2019 Community Building Colorado-Style Conference

Shot from the back during a talk at the Squeezed Out Conference
More than 175 participants attended our 2019 Community Building Colorado-Style Conference, entitled, "Squeezed Out: Challenges of Diversity and Affordability in Colorado Communities," which brought together leaders from neighborhoods, towns, cities and the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. The Oct. 25 conference focused on the challenges that Colorado communities face: rapid population growth; demand for vital and green neighborhoods; affordability; adaptation to climate change; emerging transportation technologies; and aging infrastructure. Speakers discussed creative solutions to these ongoing issues as well as opportunities for university partnerships. 

​The event was sponsored by CU Boulder’s Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR), the Colorado Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and Downtown Colorado Inc. (DCI).

Whether you attended or missed the conference, please feel free to review our 2019 agenda,  and panel summaries (listed below). If you would like access to our 2019 speakers' presentation slide shows, please email Susan with your request.
Curious about other past  Commuity Building Colorado-Style conferences? Then visit our Community Building Colorado-Style .

Also, check out the winning submissions from the 2019 Urban Solutions student poster contest, held in conjunction with the Squeezed Out conference and sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA) and CEDaR. Selected participants presented their posters to professional planners during a conference networking reception in the lobby of the ENVD building on Oct. 24. First place ($250) went to , created by Ian Klene and Sebastian Elverskog. Second place ($150) went to  by Alec Stolz. Clare Hamilton received third place ($100) for her project,  All winners were students in CU Boulder's Program in Environmental Design (ENVD).


Student summaries* of Squeezed Out panels:

Panel I: Development, Affordability and Dislocation in Colorado Cities
Rural Counties Bleed Population, but Front Range Can't House Them, by Ryan Mae Handy
We Like It Here, Why Should We Leave? Displacement and Affordability in Colorado, by David King
Building Together, by Bradon S. Nicholson
The Future is in Growing Together… Otherwise it May be a Slow Individual Decline, by James Russell 

Panel II: An Interview on Equity and Community Building
Countering Displacement through Equity and Community Building, by Eli Baana
Considerations for Achieving Authentic, Equitable Community-Building Strategies, by Sarah V. Crump
Steps to Integration, by Susan Downing
Decoding Equity in a Community,  by Ali Pfenninger
Everyone’s invited to the Birthday Party: A Conversation on Defining Equity, by Ella Sanders

Panel III: Perspectives on Affordability: Lessons Learned 
Building Outside of the Box, by Natalie Floyd
Squeezed out: Challenges of Diversity and Affordability in Colorado Communities, by Alex Hemmer
Putting Practice into Action: Housing Affordability Edition, by Stefi Szrek
Challenging the Housing Status Quo: Lessons on Affordability, Design and Transportation Planning, by Annelies van Vonno
Quality or Costs? Planning for Affordable and Livable Communities, by Andrea Vaughn 

*Student summaries were written by students enrolled in the class, "Small Town, Rural, and Tourism Planning," offered by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Colorado Denver and taught by Korkut Onaran.

Interested in becoming a speaker, presenting a poster or attending our 2020 Community Building Colorado-Style conference? Email Susan.