When my parents moved to Chicago from India four decades ago, they had little money but arrived with a good education. After years of a lean but comfortable life, they were able to do well for themselves. They worked hard, bought a home, and raised a family. They achieved the American Dream.
But today, even though I have degrees in political science and law and make a good living, buying a home like the one I grew up in is impossibly expensive in Denver – for me and many others of my generation.
We can’t let the American Dream die. To bring it back, we must solve Colorado’s devastating housing shortage. We need to make housing abundant, affordable and equitable for all.
Even though my parents didn’t have much money, they were able to buy their first home when they were in their early 30s.
Like many Indian parents, when my brother and I were born, they wanted us to become medical doctors. Although I went into finance, they were overjoyed when my brother earned a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University. High housing costs have prevented both of us from buying a home.
At 38, I’m older than my parents were when they bought their first home. Like them, I want to buy the kind of place that would allow me to build a family. But many people around my age and younger will relate to my struggle to find something affordable.
Modest four-bedroom homes like the one I grew up in now sell for around $1 million in Denver where the median price for a single-family home was $650,000 in August according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. For that amount, my monthly mortgage would total an impossible $4,700. That’s 103% of my monthly income, a calculation that includes my parents’ help with a $200,000 down payment.
Getting financial help from loved ones is a luxury a growing number of homebuyers rely upon. About 43% of people under 35 got help from family members when purchasing a home, according to a 2018 study by financial services company Legal & General and reported by NBC News. But a big check from mom and dad is unavailable to most people.
Just renting a one-bedroom apartment has already made me “house poor,” slang for people who give up other aspects of the American dream – hobbies, vacations, and nice vehicles, for example – because they spend too much of their income on housing.
Today, I pay $1,525, plus about $140 in fees, to rent my one-bedroom apartment in Denver’s Hale neighborhood. That amounts to one-third of my income.
The technical term for house poor is a “cost-burdened household.” Anyone who spends more than 30% of their income on housing is cost-burdened. According to a report by the commercial real estate firm MyElisting, which Fox 31 reported, nearly half of all Colorado renters fall into this group.
If I faced an emergency that prevented me from working, my family could help me cover my rent for a few months. But for many cost-burdened renters, an unexpected illness, car repair, or family crisis can create a financial calamity that too often shoves them into the cruel nightmare of homelessness.
Few cost-burdened Coloradans will ever have the chance to save up for a down payment, let alone buy a home large enough to raise a family.
My parents also helped me pay for my education, freeing me from the added monthly cost of student loan debt. But that’s not the case for many college-educated professionals.
The high cost of housing, childcare and living in a small place may limit the number of children I can have. With all of the advantages my family can provide, my only shot at home ownership may be a small townhouse or condo, even if I combine my income with a partner.
These harsh realities are partly to blame for a sharp decline in the U.S. birthrate. If a young couple can only afford a two-bedroom condo, they are unlikely to have two or three kids.
As Janet Adamy of the Wall Street Journal wrote in an essay, “Young adults can’t afford to buy a house as nice as the one their parents raised them in or to pay for childcare while they are still repaying student loans.”
The American Dream has become an American delusion for too many young people.
I’m a volunteer leader with the pro-housing group YIMBY Denver because I believe every American should be able to buy a home in the city of their choice — even if they don’t have parents who can help them financially.
To lower housing prices, it’s as simple as supply and demand. In Denver and many places in Colorado, there are not enough places for teachers, nurses, firefighters and professionals like. That drives up prices.
To address this shortage, we must build a massive number of new housing units. If we add enough supply, costs will go down.
But we can’t rely on more sprawling developments with nothing but single-family homes. We must simultaneously address traffic congestion, climate change and water scarcity.
Our existing neighborhoods must adjust to house more people, and we can do that without cramming skyscrapers in residential neighborhoods.
Backyard apartments (Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs), duplexes, townhomes and condos can have a look, feel and size similar to the neighborhood’s existing homes.
This gentle density allows more families to live in Denver’s best neighborhoods, which can improve the quality of life for everyone by bringing more restaurants, shops, and medical services to each neighborhood.
With more of what people need nearby, neighborhoods become more walkable, bikeable and justify better public transit service. Putting more people in fewer buildings also reduces per-person water and energy consumption.
Most importantly, if we offer more housing options, everyone who wants to buy a home could eventually find something they can afford.
But today, it is illegal to build anything but a single-family home on 77% of all land zoned for housing in Denver, according to a city document.
These malignant restrictions are a remnant of the racist housing policies Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton, a Klu Klux Klan member, put in place in the 1930s and 1940s to separate whites from Blacks and Jews.
The housing shortages in Colorado communities are not sustainable. The local laws and restrictions obstructing the construction of different types of homes must end.
If you agree, contact your state and local elected officials. Tell them to end the housing shortage now – even if that means duplexes and townhomes may come to your block. Tell them cities should be for everyone, not just the unusually wealthy. Tell them to make housing abundant, affordable, and equitable for all.
And join me as a member YIMBY Denver. We’re a grassroots organization of volunteers who advocate for abundant and affordable housing for all.
Abe Kaul is a Denver-based finance professional. He rents an apartment in the Hale neighborhood and is a volunteer leader with the pro-housing group YIMBY Denver.
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