Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne hits the road to talk about affordable housing

Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne will be talking about affordable housing away from her own homestarting Friday, with town hall meetings in Denver, Boulder, Pueblo, Cañon City, Carbondale, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs.

Lynne is the state’s chief operating officer and in her spare time she’s a Democratic candidate for governor, hoping to take over when Gov. John Hickenlooper’s final term ends next January.

Her office said Lynne has traveled to all Colorado 64 counties. The high cost of a roof overhead is an issue that affects the whole state, not just the heavily populated Front Range.

“The increasing cost of housing and lack of available inventory is a burden for Colorado families across the income spectrum and in all parts of the state.” Lynne said in a statement. “Improving on the progress we’ve made as a state in the last decade requires that we take a hard look at economic issues like housing costs that pose very real challenges for Coloradans. There is a lot to be learned from communities that have considerable experience addressing this issue, and I believe that the state must do more to lend a hand.”

Between 2010 and 2016, the increase in households has outpaced the increase in new housing units by close to 60,000. As a result, housing costs — for both rent and purchase — have skyrocketed. Colorado’s median home price in November 2017 was $361,000. This was up 9.1 percent from 2016, and prices between November 2015 and 2016 rose 10 percent. On the rental side, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Colorado grew by 22.4 percent, between 2014 and 2017.— Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne’s office

Lynne will make eight stops in four days to share her ideas and gather input to use in a white paper on the subject which she plans to release soon.

“Colorado has experienced tremendous population growth in the last 10 years, but our housing inventory has failed to keep pace, which has led to what are, for too many Coloradans, unsustainable increases in rent or home prices,” she sated.

Because space is limited, attendees are asked to RSVP at: https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/keep-colorado-climbing-tour-affordable-housing

Here’s the schedule:

Friday

Denver10:30 a.m.Teatulia Tea Bar, 2900 Zuni St.

Boulder2 p.m.Boulder Creek Room,Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave.

Saturday

Pueblo11:15 a.m.Pueblo City-County Library District Central Library, 100 E. Abriendo Ave.

Cañon City1:15 p.m.Cañon City Public Library Central Library. 516 Macon Ave.

Sunday

Carbondale2:45 p.m.Bonfire Coffee, 433 Main St.

Grand Junction5:45 pmColorado Mesa University, Room 221, 1100 North Ave.

Monday

Glenwood Springs10:45 a.m.Morgridge Commons, 815 Cooper Ave, 2nd floor

Steamboat3:45 p.m.522 Lincoln Ave, 3rd Floor