Rep. Rebekah Stewart: Lakewood’s attempt to increase “middle housing” would be big step to address crisis in Colorado

This story was originally published in the Colorado Sun here.

Housing is personal to me. For most of my childhood, my family lived paycheck to paycheck, often just one emergency or disaster away from homelessness. Today, all too many of our Colorado neighbors experience that same insecurity.

Later as a young adult, my husband and I made countless offers on Lakewood starter homes we desperately wanted — only to lose out to buyers able to make all-cash offers, or go far above the asking price. Unfortunately, nothing about what we experienced has changed much for first-time homebuyers since then. In fact, it’s gotten even more challenging. 

Lakewood and Colorado face a growing housing shortage, driving prices to unsustainable levels. More than half of Lakewood renters are cost-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on housing. The average Lakewood home price has jumped from $350,000 in 2017 to $590,000 today.

Research shows housing shortages drive up prices — and homelessness. In Jefferson County, unsheltered homelessness has more than doubled between 2022 and 2025.

Make no mistake: We face a housing shortage. For two decades, Colorado’s population has grown faster than our housing stock. The Denver Regional Council of Governments estimates the metro area needs over 200,000 new homes in the next decade. Lakewood’s share is nearly 10,000, but at our current pace, we’ll produce less than a fifth of that. Without change, the crisis will only worsen. 

As a state legislator representing Lakewood and Edgewater in Jefferson County, I’ve made this issue a north star. This past session, I passed bills to stabilize zoning density in urban areas, streamline standards so Colorado can benefit from the cost saving potential that modular housing presents, limit unjustifiably high tap fees, and ease burdensome regulations — concrete steps to make housing more affordable across the Front Range.

But local challenges also need local solutions. During my time on Lakewood City Council, we began prioritizing housing with the urgency it demands. Now, I’m proud to see my former colleagues on council continuing that work with a thoughtful, common-sense zoning update that will unlock the potential for affordable, sustainable housing, while protecting what makes Lakewood such a special place to live.

Lakewood families need housing options they can actually afford: smaller starter homes, duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, accessory dwelling units and cottage clusters. According to a recent article in The Colorado Sun, a zoning atlas shows that most of Colorado prohibits these types of “missing middle” homes from being built in areas zoned for residential use.

Lakewood’s proposed zoning update includes long-overdue changes to make these options more widely available over time to support affordability, sustainability and walkability.

Affordability: The new code loosens overly restrictive rules to allow duplexes and triplexes in more neighborhoods. It’s a strategy shown in other cities to create homes that sell for $300,000 less than the typical single-family home. That price point makes homeownership possible for many more working families.

The update also revises outdated minimum lot size rules that have historically excluded lower-income and more diverse residents. These rules often force people to purchase more land than they need, raising costs and harming the environment. Cities that relax these rules show that while changes are gradual, they make more affordable housing possible over time.

Sustainability: Lakewood’s proposed code also helps us meet our climate goals. Smaller homes come with smaller carbon footprints. One analysis found that introducing just three “missing middle” homes on a block — a duplex, triplex and fourplex — can reduce its carbon footprint by 20%.

Walkability: The update will also make Lakewood more walkable. It encourages building homes closer to workplaces and public transit. It allows for a small amount of neighborhood-serving retail, like a coffee shop, so residents can walk to grab their morning coffee.

This approach means more residents can live near jobs, transit and small businesses — walking to work, seeing neighbors and reducing traffic congestion. That’s exactly the direction we need.

This proposal won’t transform neighborhoods overnight. We’ve seen from other cities that reforms like these lead to slow, steady and gentle change. But over time, they help make communities more inclusive, sustainable and affordable.

None of these ideas are radical or untested. Cities around the country have successfully implemented similar reforms, proving they work and reassuring residents that neighborhood character doesn’t disappear. Middle housing like this was once common, but exclusionary zoning policies sharply curtailed it, leading to a 90% drop in production.

Lakewood now has the chance to lead and show we can do better.

Later this summer, I’m excited to see Lakewood take a big step forward with zoning reform that delivers more affordability, more sustainability and more walkability. I hope you’ll join me in supporting it.

Rebekah Stewart, D-Lakewood, represents District 30 in the Colorado House of Representatives.