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 Ideasabout 2 years ago
Create a new hybrid rental option
Consider creating a hybrid rental option where a property owner can rent out a room/home for the school year (long term) and then switch to short-term rentals in the summer when students leave and are replaced with tourists. This helps them generate a more steady stream of revenue over the year and matches the student/tourist ebb and flow better. If you pair this with a more open ADU policy you would probably find a lot of homeowners help add to the housing inventory as well.
about 2 years ago
Provide low-cost financing for ADUs
The city could underwrite a loan program for ADUs and reduce the cost for borrowers. In return the borrowers would agree to lower rents that can only be moderately increased (below the CPI index) for the time of the mortgage. It would be an elegant no- or very-low-cost solution to provide plenty of rent-controlled living space. Ideally these ADUs get built in batches and there would be additional cost-benefits through that process (cheaper material, streamlined workflow, etc.). The City could also review their permit process to see if additional cost saving could be found.
about 2 years ago
Allow Short AND Long Term Licensing
Make rent more affordable for students and even young teachers who might only want a 9(ish) month lease. Allow landlords to make up the difference by offering the unit for short term rental during school breaks (Spring Break, Winter Break, Summer).
about 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.
about 2 years ago
Legalize tiny homes!
The city forces people to own or rent an extravagant amount of space - except with the lucky few new coops that have been allowed for about a year. Just as the coop ordinance mandates 200 square feet per person or more, tiny homes of 200 square feet or more should be allowed. If we're serious about stopping climate change and making housing affordable we will start with this. Council member Jill Grano says six of her friends wanted to build tiny homes on a lot in North Boulder. They were not allowed and instead a couple that is their only half-time has a 6000 square foot house there! The Plains Indians that used to live here considered a 300 square foot tape you to be permanent living for four people. That's 75 square feet per person.
