The city of Colorado Springs has released HomeCOS: Housing Our Future, a plan for addressing affordable and attainable housing issues in the community.
“We need more housing in our community that matches our local pay scales,” Steve Posey, Community Development Division manager, said in a news release from the city.
“If you work here, you should be able to find a home that you can afford. With this plan and our collaborative partners we are committed to meeting the mayor’s goal of creating 1,000 more affordable housing units per year in Colorado Springs.”
In his 2018 State of the City speech, Mayor John Suthers challenged the community to build, preserve and create opportunities to purchase 1,000 units of affordable housing each year for the next five years. HomeCOS: Housing Our Future is the city’s affordable and attainable housing plan to support that goal.
The Community Development Division developed the plan with “robust community engagement,” according to the news release. Community Development received more than 3,600 survey responses from every ZIP code in the City.
Community Development staff also did extensive research on housing conditions locally and across the state. Key findings include:
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Because of these and other features specific to the housing market in Colorado Springs, HomeCOS includes the following core objectives:
The city is encouraging collaboration among all partners, elected officials and other stakeholders to accomplish the plan’s goals.
In particular, the city’s role is to build the community support needed to increase production of affordable rentals, increase homeownership opportunities, and house the most vulnerable.
By matching housing needs to available resources, the city will work with the development community and local housing agencies to realize the objectives brought forward in HomeCOS.
Progress toward the mayor’s goal this year includes groundbreaking on more than 800 affordable rental units, increased access to down-payment assistance programs and completion of a second permanent supportive housing project for homeless veterans.
Nonprofit housing providers and social service agencies, members of the local development community, and Planning and Community Development staff contributed to HomeCOS.
Read HomeCOS: Housing Our Future in full at coloradosprings.gov/HomeCOS.
This content was originally published here.
