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September 10, 2020
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LittletonIndependent.net
VOLUME 75 | ISSUE 46
Littleton housing price squeeze still tightening Proportion of young families continues to drop; most earners unable to afford median home price Police officers from Denver and Englewood, as well as social workers from All Health Network, speak to people staying in the homeless camp just north of the Denver/Englewood boundary on Sept. 2. PHOTO BY DAVID GILBERT
The move comes a day after school officials told 60 students and five staff members to self-quarantine after a student tested positive for the virus. Because Tri-County Health Department officials believe the two cases were contracted separately away
The proportion of young families in Littleton continues to fall as housing prices climb ever higher, according to a recent study. The number of households with children fell to 24% in 2018, down from 29% in 2010, according to an analysis by Root Policy Research presented to city council on Sept. 1. The study was an update to a landmark 2017 analysis of Littleton’s housing stock prepared by Root Policy, then part of BBC Research and Consulting. The prior study primarily looked at data ending in 2015, while the update used data ending in 2018. The updated study found many of the conditions identified in the prior analysis, including housing prices that have put Littleton out of reach of many wage earners, have only gotten more pronounced. Median housing value continued to skyrocket, the study found. The median sale price of a single-family home in Littleton jumped from $299,000 in 2015 to $416,258 in 2018, a climb of 39%. Meanwhile, median household income climbed from $65,221 to $73,185, a climb of just 12%.
SEE HERITAGE, P11
SEE HOUSING, P14
Sadness, uncertainty in homeless camp over slaying Police investigate fatal stabbing on popular bike path BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Englewood Police continue to investigate a brazen daylight knife
attack along a popular bike path that left Joe Hix, 32, dead on Aug. 25. Police are seeking three men seen in a still image from a security camera near the intersection of the Little Dry Creek bike path and South Platte River Drive as “persons of interest” in the case, according to an Aug. 26 bulletin from Metro Denver Crime Stoppers. Hix had been living in a sprawling homeless camp just inside
Denver city limits beside the South Platte River a few blocks to the north, according to residents of the camp. “He was a good kid,” said Terry, who asked that her last name be withheld. “He was always helping out.” Terry recalled Hix bringing her jugs of water and first aid supplies. SEE VICTIM, P6
Heritage suspends in-person classes after two COVID cases Students will transition to online learning until Sept. 14 BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Heritage High School is transitioning to all-online learning until
Sept. 14 after a staff member tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Littleton Public Schools announced on Sept. 2. Tri-County Health Department investigators have determined 40 students and 20 staff members were “close contacts” and should quarantine for 14 days, according to a letter sent to parents.
BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | SPORTS: PAGE 23
CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH PEOPLE IN NEED Building community through gifts, cash-free exchanges P12