A recent article in the Denver Post identified Colorado Springs in the top ten least affordable housing markets in the country.

As your constituents, we are petitioning to let you know that this is unacceptable. Our city is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, with our population experiencing steady growth over the last decade. We are a top tourist destination in the nation, bringing our city plenty of wealth that is not trickling down to the people who need it most.

Reports from 2020 found that 1 in 2 Colorado renters were cost burdened by the cost of housing. The average wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the city is $26.45, but our minimum wage is only $12.56. This means that a minimum wage worker would need to work 88 hours per week to afford a modest apartment.

In January 2020, a point-in-time study found that 1,339 Colorado Springs residents were experiencing homelessness. Of those, 358 were unsheltered. Also in 2020, Colorado Springs school districts reported 2,029 children as homeless. As inflation rises and our country’s economic crisis deepens, these numbers will only get worse.

This is unacceptable. We refuse to accept half measures and market-based solutions that put the financial interests of developers and corporations first. We demand more affordable housing and an end to homelessness NOW.

In the past few years, we have seen multiple advisory panels made up of city leaders, planners, and developers. Yet within these sessions, the voices of cost-burdened, housing insecure, and unhoused individuals are notably absent. We are, after all, the true experts on the wide-sweeping effects of the housing crisis, and therefore are in the best position to tell you what we need to see this city do about it.

Our demands are as follows:

-Build more affordable housing at a rate that will keep up with city growth. We suggest mixed-income, municipally owned social housing that will allow residents to partake in a democratic process to have agency over their own housing.

-Ensure that all growth is sustainable. This includes switching the city’s power to 100% renewable, green energy and retrofitting all existing developments.

-Rezone the city for more permitted uses to enable the development of affordable housing complexes and expanded public transportation, as well as more bike lanes and sidewalk access.

-Repeal the Pedestrian Access Act and end the sweeping of homeless encampments. Do the humane thing and pass legislation that supports housing first so that we are SOLVING homelessness, not just pushing it out of sight.

-Pass housing policies that promote equity, inclusion, and diversity for all, taking special care to lower barriers to housing for marginalized populations, such as people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people reentering the population from incarceration, women, and single parents.

We need you to take real action to ensure that Colorado Springs is an inclusive and livable city for ALL. We love our home, but we need to be able to LIVE here. For too many of us, Colorado Springs is just a place we need to struggle to survive.

We are ready to campaign in support of the above policies and look forward to seeing more action towards these demands from city leadership.