Opinion: Denver Needs New Direction on Housing

A Denver writer calls attention to the city's worsening housing affordability, gentrification, and displacement challenges, and prescribes a YIMBY response.

2 minute read

September 11, 2020, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Biking in Denver

Arina P Habich / Shutterstock

Andy Bosselman, former editor of Streetsblog Denver, writes a guest opinion piece for The Denver Post to call attention to the gentrification of Denver, as prices rise and, according to the article, the city does little to stem the city's affordability crisis. 

If you’re not rich and you would like to continue living in your neighborhood, you have reason to worry about a recent report that ranked Denver as the second most intensely gentrifying city in the U.S.

Between 2010 and 2017, more than 100,000 people moved to Denver. But the city issued just 35,000 permits for new housing units in the same timeframe.

In the process of this rapid growth, according to Bosselman, its neighborhoods populated mostly by Latinos that have seen the most newcomers. "Between 2012 and 2017, in nine mostly Latino neighborhoods of West Denver, the number of people with a college degree increased 66%, according to a report from the West Denver Renaissance Collective," according to Bosselman, who cites the West Denver Renaissance Collective for the data. "Those making more than $100,000 increased 97%. And out of 24,000 households, 3,900 were displaced between 2015 and 2018, including 5,800 children." 

According to an interactive map from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition cited by Bosselman, Denver neighborhoods most likely to follow the same path of gentrification and displacement are parts of Five Points, Capitol Hill, North Denver, and West Denver.

To Bosselman, the clear solution to the city's affordability challenges is to build more housing, but the city lacks any sort of target for planners and developers to work toward, and the problem is only to get worse as the financial effects of the pandemic take deeper root around the city.

Monday, September 7, 2020 in The Denver Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight