YIMBY News for 6/25

[Eric Budd]

Colorado resort communities want more focus on residents, less emphasis on tourism, survey shows

Colorado Sun

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KEYWORD SCORE: 36.27. affordable, affordable housing, cost of housing, homeowner, housing, income, project, real estate, rent, renter, transportation, urban

[image: People in winter outwear with horned viking hats at the Ullr Fest.] [image: The Outsider logo] ------------------------------ The slow and steady cultural and economic shifts underway in mountain communities were amplified coming out of the pandemic as new residents arrived, tourists flocked, real estate prices soared and local workers scrambled for housing. A new survey of 4,000 people in Eagle, Grand, Pitkin, Routt and Summit counties quantifies communities in flux as full-time residents — both renters and homeowners — part-time residents, elected officials and second homeowners adju

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It’s Obvious: Gutting Your Downtown for Parking Won’t Help Local Businesses

Strong Towns

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KEYWORD SCORE: 29.75. construction, downtown, growth, house, income, parking, parking lot, transportation, urban, walk

*In my many travels across North America, I have consistently discovered two types of chambers of commerce.* The first embraces a service role, one that reflects an understanding of the symbiotic relationship between a healthy business ecosystem and a strong and prosperous community. The second I will simply call pro-business, a kind of single-focused advocacy one expects of legal counsel. The service mindset recognizes that what is good for businesses must also be good for the community and that the two can’t exist in a rivalrous relationship. The pro-business mindset leads with the mentality

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The 15-Minute City: Hope, Hype and Hostility

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 28.38. bike lane, density, development, growth, homeowner, house, preservation, project, rent, urban, walk

It’s been almost a decade since the idea of the 15-minute city burst onto the field of urban debate, offering up the vision of a metropolis that promised the good life to nearly everyone who might live there. Residents would have within a short walk or bike ride just about anything they needed or wanted in their daily lives. Commerce, recreation, sociability, imposing architecture and clean air would all be present in a compact enclave capable of restoring the sense of community that the modern metropolis lacked. It was an immensely appealing vision to millions of actual or potential urban dwe

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Planning for Kirkland and Bellevue’s RapidRide K Kicks Into Higher Gear

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.91. bus rapid transit, comp plan, complete street, downtown, growth, mobility, parking, project, rent, transit center, transportation, urban, walk

After spending years on the back burner, work to advance King County Metro’s next RapidRide line on the Eastside is coming back into the public eye. The K Line is planned to connect Kirkland with Bellevue, providing connections to some of the region’s fastest growing neighborhoods and bringing thousands of transit riders quicker access to Sound Transit’s light rail and Stride bus rapid transit (BRT) stations. RapidRide K had been heading toward a 2025 grand opening before the Covid-19 pandemic’s initial impact on Metro’s budget derailed planning work. Now King County doesn’t expect the line to

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Coloradans who’ve fallen behind on rent can apply for assistance this week as state aims to stem evictions

Colorado Sun

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.61. affordable, affordable housing, house, housing, housing crisis, income, project, rent, supply, walk

[image: A small town with scattered houses and colorful autumn trees, surrounded by hills and a cloudy sky, offers emergency rental assistance to residents in need.] ​​State leaders are accepting pre-applications for rental assistance this week from Coloradans who have fallen behind on rent and are at risk of eviction or displacement. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs, or DOLA, is opening the three-day pre-application process at 11 a.m. Tuesday and closing the online portal at 5 p.m. Thursday. By July 3, department leaders will randomly select pre-applicants, who will be invited to appl

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Aurora may give its camping ban more teeth in “tough love” approach to homelessness. Not everyone is on board.

Denver Post Politics

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KEYWORD SCORE: 25.00. apartment, house, housing, housing authority, parking, rent, urban

Wayne Wilkins has been homeless in Aurora for just over a year after failing to pay his $1,375 monthly rent at an apartment he used to lease in the city. He now lives in a tent with his girlfriend — pitching it anywhere in Aurora where he thinks he will least likely be asked to move along. Last week, the couple slept in a field between Toll Gate Creek and the sprawling Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, with the roar of Interstate 225 just off to the east. “We set up late in the afternoon and pack up first thing in the morning,” said Wilkins, who goes by the nickname Smokey. While both

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Eastrail’s NE 8th Street Bridge Opens in Bellevue’s Wilburton Neighborhood

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.58. bus stop, construction, house, multimodal, parking, project, rent, transportation, urban, zone

This weekend saw the grand opening of a new pedestrian and bike bridge over NE 8th Street immediately adjacent to Sound Transit’s Wilburton light rail station on the 2 Line. The $32 million bridge lets multimodal travelers bypass one of Bellevue’s most unpleasant and dangerous streets, and it unlocks the next short trail segment of the Eastrail, extending south to NE 4th Street. That stretch is the latest segment of the 42-mile Eastrail corridor planned between Renton and Snohomish County to open. Made of pre-fabricated steel trusses, the exterior of the bridge is screened from the road by per

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Plans for a proposed six story apartment building overlooking the Arkansas River in Pueblo are nearing final approval

Colorado Public Radio

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KEYWORD SCORE: 19.19. apartment, development, downtown, market-rate, parking, project, real estate, rent, walk, zoning

The developer of a proposed 98-unit apartment building overlooking the Whitewater Park on the Arkansas River in Pueblo is requesting several exceptions to the city’s zoning codes. The proposed development, known as The Bluffs, is near West 4th Street, not far from downtown in the Corona/Blocks neighborhood and above the pedestrian bridge and kayak put-in area at Pillars Park. The city’s zoning board of appeals will consider a request to allow some smaller setbacks. That affects how much space is required between the building and the property boundary, as well as the landscaping near the parkin

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Get to Know Your MPO: An Advocate’s Guide to Some of Our Most Critical Transportation Agencies

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 18.63. mobility, project, rent, transportation, urban

This year, Metropolitan Planning Organizations — or MPOs — have taken center stage in transportation advocacy across America. Michiganders got their MPO to cancel a highway expansion plan, St. Louis and Denver MPO’s have approved light rail expansions, and the San Francisco Bay Area’s MPO pushed for significantly more funding and oversight to the region’s 27 transit agencies. MPOs are potentially powerful, complicated agencies that shape our transportation system, but they are often less understood than other decision makers. To help advocates better win changes at MPOs, let’s take a look at w

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