Colorado is facing a housing shortage - building more duplexes and townhomes could be part of the solution

Colorado faces a shortage of over 106,000 homes, with Denver's median home price above $600,000 and most low-income residents cost-burdened, per state and national housing data. Researchers used UC Berkeley's Housing Policy Simulator to test 10 policies, finding that broad 'missing middle' upzoning — allowing duplexes, triplexes and townhomes on all parcels without hearings — could increase market-rate multifamily supply by 46% and cut typical per-unit costs from about $826,000 to $597,000.

The same modeling found that cutting staff at Denver's Permitting Office would sharply reduce housing production and push development toward higher-end projects only, by lengthening timelines and raising uncertainty for builders. The researchers caution the simulator's absolute numbers are uncertain and are best used to compare policies against each other rather than as firm predictions.

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