Rebuttal: To Blame West Denver for Contributing to Denver’s Housing Crisis Is Absurd

West Denver won’t be gaslit when it comes to gentrification, displacement, missing middle housing and development. We have seen what ignoring and hoping has already done to the Northside and Five Points, and we won’t sit back and watch the consequences of density for density’s sake impact the West Denver community. To blame West Denver for contributing to Denver’s housing crisis is absurd.

The opinion article by Kevin Matthews of YIMBY Denver is centered on the recent memo from Community Planning and Development calling for a pause on rezonings specific to five Denver neighborhoods, not city-wide. They are the five neighborhoods that make up the 2023 West Area Plan – Sun Valley, West Colfax, Villa Park, Barnum, Barnum West and Valverde — all of which are in Council District 3, where I was proudly born and raised, and now represent on council.

CPD issued the memo upon analyzing the adopted West Area Plan. With 78 neighborhoods in Denver, the overwhelming proportion of rezoning and demolition permits fall in these five neighborhoods in District 3.

The memo calling for a pause only applies to rezoning applications which make up about 10 percent of all proposed development projects in Denver. That means 90 percent of development in Denver already has the zoning it needs and requires no council approval. For example, West Denver is building homes and you’ll see no static environment here, with over 15,000 housing units recently built or approved for construction. Council approved the multi-neighborhood plan, which directly says we should avoid displacing West Denver residents wherever possible, and we will follow that guidance.

Matthews’ accusation that Denver, in doing this pause in five neighborhoods, is promoting bad public policy doesn’t consider the historical basis of the West Area Plan and the systemic abuse that redlining had on these five neighborhoods and throughout West Denver, nor does it recognize where gentrification is happening and to whom.

Why does this matter? Redlining in the mid-1900s institutionalized disinvestment and depressed housing values in West Denver, among several other neighborhoods where Black and Brown residents could live. These five neighborhoods of West Denver are now being snatched up for development more so than the rest of the city. Gentrification may be a buzzword, but its impacts are real, though not inevitable.

To isolate and discourage investment in West Denver neighborhoods for generations, only to chastise those same neighborhoods today for not doing our part in curing the city’s housing crisis, is obtuse and offensive to those of us in West Denver who are trying to promote responsible development and affordable housing. We are not saying “Not In My Backyard,” but nor are we willing to see thousands of our residents priced out of their homes.

YIMBY can often be a voice of fresh air and heroic advocates in calling out elitist or exclusionary comments from residents who are suspicious of newcomers who live in a home or Accessory Dwelling Units.

But to treat this pause for five West Denver neighborhoods with increased pressure and attention to what can, and will, actively push our entire historically Latino, Chicano, immigrant and working-class population out of Denver permanently, is counterproductive to equitable housing efforts and is culturally insensitive to our community.

Those who have been raised in West Denver, wish to raise their families in West Denver, or who just want a small chance at a naturally occurring affordable home are being shut out. Likening them to “Not In My Backyard” demonstrates an inability for YIMBY to identify nuance, history and frankly, abandons an opportunity to partner for future ways we can meet the need and avoid contributing to irreparable harm.

Jamie Torres is the councilwoman for District 3 of Denver City Council. Her colleagues in solidarity: Council President Amanda Sandoval, District 1; Councilman Kevin Flynn, District 2; Council President Pro-Tem, Diana Romero Campbell, District 4; Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, District 5; Councilman Paul Kashmann, District 6; Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, District 7; Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, District 8; Councilman Darrell Watson, District 9; Councilman Chris Hinds, District 10; Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore, District 11; Councilwoman Sarah Parady, at-large; Councilwoman Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, at-large

Westword.com frequently publishes commentaries on matters of interest to the community; the opinions expressed are those of the authors, not Westword. Have one you'd like to submit? Send it to [email protected], where you can also comment on these pieces...as Councilwoman Torres and her colleagues have here.