Denver's business leaders gathered Thursday morning at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce's annual state of the city luncheon to hear several area mayors address the big issues facing the region.
Homelessness and the lack of workforce housing dominated the conversation, along with talk about sustainability and workforce training and recruitment.
Mayor Mike Johnston -- who has been in office for less than two weeks and was a favorite among many in the business community during the general election -- gave the keynote address.
Addressing the Chamber, Johnston had a big task: Build confidence among corporate leaders and convince the room that Denver was still a great place to do business.
Workers are still not returning downtown, and more than 1,000 companies have left the city center, as commercial real estate value has plummeted. Tents line many streets. And with a shifting business climate -- more taxes, permitting sluggishness, construction defects laws that make building condos riskier, and rules on new development -- companies are weighing whether to stay in the region at all.
Even so, Johnston argued, "the state of this city's economy is strong," noting that in 2022 Denver added 20,000 new jobs and Denver International Airport had more than $28 billion in economic impact.
"We also know there are some significant challenges the city faces," Johnston said. "And we know those challenges also directly affect our economy. They affect people's desire to do business here, to live here, to play here, to vacation here. And we want to make sure and address those issues as well."
Johnston pledged he would take on four big issues in his first year: homelessness, housing affordability, the economic revitalization of downtown and public safety.
This is all part of his campaign promise to make Denver the best city in the country.
He spent much of his speech discussing the state of emergency over homelessness he declared on his first full day in office and how he planned to house 1,000 people living on the streets by the end of the year in a mix of apartments, hotels and motels, tiny home villages, and shelters -- a plan regional mayors said they're looking at closely.
Just as Johnston has asked people experiencing homelessness for support in his plan, he asked his fellow mayors and the city's business leaders to join the effort as well.
"We think you can be a part of the solution," he told the crowd.
He invited business leaders to help him find housing and land for tiny homes so the city could "decommission" encampments. That's Johnston's lingo for moving people living on the streets into homes with a lock, an address and basic amenities. Then, he asked businesses to help the city reactivate public spaces and sidewalks.
"That means in every neighborhood that used to have encampments, or have tents or have the presence of people that are struggling, we want to be able to have those communities and those businesses help us make all of those city streets vibrant again," he said. "And we want your partnership in thinking through that and building that solution with us."
He encouraged leaders in the room to join a broad coalition of people solving the problems.
"When you make progress, you get back the belief that we can solve hard problems together," he said. "You get back to the belief that no problem is unsolvable. You get back the belief to think bigger, to dream bigger, to work harder. If we can take on this challenge and make dramatic progress, I think it reminds us that there is nothing this city can't dream to do. That's why the stakes are so high."
After he spoke, Johnston joined Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, and Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade in a congenial panel discussion about their approaches to the big issues.
Former Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams, now the Metro Mayors Caucus executive director, led the conversation, cautioning the region's business leaders to "be kind to our mayors."
Each of the mayors in the room touted the virtues of building more housing. Mobolade described housing affordability as "the biggest, most pressing issue of our time" and talked about learning from other cities' approaches, including Aspen, Grand Junction and Denver.
The mayors discussed the economic and environmental benefits of more density. Several said they had secured state support for affordable housing through Proposition 123, a policy Johnston helped pass that will funnel state money into cities that apply and comply with the rules of the program.
Brockett touted his city's inclusionary housing policy that mandates 25% of all new units created be income-restricted and spoke about his efforts to lift a ban on roommates in Boulder. But he also acknowledged how out-of-reach home ownership has become in his city.
Earlier in the day, a neurologist told Brockett, "I can't afford a $2 million home at this point, but I'd love to buy a condo." But condos are too scarce.
"We're not past the point where teachers can't afford to live in town," Brockett said. "Neurologists can't even afford to buy a house."
While Mobolade is working to increase housing supply, he's also trying to bring better-paying jobs to Colorado Springs.
"There's only so much we can do to bring the cost of housing down, because it's just expensive," he said. "What we have to lean into is providing the jobs, more income for people to be able to live in our cities. So we're tracking about 20 to about 25 projects that pay between $70,000 to $150,000."
Colorado Springs will build roughly 800 homes a year and hire a chief housing officer and community vitality officer to tackle housing and homelessness. The city also emphasizes the construction of missing-middle housing for people between $50,000 and $100,000 a year.
"Our ability to collaborate," Mobolade said, "is going to be really important to solving the problem."
Coffman touted Aurora's water efficiencies and addressed the importance of new housing from an environmental perspective.
"With higher density there's greater efficiencies in terms of energy use, in terms of water use, and in terms of housing affordability," he said. "We can't continue growing with the sprawl of single-family detached yards with grass... and all the watering that takes place. I think how we grow is so critical."
How will the mayors deal with residents who don't want housing in their backyards?
"One of the biggest challenges that we've begun to experience in my city is nimbyism," Mobolade said, referring to the not-in-my-backyard mentality. "That makes it hard where many of the neighborhoods objected to any kind of development.
"And so we, as government leaders, have to think of new ways to begin to educate and begin to help our city see that this is more than a project," he added. "These are real people that are affected by our lack of housing, and it has great consequences and costs to our cities if we do not solve those problems."
In trying to build new housing -- from tiny homes and shelters to affordable housing -- developers often encounter neighborhood objections. Johnston, who has committed to work with every city council district to build affordable housing, faced questions about how he would get neighborhoods on board.
The moderator, Heidi Williams, asked Johnston, "How do you deal with the NIMBYs?"
"I think what we have found is having the conversation early and often helps," he said, only one neighborhood meeting and less than two weeks into the job.
He pointed to a tiny home village built in the River North Art District. At first, he said, it faced scrutiny and resistance from neighbors. But when the tiny home community moved on, neighbors, who had enjoyed sharing community with people experiencing homelessness, were disappointed.
"It's working well," community members said. "Why are you changing it?"
In his closing remarks, J. J. Ament, the head of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, celebrated the collaborative spirit of all the Front Range mayors in attendance.
He, also, addressed the problem of a not-in-my-backyard mentality.
"When you put the NIMBYs from every community together, you end up with what we call BANANAS, which are the Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything," he said. "That doesn't create an equitable opportunity for our future, not only folks looking to come here to participate in our economy, but for our own kids."
