I just wanted to come and speak about the ULUC, housing, and change in our city. You know, I’m really optimistic about Aspen Grove. I feel like there’s such an incredible opportunity to use what is now a lot of parking lot to house humans, which I think is a great improvement.
I am excited about more housing options coming to the city. We built a single family home where we live. This is my third time back in Littleton over the years. And you know, single family homes really are the luxury homes in our town. We often say, “they’re building luxury apartments.” Like it’s like a derogatory term to these apartments.
But it’s really the single family homes (that we all live in) that I feel like are really the luxury homes. And we’re putting all the weight of affordability on on apartments to be built. And none of the other types of homes.
And multifamily housing is what will help us reach our goals for climate. They’re what will help us for affordability. They’re built to expand the housing supply and we’re putting all of the weight of affordability on just this one type of housing. Which is the type of housing that’s most likely to get us out of the mess we’re in with demand, far outstripping supply.
Id like to speak about change. It feels like people in Littleton often want to put a time capsule around Littleton. And say, “This is what it is and it can never be any different than it is right now.”
I feel like change is inevitable. Even if we do try to put a time capsule on Littleton — if we say “okay, no more housing, we’re not going to change the character,” are the words that people use often. Then prices are going to skyrocket.
Change is going to happen regardless of how we approach it. It’s just choosing what type of change we want to see. I see using infill development as an incredible opportunity to add housing supply and to be able to positively impact our neighborhoods. By adding more people and by adding more housing options.
And I’m really optimistic that we can do this well. We can shape the change that we’re going to experience and make Littleton continue to be a fantastic place to live. And give more people the opportunity to live here. I really hope that when my kids are older, Littleton is not a place that’s so expensive, a place where my kids have no options for putting down their own roots where they grew up
And that’s one of my big hopes for what’s upcoming. And I really love the ULUC. I’m excited about this ‘living document’ — what it is now and how it can continue to change and shape our city for years to come.