Denver may allow single-stair apartment buildings from 2026.
"The preliminary Denver proposal would allow five floors above grade, with no more than four units per floor. Including basement residences, a typical single-stair structure might fit 24 homes."
cc @stephenjacobsmith.com
WM draft accelerates tax credit phase out for projects placed in service after 2028. It kills transferability for a number of credits, including the ITC and PTC.
Rather than repealing them, they're making credits less generous AND more difficult to use.
Pictures credits @advaitarun.bsky.social
A beautiful and somber elegy written by my colleague @ashwinwarrior.bsky.social
This moment demands we marshal ambitious visions for state and municipal capacity. What could be more fitting to honor what we've lost and to prepare for federal reconstruction?
publicenterprise.org/public-servi...
A $415K parking spot at a ski resort is wild, but it reveals an important truth: 'Free' parking isn’t free. We pay for it in higher rents, lost common spaces, and hidden subsidies.
www.denverpost.com/2025/04/17/s...
Removing minimum parking mandates gives us cleaner air, cleaner water, and more affordable housing. The #Washington state legislature gets that.
This Earth Day, make sure your elected officials know that too!
"HVH - Home of Vertical-Horizontal Connection" design submission for the Denver Single Stair Challenge by Ming Chen, Xiaochi Chen, & Ying Chen
A single-stair layout enhances natural ventilation, daylight, & social interaction through shared hubs on each floor
worldarchitecture.org/architecture...
New: Colorado bill would increase penalties for careless drivers who kill with their cars -->
www.cpr.org/2025/04/10/c...
This could be us Denver.
Austin joined an elite club today following the lead of NYC, Seattle, Honolulu, Nashville, Memphis, and Jackson (TN) which all allow mid-rise single stair housing.
NFPA is misguided in making the claim that single-stair egress makes buildings "less safe." What evidence was used to backup the claim that single-stair legislation weakens safety codes?
Recent data shows single-stair housing has a strong safety record.
www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-a...
NEW: Judge Chutkan has blocked the EPA from terminating grants for climate programs held by Citibank, saying the Trump administration failed to abide by legal procedures and provided no evidence of impropriety.
ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
Colorado firefighter opposes allowing single-stair in the state, says that Europe “frankly has different risk tolerance.” That is true, but not the way he’s implying – their tolerance is lower! www.ctif.org/sites/defaul... (pg. 63)
“In 2024, #Colorado mandated that its cities stop enforcing parking mandates for multifamily developments within a quarter mile of transit. #Denver, the state’s capital, wants to take it further and repeal the costly mandates citywide."
www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...
Why legalize taller single-stair housing in the U.S. and Canada?
I co-wrote this brief with an affordable housing developer answering the question about why there are efforts to reform the code to unlock more 'missing middle' housing in North America.
www.mercatus.org/research/pol...
@seanjurs.bsky.social and Peter LiFari show how single-stair reform would help make infill construction possible on Denver's Colfax Ave: www.mercatus.org/research/pol...
Imagine if they had built this -- a highway straight through downtown and northeast Denver. denverite.com/2017/09/19/p...
Imagine 6 families co building with a non profit developer and selling 6 units to help pay for it.
All because the building and approval process was simple, predictable, repeatable and affordable…
In October, I reported on Project 2025’s plan to gut NOAA, the National Weather Service, & climate research
Today The Guardian is reporting “DOGE staffers enter NOAA headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats”
www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa...
" #Boulder has advanced discussions on eliminating parking minimums citywide. A 2024 #Colorado law prohibiting parking minimums near transit stops starting June 2025 — covering 81% of city parcels — has added momentum.”
Statewide reform is where it’s at!
boulderreportinglab.org/newsletter/%...
If you're in Denver, be sure to call or email your councilperson and ask them to support eliminating costly parking mandates citywide instead of just in the limited areas the state law requires
Signed by Gov. Polis in May 2024, and beginning in June 2025, HB24-1304 eliminates minimum parking requirements near public transit stations statewide. The bill also creates technical assistance materials to help municipalities better manage on & off-street parking.
📍Colorado 🏔️
I’ve been trying to schedule something with a fire engineer related to elevators, and he kept putting me off, saying he’s tied up with a major proposal. I finally talked to him today – turns out that proposal was about single-stair! I think this building code reform stuff might be starting to stick.
A new bill just dropped in #waleg to require the state building code council to allow smaller, internationally best-in-class elevators to be built in small apartment buildings.
Read #SB5156 here: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...
A map showing the highest wildfire exposures for California's FAIR Plan, with Pacific Palisades at $5.89 billion, one of the highest in the state.
The Pacific Palisades neighborhood caught in the #PalisadesFire is one of the biggest users of California's insurer of last resort, with nearly $6 billion in exposure
www.cfpnet.com/key-statisti...
Hey y'all: is anyone out there thinking about what enabling policy/regulation it would take to permit balcony solar in the USA? Shouldnt we? (Context www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...). 🔌💡
NEW: A Democratic vacancy committee made up of 42 members just selected state Rep. Iman Jodeh to serve as the senator for Senate District 29. She fills the seat of Sen. Janet Buckner, who will resign Thursday after winning reelection on Nov. 5. #copolitics #coleg
a little op-ed on why corridor zoning is a really terrible way to plan a livable, walkable, and healthy city - for seattle and WA state politicians
cc @markoliias.bsky.social @jessdbateman.bsky.social @staterepjuliareed.bsky.social @davina425.bsky.social
ronpdavis.substack.com/p/mike-elias...
Thrilled to see @publicenterprise.bsky.social in the Treasury Department's report on providing capacity for elective pay! If you represent a state/local gov, please reach out! @advaitarun.bsky.social @pewilliams.bsky.social @buddyyakov.bsky.social
home.treasury.gov/system/files...
Ski patrol strike disrupting holiday week at Park City may set tone for union talks ahead in Colorado coloradosun.com/2025/01/03/u...
May 2025 be the year we stop freezing neighborhoods in amber and start building more homes where people want to live.