Why Rent in Fort Collins Will Probably Keep Going Up (Even if you Keep Telling People on Facebook Not to Move Here)
Almost three years ago, I made the daunting decision to attend college at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I remember the decision was scary and exciting all at once, but I quickly settled in to the four walls of a dorm room that became my new home. However, after one semester of school, I quickly realized Boulder was not the place for me. In Boulder, you can share a bedroom with someone and still end up paying $900 per month in rent. The staggering rental prices drove me out of the city, literally.
I packed my bags and moved to Fort Collins. The school was great and the city was welcoming, plus the rent was affordable. However, two years later, I’ve noticed that prices are increasing. I can’t afford to move to a less expensive city again. This time, instead of running away, I want to understand why rental prices are going up. Furthermore, I want to find out if there’s a solution to the problem.
About a year ago I talked to Clay Frickey, a city planner of Fort Collins, about the growing rate of our city. It seems as if every day new apartment complexes are being built that offer the same things that already exist; thin walls, small rooms, and a high price tag. So why is it that the apartment complexes fill up when they offer nothing new to a tenant? During this conversation, he explained something about affordable housing that I didn’t know before. Frickey said that affordable housing is becoming less and less affordable. First time home owners can’t afford the cost of a home in the growing market anymore. Instead, they rent. This lowers the vacancy rates and if a vacancy rate is below 5 percent, rent will go up. Thus, the cycle continues.
According to an article in The Coloradoan by Pat Ferrier, the vacancy rate in March of 2017 was 2.2 percent. This vacancy rate is well below the 5 percent mark, which causes rental prices to increase. In addition to vacancy rates, we should consider other factors when asking ourselves why housing is getting more expensive.
One factor includes the rise in minimum wage. Currently, Colorado’s minimum wage is $10.20 an hour. Just two years ago Colorado’s minimum wage was $8.31 an hour. Minimum wage is going up, but that causes prices of other things to rise as well, such as housing.
In addition, it’s no secret that Colorado is booming. Denver is one of 20 cities being considered for Amazon’s second headquarters. This is just one example of potential jobs being added to cities near Fort Collins. All of these things mixed together make Colorado a perfect petri dish for outsiders looking to move to a flourishing market.
Overall, it seems as if Fort Collins and other cities around Colorado can’t keep up with the amount of activity going on. In 2010, Fort Collins’ population was a little bit over 145,000 people. In 2016, that number grew to a little over 164,000. The population growth explains that the demand for housing is high while the supply remains steady until more developments are made.
Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about rising prices at this point. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to do my homework. We live in a tight-knit community that values the charm and history of our city. It is our responsibility to maintain those values. Eventually, I believe I’ll move out of Fort Collins and start a new journey somewhere else. But before doing that, I want to make sure I did my part in keeping Fort Collins a place for everyone.