Nearly 40 percent of downtown employment is concentrated in the lowest paid jobs, but housing remains unaffordable to most, according to a report released today by the Front Range Economic Strategy Center.
From 2001 to 2005, the number private rental units doubled in downtown, but nearly all of the growth was in units affordable to families earning at least $17 an hour or more than $35,000 a year. A third of the growth has been in units affordable only to families earning at least $28 an hour or $57,000 a year, the group said.
Rental housing for families earning less than 30 percent of area median income, or under $21,000 a year, increased by only 29 units. Rental housing for families earning between $10 an hour and $17 an hour – $21,500 to $35,850 – fell by a third.
