Affordable childcare, 2,500 new affordable housing units, less street homelessness.
Mayor Mike Johnston says he’s on track to meet his big 2026 goals, and he has a bunch of new dashboards to prove it.
You can follow along through the year with his quarterly updates at the Building a Vibrant Denver dashboard site.
He’s divided his goals into six themes: Vibrant (boosting business), Affordable, Safe, All In Mile High (street homelessness solutions), Climate Resilient and Child Friendly.
Click through each item, and you’ll get a sense of how he’s measuring his progress.
Because the data reflects 2026 through March 31, some of the dramatic events of the past month – for example, the rise in shootings – are not included in the numbers.
Vibrant
What does “vibrant” actually mean? For Johnston, it’s how he plans to make Denver “the best city to live, explore and do business” in the country.
A lot of that, in 2026, has to do with fixing Denver’s ailing downtown.
Of the 3 million square feet of office space the mayor aims to fill this year, he has already filled 1.5 million square feet.
One big project, the High Fidelity office conversion, got him 1.1 million of those square feet.
Additionally, the mayor is celebrating 14 new stores opening downtown, and five new-to-downtown office deals.
Finally, leases on 241,355 square feet of commercial space were renewed.
Affordable
Though the mayor has so far delivered just 90 of the 2,500 affordable units promised by the end of 2026, he says that was the plan all along. The vast majority of the 2,500 are scheduled to open in the second half of the year.
In the first quarter, the city permitted 2,157 units – nearly half of the 5,000 he aims to have permitted by the end of 2026.
Safe
The mayor aimed to decrease gun-related homicides by 10%. As of March 31, there had been seven gun-related homicides in the city — no decline, but no increase either.
The city also aimed to reduce shootings in high-risk areas by 20%. As of the end of March, they’re down by 60%.
But the past few weeks have seen a dramatic surge in gun homicides that are not reflected in the quarter-one report.
The dashboard notes the city launched a LoDo-focused violent crime task force, continuing the Downtown Development Authority’s Downtown Safety Plan. Also noted is a decrease in citywide violent gun crime and a decrease in persons shot.
The city also plans to launch new Place Network Investigations sites to reduce gun crime this quarter.
All In Mile High
By the end of the year, the city aims to reduce street homelessness by 75%. This is tracked through the Point In Time Count, which will be released in the next couple of months.
In the first quarter, 539 people moved to shelter and 604 moved to housing.
The Comfort Inn Non-Congregate Shelter, which served 464 people over two years, closed for good. Of the people staying there, 172 moved to permanent or stable housing.
Just over half of 311 and 911 calls related to homelessness were addressed in 24 hours. Currently, the average response time for street engagement calls is 2.3 days, with a median of 1 day.
City teams and contractors have responded to 749 calls related to homelessness.
Climate resilient
Denver aims to install 5,000 climate-friendly systems. So far, it’s hit 1,259.
That includes:
- EV Chargers: 407
- Space Heating: 291
- Solar PV: 252
- Water Heating: 244
- Battery Storage: 65
The city also plans to develop 50 acres of green infrastructure. Zero are complete, though the design is wrapped on 1.15 acres, and construction is happening on 15.13 acres. Work has also started on a couple of green streets projects.
Child friendly
By the end of the year, the city plans to have a comprehensive citywide framework to expand affordable, reliable childcare.
Working groups have met, and the city is having conversations with providers. Denver is also drafting a guidebook to help people open childcare centers.
Finally, Denver aims to connect 5,000 more youth to afterschool programs and jobs.
In total, 23% of the city’s 75,371 youth are connected.
The program will ramp up in earnest in the second quarter, as students begin summer jobs.
