Gold Corridor Housing Strategy
Prepared for the Gold Corridor Working Group through the DRCOG Sustainable Communities Initiative, funded by HUD · 2014–2015
Principal authors: Carrie Makarewicz, Debra Bristol, and Rocky Piro, Ph.D. Maps: Eric Ross, Five Points Geoplanning. Data analysis: Austin Troy, Jennifer McGinnis, Laia Mitchell, and Gregory Roy. Additional contributor: Andrea Garcia, Atkins North America.
Abstract
RTD’s Gold Line commuter rail created both an opportunity and a risk for housing affordability in the communities it serves. Prepared for the Gold Corridor Working Group of local planners and housing professionals, this strategy documented affordable housing conditions and needs along the corridor; estimated short- and mid-range (15-year) housing demand; identified potential development sites; reviewed the planning and regulatory tools that enable or impede the preservation and development of affordable housing; and recommended strategies drawn from regional, state, and national models, along with a process for tracking progress.
Key findings: one in three corridor households spent more than 35 percent of income on housing, and there was no permanent subsidized affordable housing in six of the seven station areas. Mobile home parks, which provided about 1,400 homes, were at risk from development pressure near transit. Most residents commuted out of the corridor for work while most workers commuted in, and alternatives to driving were limited. Land use compatibility, especially between industrial and residential uses, also needed attention.
The team identified 40 sites totaling roughly 350 acres within a mile of the seven Gold Line stations that could accommodate about 3,250 homes at transit-supportive densities, although land values and infrastructure requirements could put many of them out of reach for affordable housing developers.
