Gov. Jared Polis’ fifth State of the State speech Tuesday included some wise insights about Colorado’s affordable-housing challenges. It’s only too bad the speech didn’t go further.

Housing was in fact the prevailing theme in his wide-ranging message to a joint session of the legislature. Polis realizes soaring real estate values have priced a lot of people out of a home or condo along most of the Front Range and across much of the high country. And the governor’s broad observation on the topic, by way of a quip, rang true enough:

“The good news is Colorado is a great place to live. The bad news is the secret is out and that’s driven up home prices.”

But that’s not the only thing that has driven up home prices.

What was missing from Polis’ speech was a recounting of his own party’s worst ideas on the subject. Some of those ideas are in play already; some are pending; some are by his own hand; others are championed by his party’s fringe. All stand to make matters worse.

Here are some insights we wish the governor would have included:

Rent control is a disaster. Wherever rent control has been tried, it has backfired. Construction of new rental housing scales back or even shuts down. A black market pops up for rent-controlled units; cash and favors trade hands (ask any New Yorker). Affordable rental housing grows even more scarce. Most ironically, the renters of modest means – whom such shortsighted policies were intended to help – have nowhere to live. Polis knows all of this and sensibly has backed away from rent control proposals in the past. But some of his fellow Democrats in the legislature never tire of the policy’s rabble-rousing appeal and have hinted at legislation.

Growth control is a disaster, too. It’s one thing for local zoning rules to reflect community lifestyles by defining what is or isn’t a compatible use for a parcel in a given neighborhood. But curbing supply by imposing sweeping growth caps on a community, as in past decades, or as is now in vogue, by corralling growth around the likes of mass transit, only makes housing more expensive. Restricting where people live limits other kinds of housing stock. Prices will rise.

The best solutions are local. “We need to bring our land use policy into the 21st century,” Polis said Tuesday. But the 21st century might not look the same in each of Colorado’s 64 counties and 472 cities. There seems to be an appetite in the Polis administration and the legislature to micromanage local zoning. What works in Fort Collins might not work in Greeley or Meeker. In some locales, distant planning edicts could incentivize housing and lifestyles few want while ignoring what many do want. Again, prices will rise.

Green building codes will cost us. The state government and some cities are on a path toward “electrification” – i.e., eliminating natural gas, which heats most Colorado homes. Never mind that “heat pump” technology hasn’t advanced enough to feasibly work in Colorado’s climate. Or, that people prefer cooking with gas. Or, that our power grid couldn’t support the added load of all-electric homes. Think about how much it adds to the price of each new house to mandate electrical as well as gas hookups. Or how much more it will cost to retrofit existing homes.

Don’t forget “construction defects.” A long-standing law governing liability for flaws in home construction has opened the spigot to a steady stream of litigation. It has put a damper on home construction, especially for condos.

No question, booming demand is driving up housing costs in Colorado. Let’s just make sure our state’s policies don’t hinder supply.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board