Mansions displacing more affordable homes

As I watch yet one more modest, affordable Mayfair bungalow in great shape being torn down by a developer to build a huge million dollar plus home stuffed edge-toedge into a small lot — completely out of proportion and character with every other home on the block — I have to wonder why the City of Denver allows this, yet claims that we desperately need more “affordable” housing. Their solution is to tear down home after home that people can actually afford, so the affluent can move into the huge new mansions replacing these humble homes, then build cheap housing for those who can no longer afford to live in once modest neighborhoods like Mayfair, Hale and Montclair, as a result?

In the end, this approach actually pushes out the diversity in our neighborhoods. Then, to address the resultant lack of affordable housing, we’re supposed to rally behind building cheap, ugly apartment buildings for the displaced folks who aspire to more, just like everyone else? How is this not redlining?

Instead, why aren’t we helping our friends and neighbors with modest incomes, many who have been held back for generations, move up in the world with good jobs, good training, good opportunities, access to loans, etc. instead of warehousing them on Colfax. Let’s keep the affordable housing we already have in East Denver and find creative ways to help people live the American dream of owning a sweet little home in a welcoming neighborhood rather than accepting that displacement is the only “affordable” solution.

Cynthia Kemper,