Posted inBusiness, Economy, Equity, Growth, Housing, News

Westminster clears controversial Uplands development proposal for “the Farm”

By Luke Zarzecki, The Westminster Window After three long nights of debate and testimony, the Westminster City Council voted 5-2 to approve the controversial plan to convert a large swath of farmland into the 2,350-home Uplands development. Councilors voted at the end of their Monday meeting, which ran until almost 1 a.m. Tuesday and was […]

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“Glorified homelessness”: Even tiny Silverton is experiencing the housing crisis that’s crushing mountain workers

SILVERTON — Julian Roberts is lighting a campfire on the outskirts of Silverton, wind whipping smoke toward the painted school bus where he lives with his fiancée.  He’s been camping out for weeks in the picturesque town of 600, nestled in a caldera among southwest Colorado’s highest peaks.  It was a choice at first. It […]

Posted inBusiness, Economy, Energy, Environment, Housing, News

A long-languishing Pueblo subdivision could become one of Colorado’s largest zero-energy communities

By October, a number of new houses and townhomes are expected to sprout up seemingly overnight on a piece of land in north Pueblo.  These are not ordinary homes, but eco-friendly spaces that would come with zero-energy ready home certification from the U.S. Department of Energy. With walls built in a factory, construction could be […]

Posted inBusiness, Growth, Housing, News, Newsletters, Outsider

Minturn wrestles with the decade-old promises of a big-dream developer

MINTURN — It’s been more than a decade since Bobby Ginn’s grandiose dream for Minturn collapsed, but the community is still dealing with the fallout.  The former railroad town’s council on Wednesday will weigh a proposal to reduce the millions of dollars in perks the bankrupt Florida developer promised Minturn in 2008. A showdown is […]

Posted inBusiness, Housing, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider

How emergency declarations in Colorado’s high country housing crisis smooth the path to more homes for locals

Ali Fuchs wants to build two, deed-restricted one-bedroom units behind Big Al’s Bicycle Heaven, her shop in downtown Crested Butte. The town’s zoning code requires two parking spaces per unit. But she doesn’t need four spaces. With only two tenants, she needs two spaces. “Because that makes sense,” she said.  The impasse led Fuchs to […]

Posted inBusiness, Housing, News, Outsider

Modular housing is getting a second look as Colorado confronts a lack of affordable homes

BUENA VISTA — Charlie Chupp deflects the perceived perfection of his timing.  As housing and construction costs skyrocket in Colorado, creating a labor crisis that threatens tourism and building industries in mountain communities, Chupp is six months from opening a modular housing production facility capable of churning out two fully-built, ready-to-assemble homes a day. The […]

Posted inClimate, Economy, Energy, Environment, Growth, News

Estimates of future Upper Colorado River Basin water use confound planning, report shows

By Heather Sackett, Aspen Journalism Some water experts fear that a long-held aspiration to develop more water in the Upper Colorado River Basin is creating another chance to let politics and not science lead the way on river management. “Alternative Management Paradigms for the Future of the Colorado and Green Rivers,” a white paper released […]