Virtually all of Boulder County’s local governments have their own, individual plans to reverse the diminishing supply of affordable housing in their respective communities. But these local governments are now weighing a new approach: collaborating and coordinating with one another in a way that, if successful, would supply more affordable housing to the county than the total that will be provided if each of them continues acting independently.
At the Boulder County Consortium of Cities meeting last Wednesday, a working group of local government housing and community services agencies presented a draft of the Boulder County Regional Affordable Housing Strategic Plan (the “Plan”). Currently, the county’s cities and towns have plans that would increase the county’s aggregate affordable housing inventory by 6,000 units by 2035. By contrast, due to the efficiencies gained through regional cooperation, the Plan calls for an increase of 15,000 to 22,000 units in that same time. The initial reaction from members of the consortium was positive, stating that the Plan’s regional approach has “traction.”
Local governments will spend the coming months reviewing the Plan in more detail and providing feedback before a proposed final version is presented to the consortium, which may occur in April.