GROWTH

FROM PAGE 19 by the developer increase costs.

Some of those NIMBY arguments cite defense of the environment, Rigler said. e groups cite dense developments as taking up land that would otherwise be used as open space, or that the new housing would attract more tra c, causing more pollution.

New research may counter those stances.

What about water?

When Makarewicz thinks about density and water use, she thinks of leakage from pipes.

“ ere’s a lot of leakage in our water pipes,” she said. “Each time you create those joints and individual pipes and stretch them farther out into undeveloped parts of the county, you’re losing water.”

She also thinks of lawns. Lower density areas usually require more square feet of lawns. With more units, less water is going towards Kentucky bluegrass.

Less density doesn’t always mean less water usage, either. She said it really comes down to per-person usage and how many water-based appliances are in the home. at’s where more e cient technology plays a role. In Westminster, water consumption declined in the past two decades despite an increase in population and commercial use. In fact, Westminster added 15,000 residents to the community and 150 new commercial business accounts. Senior Water Resources Analyst Drew Beckwith said technology affects a large portion of that decline, like newer high-e ciency toilets that use less water than older ones. e question of how much technology can continue to improve remains, though Sarah Borgers, interim department director of Westminster’s public works and utilities department, thinks there’s much more room to grow.

“Industry-wide, I think the sense is we are not close to there yet. ere’s still a long way to go before we hit that plateau,” she said. “We don’t know what the bottom is, but we aren’t there yet.”

Pro-density ratings are low e majority of Americans are increasingly opposed to the idea of living in dense areas. In fact, about 60% want “houses farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away.” e number of Americans wanting homes “smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are within walking distance” went from 47% in 2019 to 39% in 2021. e Pew Research Center said the shift occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic with increased “telework, remote schooling and pandemic- related restrictions on indoor dining and other indoor activities.”

Despite attitudes shifting against density, Riger said the region mostly will densify with many municipalities at build-out and reaching their outward boundaries as population increases.

“I think it’s going to be a mix of growing out and growing up,” he said.

With higher density comes transit options, because land use is a transportation strategy.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health, transportation was the second largest greenhouse gas contributor for the state by sector, losing to electric power as the rst.

With mixed-use, well designed, higher density areas, residents are able to walk more, reduce their travel times and distances, and have the ability to support transit lines and bike lanes.

An example could be seen in Olde Town Arvada.

Housing on transit lines

Since Cook moved into Arvada back in 1983, she’s seen the city transform into something di erent, crediting transit oriented development with bringing life into Arvada’s Olde Town.

Cook, along with several others, teamed up with Forward Arvada, a nonpro t looking to revitalize Olde Town in the 90s. ey tasked them- selves with making an idea — to run a train line along decommissioned railroad tracks — into a reality to make sure Olde Town began to thrive. e city prevailed and the new transit oriented development transformed Arvada, Cook said. It created a center that attracts citizens from around the area and which bene ts merchants, restaurants and others.

Eventually, the G Line opened in 2019 and development began to spring up.

It didn’t happen without opposition, though. Residents voiced concerns over sacri cing the historical character of the town. In fact, the city faced lawsuits from a group called All the People regarding approving development plans to add to the transit oriented development, or TOD.

All of that can also be attributed to the mixed-use, higher density design model, where someone can live above a bakery or right next to a co ee shop.

With less emphasis put on cars, which Cook sees as a good thing, residents can live in a place where they can walk to various places. She said it contributes to more of a family feel.

See more on urban sprawl online at coloradocommunitymedia.com/ longwayhome/index.html.