With an expected high near 70 today, it’s a good day to enjoy some patio music:
Dirty Dogs Roadhouse – David Booker, 12-4P
Wrigley’s Chicago Bar & Grill – Parkside, 1-5P
I spent another enjoyable Saturday reading through the online collection of historic Colorado Transcripts. It’s interesting to consider the hot issues of yesteryear through the lens of today’s concerns.
In the 1940s, after 80 years of yearning for growth, Golden was suddenly inundated with new residents, as returning WWII veterans used the GI Bill to attend the Colorado School of Mines. The newcomers were desperate for places to live, and residents were encouraged to rent out rooms in their houses.
Colorado Transcript – August 31, 1944
More Homes Badly Needed
There are literally thousands of people who would like to live in Golden if they were able to find suitable quarters.
Newcomers were living wherever they could–in tents on vacant lots, in trailers parked inside the CSM Field House, and in repurposed turkey coops. This inspired city leaders in 1944 to propose a zoning ordinance, to protect homeowners from having Hoovervilles built next door. Many property owners were worried that zoning would infringe on their rights to develop their property, and the proposed zoning regulations were shouted down in one loud and vitriolic meeting.
September 14, 1944
The Wednesday Night Zoning Meeting
We haven’t met a single person who feels real proud of this meeting. Several have told us they were sorry they went so far….”
Unbridled growth continued, with no regulations on quality or placement of new structures until City Council made another attempt to introduce zoning in 1948. After a lengthy public input process, the motion passed in April of 1949.
For many years afterwards, every newly-built house was celebrated in the Transcript. I saw my old house on 22nd Street advertised in 1949 (3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, fireplace, $4500), and my current house announced when it was completed in 1955.
Growth was generally regarded as desirable until, in the mid-1990s, the citizens decided that we were growing too fast and were losing both our views and our small town charm. That’s when the 1% housing growth limit was voted in.
The next major change came in 2017, when City Council voted to encourage affordable housing within the City limits, such that 45% of our housing stock should be affordable to low, moderate, or middle income households.
In 2019, Golden citizens, again worried about losing views and small town charm to taller, denser, scrape and infill projects, asked City Council to impose a moratorium on new construction until we could update our zoning code to better protect current residents.
To tie all this back to present-day Golden, tomorrow night (Monday the 8th), GURA will discuss how it can help fund affordable housing. Wednesday night (the 10th), Golden United will host an educational event to help us understand zoning and the planning process for new construction. Thursday night, City Council will be asked to grant an exemption to the moratorium to permit a new two-unit building
The Golden Transcript (originally called the Colorado Transcript) has been publishing since 1866. The Golden History Museum has been working on digitizing the old issues, and they’re currently up to October of 1965. You’ll find old Transcripts online at coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
