PC completed a Housing Needs Assessment for Woodland Park (WP), Colorado in December 2023. The project characterized the City’s current housing stock, trends in production over the past ten years, and what types of housing are undersupplied that WP could support more of, in light of limitations such as regional land and water supply. Our team found home price escalation is higher in WP than the State of Colorado as a whole, while employment and wage increases are lower (requiring 5x the median family income to purchase a home). Supply constraints (water, available land, and zoning regulations) are putting extra pressure on the housing market, and land availability plus density standards embedded in the zoning code are actually more restrictive than water availability, which has long been known to be a limiting factor on the City’s max population capacity. Our 20-year housing forecast allowed for two scenarios based on density preferences, producing a ‘status quo’ forecast predicting need for an additional 350 housing units, as well as a ‘moderate density’ forecast predicting another 615. The report culminated in a series of recommendations to the City, ranging from zoning and resource management recommendations to advice concerning WP’s epidemic of Short-Term Rentals.
Watch the Executive Summary here:
Read the full report here:
