October 8, 2026
Max Nardo, Smart Growth Senior Program Manager
This report was originally published at Housing Forward Colorado (a SWEEP project).
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A roundup of three years of state reforms that could make Colorado’s next round of growth more affordable and sustainable than the last.
The next few months will be eventful for the future of Colorado’s growth. Denver’s first Bus Rapid Transit line opened last month on Colfax. In November, voters will decide whether to fully fund the Colorado Connector for passenger rail service along the Front Range. And by the end of the year, 32 Front Range cities and counties must show the state they’re planning for more housing near frequent transit to comply with the state’s Transit-Oriented Communities law.
These are among the most visible parts of a broader effort to advance affordability and sustainable growth through major reforms across housing, transit, planning, and public finance.
As the sprawl-based growth model comes under increasing strain, our view is that the pieces are now in place for Colorado’s next round of growth to be more affordable and sustainable than the last.
This post walks through the main components and how they fit together:
- New state funding for transit-oriented places
- Land use and zoning reforms that allow more housing to get built
- The transit projects that funding is built around
- How the pieces reinforce each other and where to go from here
Read the full blog post on the Housing Forward Colorado website.
