JILLAIRE BELIEVES IN
Accessible Communities: Affordable Housing & Public Transportation
The cost of housing plays a significant role in reducing the opportunities Colorado families have to thrive and build communities, including in our district. Home prices in Colorado have increased 20-30% in the last four years. With interest rates remaining high, it’s difficult for many to take on a new mortgage. This has, in turn, increased the demand for rentals, with those prices increasing 15-25% since 2020.
To expand access to affordable housing, we need more innovation in building, more efficiency in permitting, more public-private partnerships, and more flexibility in zoning. However, many of those reforms would not come without their challenges. For example, changing zoning laws to allow for increased density or mixed-use development seems like a simple solution, but schools, roads, sewers, and other services aren’t always designed for those changes. We must find ways to make housing more affordable, while also prioritizing investments in our infrastructure, including public transportation.
I see public transportation as a win-win-win. It’s a win for traffic congestion. It’s a win for the environment. And it’s especially a win for people who don’t have the resources to purchase, insure, fill up, and maintain a personal vehicle.
The I-25 Bustang Longmont Hub should open this fall, but it’s not accessible without a car. The entire east side of HD19 is without any sort of mass transit, and the west side is very limited. Taxpayers in the northwest metro region have been paying taxes since 2005 for a rail line to Longmont that still hasn’t been built. There is much to do when it comes to providing greater transportation access to the residents of our district, and that will be a priority for me in the legislature.