Housing Solutions Community Brainstorm
Consultation has concluded
Do you have ideas and solutions to help address housing challenges in Boulder? The Housing Advisory Board wants to hear them.
The newly formed Housing Advisory Board (HAB) wants to brainstorm housing solutions with Boulder residents. They are offering two ways to participate:
- In-person at HAB’s Aug, 22 meeting. This meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers in the Municipal Building at 1777 Broadway. Each speaker will have up to five minutes to present their solution. Sign-ups will begin at 5:45 p.m. Contact Cori Marin, MarinC@bouldercolorado.gov, if you have questions about making a presentation.
- Online here at Be Heard Boulder, where participants can submit their housing solutions and vote on other submissions. This online participation option will close on Sept 5.
The input provided online and in-person will be used by HAB members to help inform their work plan, find trends, identify synergies with current city work and bring great ideas forward as recommendations to city council and boards.
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The Housing Advisory Board wants to hear your ideas. Please share your ideas here and vote on others that have been submitted.
Be aware that your post will be available for the public to view.
View All Ideasover 2 years ago
Establish a Boulder Public Bank
Revenue generated from a Public Bank can be funneled back into the city's budget for any number of different projects for instance subsidizing homes and apartments for lower income individuals, purchasing mobile home parks to create community land trusts for resident owners, and services for people without homes. Please google the State Bank of North Dakota to see how brilliantly public banking has supported the state of ND over the past 100 years.
over 2 years ago
Incentivize density, outdoor community spaces, and shared exterior walls
Relative to many towns in the US, Boulder has fairly low property taxes. Along with zoning changes, increased property taxes on single family homes and private yards could incentivize building ADUs, conversions to multi-family spaces, and opening up rental spaces in existing single family homes. Fewer private lawns and standalone homes would also represent a net decrease to energy used in the city.
over 2 years ago
Use A Small amount of Open Space
I believe the greatest problem is lack of land. Fortunately, the City and County of Boulder owns a substantial amount of open space. If the city were to provide a small amount of lesser desired open space, a “Williams Village” style campus could provide a great deal of affordable housing for the many that need it.
over 2 years ago
Fund deed restrictions to limit house sizes.
As Boulder struggles to finance and build affordable housing, smaller houses all over town are being razed and replaced by expensive larger homes. We can maintain economic diversity in the city if we can find ways to preserve the small and midsize housing stock that already exists. Many efforts to control housing affordability negatively impact owners of affected properties. New rules limiting what can be built may reduce the the value or appreciation potential of a current owner's property. Designating housing as permanently affordable has the same effect. One way to limit the gradual increase in house sizes without these impacts would be to pay owners of smaller homes to add a deed restriction, similar to a conservation easement, that prevents a larger home from ever being built on their lot. The restriction wouldn't prevent modernizing or improving the property, but it couldn't be expanded or replaced with a larger structure. Although this restriction would have the (intended) effect of limiting appreciation, the owner would be compensated. Many homeowners would like the opportunity to get an immediate financial benefit rather than waiting until they sell. Unlike permanently affordable housing, deed-restricted homes would still appreciate at market rates, but the restriction would limit upward pressure by reducing their appeal to developers and to high-income buyers who want a large house. Buying deed restrictions could be cheaper for the city than building new housing. A formula based on the difference between the square footage of the current home and the largest house that could legally be built on the lot could be used to determine the value of the restriction. Fees on new development can fund this. Boulder's location and natural beauty will always force prices higher. Given a fixed supply of land, the only way to counter the force of increased demand is to somehow make the town less desirable. We seem to be caught between a choice of making the city less desirable by increasing either density or economic exclusivity. An effort to preserve smaller housing provides a middle ground by keeping density constant while reducing desirability in a way that is fair, preserves the character of the town, and helps maintain economic diversity.
over 2 years ago
Pedestrian Underpass on East side of Diagonal to connect Four Mile Creek path to Cottonwood path
Currently it is illegal to cross the railroad tracks, but this problem has been solved in other locations (e.g. South of Hwy 52 on Reservoir Trail).
