Don’t prevent needed new housing in Denver

To the mostly white, wealthy homeowners who stand up at public meetings and cry for the preservation of “neighborhood character:” I will no longer let you get away with this excuse to stop new housing. To everyone else: Help me de-legitimize the term, which upholds Denver’s long-established system of institutionalized racial segregation.

But first, let’s talk about why we must stomp it out right now. Denver tolerates a housing crisis that has jacked up prices, shoved out people with low incomes and forced thousands into homelessness. In response, the mayor and members of the city council created a 20-year plan that will call on every neighborhood to host an incremental amount of new housing. As backyard cottages, duplexes and small apartment buildings rise across the city, thousands of new units will make Denver more affordable — while allowing established neighborhoods to remain mostly unchanged.

It’s a good idea, and the process has already started with the East Area Plan, which will outline the future of the Park Hill, Montclair, Hale, Mayfair and East Colfax neighborhoods. But many have organized against the plan.

Their yard signs proclaim, “Neighborhoods First Unite.” They find every opportunity to shout “neighborhood character” as a reason to stop potential new housing. And the example they set is likely to repeat itself, potentially wrecking Denver’s planning process as it moves to other parts of the city.

But what do people mean when they say “neighborhood character?” Many homeowners use the phrase to oppose new buildings, like four-plexes, which could house multiple families. They say such structures would destroy the unique architectural style of their neighborhoods. They also raise concerns about crowded schools, increased traffic and difficult parking. They bought into an area zoned for single-family homes, and they argue the policy should never change. But they may not know how such zoning protects longstanding segregation.

Mayor Ben Stapleton ruled Denver for most of the years between 1923 and 1947. A member of the Klu Klux Klan, he implemented overtly racist housing policies that sewed the fabric of Denver.

After such policies were outlawed, he turned to zoning as the tool of choice to uphold segregation. Where people of color lived, he allowed multi-family housing. Where whites lived, he allowed little more than single-family homes. At the time, “neighborhood

character” defined your neighbors’ race, not any particular architectural style.

“Zoning was not originally conceived as a way to preserve the neighborhood aesthetic in the built form,” says Ryan Keeney, a board member of YIMBY Denver, a pro-housing group. “It was originally conceived as a way to exclude minorities.”

Today, “neighborhood character” is an inoffensive reason to exclude people of diverse backgrounds from white neighborhoods, says Katherine Einstein. She is a Boston University researcher and one of the authors of “Neighborhood Defenders,” which describes how homeowners, who are often older, white, and wealthy, use their immense power to stop new housing.

“You can’t say, we don’t want apartments because it will attract black people or poor people,” she says. “But it is still socially acceptable to talk about the character of your community.”

Today, YIMBY Denver estimates that 80% of the city’s residential areas are zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Multifamily housing is allowed in just 20% of Denver. And over time, zoning laws have become even more restrictive. A process in 2010 removed the possibility of new duplexes in most of Denver.

If the neighborhood defenders are successful, the housing crisis will continue. Many people of color will be forced out or will remain in low-income areas, places susceptible to poor educational outcomes. Meanwhile, neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes have mostly stayed white and prosperous, allowing nearby access to the city’s best parks and schools.

The people who live in a neighborhood create its character. And we must make room for those who want to live in Denver — even if that means welcoming modest amounts of new housing near our homes.

“Your property is your property. No developer can steal it from you,” says Keeney. “But I don’t think you should have control of what happens across the street. It’s not your land.”

“Neighborhood character” is the homeowner’s excuse to keep from sharing Denver’s best neighborhoods. At best, it’s greedy. At worst, it’s racist.

Reach out to the city’s leaders and tell them that it has no place in determining Denver’s future.