most of the time. Such a stupid waste.

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by GoTransient

We are Go Transient, and are a group of people aiming to solve this crisis in Colorado, and maybe even the United States, if not the whole world. Be part of the start of something incredible.

Sounds like you're doing research polling for a start up company. I've never seen that before on City Data, but good luck.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig2

That's a great point. If you look at the amount of state/federal land in CO reserved and set aside, it's a HUGE amount of land. Just take a look at any detailed state map, such as the DeLorme Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer that is in many book stores. That huge amount of land just sits idle most of the time. Such a stupid waste.

So you want to plop people down in national forest land that isn't anywhere close to a major employment center?

[Sunderpig2]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

So you want to plop people down in national forest land that isn't anywhere close to a major employment center?

I never said anything specifically about what to do with the land (that was jwiley). I just pointed out that a lot of land is sitting idle, and that we could probably make better use of it. Maybe next time read what people are actually saying.

[lovecrowds]

I don't think much can be done realistically.

When the population increase by 427,000 people in the span of 5 years, the housing costs are going to go up because people have to live somewhere.

I have heard that lead-times are high on single family homes because there is a construction labor shortage. Part of it is due to the fact that the can't get qualified workers who will stay on the job at the wage alot of construction companies are willing to pay.

It is also lucrative to build expensive housing, as opposed to affordable housing. They do have LIHTC properties that are around $900/mo for a small apartment, that are for people who make around $25,000 available.

I keep seeing out of state license plates in droves all summer long in Colorado Springs and Denver. Many of them I am sure are just moving here.

Most of the stuff they are building is priced higher then the existing units and existing units have very high demand.

I have noticed as of late that old apartments in Aurora are around $1000/mo, while modern apartments in Douglas County are around $1200-$1300.

There seems to be very little difference in the prices of older apartments as opposed to new apartments in very nice areas

I have also seen some very high prices on old apartments in Colorado Springs.

Ironically, there seems to be some leveling off on rents in the Denver area but Colorado Springs seems to be skyrocketing but then again the number of out of state license plates in this city is like nothing I have ever seen.

The thing that I have noticed is many people come to Colorado as couples, roommates or families. In most cases they can afford the rents even if in some cases it's a stretch.

It seems like the higher the rents become, the more out of state license plates I see.

The only thing that keeps housing prices low is out-migration from a state. Any state that has a very high percentage growth of people moving in is going to have an affordable housing issue.

There is also a good amount of affordable housing in the state: Grand Junction, Pueblo, La Junta, Fort Morgan all have a large stock of housing that is affordable by national standards.

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by lovecrowds

I don't think much can be done realistically.

When the population increase by 427,000 people in the span of 5 years, the housing costs are going to go up because people have to live somewhere.

I have heard that lead-times are high on single family homes because there is a construction labor shortage. Part of it is due to the fact that the can't get qualified workers who will stay on the job at the wage alot of construction companies are willing to pay.

It is also lucrative to build expensive housing, as opposed to affordable housing. They do have LIHTC properties that are around $900/mo for a small apartment, that are for people who make around $25,000 available.

I keep seeing out of state license plates in droves all summer long in Colorado Springs and Denver. Many of them I am sure are just moving here.

Most of the stuff they are building is priced higher then the existing units and existing units have very high demand.

I have noticed as of late that old apartments in Aurora are around $1000/mo, while modern apartments in Douglas County are around $1200-$1300.

There seems to be very little difference in the prices of older apartments as opposed to new apartments in very nice areas

I have also seen some very high prices on old apartments in Colorado Springs.

Ironically, there seems to be some leveling off on rents in the Denver area but Colorado Springs seems to be skyrocketing but then again the number of out of state license plates in this city is like nothing I have ever seen.

The thing that I have noticed is many people come to Colorado as couples, roommates or families. In most cases they can afford the rents even if in some cases it's a stretch.

It seems like the higher the rents become, the more out of state license plates I see.

The only thing that keeps housing prices low is out-migration from a state. Any state that has a very high percentage growth of people moving in is going to have an affordable housing issue.

There is also a good amount of affordable housing in the state: Grand Junction, Pueblo, La Junta, Fort Morgan all have a large stock of housing that is affordable by national standards.

Those areas do not have enough jobs to support higher rent, and therefor are not affordable.