Public & Private Efforts to Address Housing and Homelessness

June 30, 2021 / Comments (0)

Public Efforts

Access to safe, decent affordable housing has never been more important in Denver. Today 100,000 more people live in Denver than just a dozen years ago, with as many as 100,000 more anticipated over the next decade. While our city’s population has spiked, the housing stock is simply not keeping pace with community needs. Ironically, while home prices have risen dramatically here — generally good news for a city’s economy — this boom is also increasingly making rentals and for-sale housing unaffordable for too many.

Visit Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) webpage to learn more about the city’s efforts.

Denver City Council approved an update to zoning codes regarding parking requirements this June that will help remove a barrier to affordable housing projects in the city. Here is a good article from 5280 magazine to explain why this update to reduce minimum parking requirements is a game changer.

Private Efforts

Mark and Amy Donovan recently launched the Denver Basic Income Project to examine the impact of direct cash distributions to provide a basic income for people experiencing homelessness.

Open Up is a local Denver nonprofit with a mission to tackle the affordable housing need through the ideals of the sharing economy. This short presentation from Open Up provides a good description of the idea and how it works.

SOS – Safe Outdoor Spaces Denver is a project of the Colorado Village Collaborative. In partnership with the City, SOS are healthy, secure, staffed, resource and service-rich environments that provide an outdoor, individualized sheltering option for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Denver.