DENVER — The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) recently released a housing report stating that there is a current need for more than 52,000 housing units and a need for more than 500,000 by 2050.
“As we've seen through the last couple of decades, Denver's experienced tremendous growth,” said Sheila Lynch, director of regional planning and development for DRCOG. “Despite periodic building booms, the housing production has not kept up with population growth and job growth.”
Lynch and her team at the Council of Governments worked with contracted company ECOnorthwest to develop a report specifying the exact housing needs in metro Denver. They broke it down geographically and addressed just how much the population has grown over the past 20 years.
Southeast: 50% growth at 366,000 population
Central: 20% at 210,000 population
North Central: 41% at 170,000 population
North: 53% at 180,000 population
West: 6% at 6,000 population
The report, published in July, also breaks down the need for housing at various income levels. Lynch said that the biggest need is for the people making the least amount of money and that current housing does not support the diversity of housing needs across all income levels and household types.
“For these additional units that we see need to come into our region,” said Lynch. “Almost 60% of those units really should be for those earning 60% of the area median income or less.”
The report details the importance of proximity to public transportation and how local governments must address different needs in different regions.
“We really want to understand housing and how we should be growing in a way that makes the most sense for us,” said Lynch. “Both from an infrastructure perspective and also to ensure that people have access to different opportunities, economic opportunities, school opportunities.”
DRCOG does not have any regulatory role. It serves an advisory purpose, with people from 58 local governments coming together to plan strategically. The report has been sent to the member organizations, but it is ultimately up to each local government to decide how they want to use this information.
“We really see this as a tool for local governments to be using to really inform and assess what they do in the future,” said Lynch.
You can check out the report by following this link.
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