Racial Inequities: Black Coloradans often face barriers in homeownership

the applicants visited properties, landlords denied their applications. is happened over and over again.

BY NINA JOSS AND HALEY LENA NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM; HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A few years ago, Aurora Warms the Night, an Aurora-based nonpro t serving people who need housing, ran into a challenge when assisting its Black clients in applying for apartments. When

So the team decided to take a di erent approach, sending in White volunteers to check out the apartments rst.

“I would send one of our employees or people that were White to look at the apartment — to get the pricing, get everything, to make sure everything was available,” said Brian Arnold, who was executive director of the group at the time ve years ago. “After that, we did the application online and sent it in without them being able to see the person.”

Once the application got approved, the team at Aurora Warms the Night would let the real estate agents see the client was Black. Arnold said this process worked almost every time and became the organization’s own way of making a dent in the discrimination that people of color may face, but nd

Unlike cities such as Denver, Aurora and Littleton, Centennial does not have an ordinance requiring residents to remove snow from sidewalks. Rather, the city “strongly encourages citizens to remove snow from the sidewalks adjoining their property within 24 hours after a snowstorm ends,” its website states.

Councilmember Tammy Maurer brought up the topic during the city council’s Jan. 10 meeting, saying she’s gotten questions in previous years as well.

“I understand there’s pros and cons to putting an ordinance in place,” she said.

Some of the pros include promoting walkability and increasing safety for pedestrians on the sidewalks, she said. On the other hand, for people who have physical disabilities or who are older and cannot shovel their sidewalks, an ordinance presents challenges.

“ e bottom line that I always consider is: What would that mean for the city sta to do that code enforcement, you know, and how is that managed?” Maurer said.