Issue 2: Hyper-growth

1 BR in Fort Collins for $1,195 // 1705 Remington, Apt 2, Fort Collins, CO

What cities comes to mind when you think about Colorado? If you are like us, Denver, and its rise to prominence as a major American city, stands at the center. Recently, best of lists such as Best U.S. Cities to Raise a Family ( №4 Market Watch) or Best Places to Travel in 2019 ( Forbes) highlight rapidly-growing Fort Collins: a lesser known Coloradan city and home to Colorado State University, a large land-grant institution.

This week on Wayfinder we want to pose questions surrounding regional cities like Fort Collins that enter a hyper-growth phase (we are thinking mainly about cities with at least a 20% population growth in the last decade). Fort Collins has been growing by about 2% year over year for the past 20 years.

Does home design shape a city’s trajectory as it transitions from a regional town to an urban eco-system seeking to sustain long-term growth?

1705 Remington, a project by boutique design-build firm Forge + Bow, helped us frame this question.

Here’s a bit of context. As Forge + Bow started flipping houses around 2010, the population of Fort Collins reached just over 145,000, up nearly 65% since 1990. Today it is close to 168,000.

Converted from a building close to CSU that screams cheap student housing, F +B gave 1705 Remington an exterior refresh that positions it as an attractive, contemporary housing option.

As we dug a bit more into the data, Zillow reports an increase of over 90% in median sale prices ($209K-$398K) over the course of March 2011 to March 2020 (by comparison, the rest of the country increased by 60%).

What a big score for home owners, but we wonder how it affected renters or new home buyers?

After learning that Forge + Bow landed an HGTV pilot in 2018, we started trying to connect some dots.

What if Fort Collins offers an insight into a larger story tied to other regional towns experiencing hyper-growth?

Let’s step inside and see what we find.

Venturing across the threshold from the back patio, a bright, charming, functional home greets you. It’s equipped with generously-sized appliances, a practically-appointed peninsula, simple cabinetry, and light-stained floors. The kitchen redesign serves as an inspiring space within the apartment’s compact 582 square foot floor plan.

As towns like Fort Collins, CO, Mount Pleasant, SC, or Fort Myers, FL try to transition into diverse thriving urban centers, we wonder what role Design + Build firms like F+B play in shaping these “new” expanding cities.

Design-build firms can be instrumental in updating an aging housing stock while retaining the regional vernacular. More controversially, they can kickstart investment interest in neglected neighborhoods or create a spotlight that turns the city into a tourist magnet.

Increasingly, cities look to use the attention gained from the latest HGTV show to sell their bona fides to potential residents or incoming tourists for additional revenue.

We could be overstating their impact, but when’s the last time you saw the latest trendy city’s marketing material include a big box developer’s cookie cutter neighborhood?

Taking three steps across the room from the kitchen, you find a space that serves double duty as an additional entry-way and main living area. It seems to offer an optimal area for you to enjoy a variety of activities-from catching a nap on the couch, to hosting a movie night for friends, or even storing the two-wheeled vehicle of choice for Fort Collins residents.

The cinder block walls caught our eye. Although not usually the interior wall of choice, perhaps a simple, fresh coat of paint offered potential residents a more affordable, historically authentic option?

F+B states in an interview that “th[eir] aesthetic [choices are] very intentional for what is true to the home. We look at the original architecture and bones of the house and find the relevancy. We won’t completely change it; we work with what’s there.”

Through thoughtfully rooted design decisions, local Design + Build firms are uniquely positioned to serve communities in ways perhaps impossible for big box developers.

Heading down a short hall, you find this cozy bedroom and soothing bathroom. The dark millennial pink paint, hexagonal floor tiles, and European-inspired door levers, provide contemporary design features that further freshen up the overall feel of the home. They may also add style points for younger transplants jazzed about Fort Collins’ self-proclaimed community pillars: beers, bikes, and bands.

Here we began to wonder who makes up the communities of these Design + Build projects? Is the target market current residents or transplants?

What happens if these transitional cities mainly focus on attracting new residents and developing a thriving tourist industry? Does the culture begin to bend in a direction that leaves long-term residents forgotten and frustrated?

What effect does this have on rental prices? Do they reach unattainable heights as owners discover the earning potential of Airbnb guests coming to experience the new destination? A deeper dive into these cities is necessary to better understand how these dots connect.

Stepping back outside, with more questions than answers, you find this semi-private outdoor space. It brings us a lot of joy as our imaginations churn with potential evenings filled with off-the-cuff neighborly interactions!

What do you think? If Fort Collins and other regional towns continue to grow in popularity, will design + builds continue to sprout up in parallel? Or are the two even connected?

What are the pros and cons you see of different modes of home-development as towns enter hyper-growth?

Further Musings

These questions hit home for me after living in a highly sought-after, growth-focused regional city with a consistent presence on many of the “Best of…” lists.

We epitomized transplants enthralled by what the city communicated regarding the lifestyle that awaited.

However, complications quickly arose. Even with a two-income household, the rental market proved to be challenging, especially in the center of town. We even constantly heard “locals” complain about the influx of people and dramatic changes to the city; we were outsiders, but at the same time, the target audience of a coordinated effort to attract new transplants.

We began to dialogue with friends about important and needed changes as well as what was valuable to protect culturally. Honestly, it seemed too messy to even engage with sometimes. Who were we to seek change to a culture that had existed long before we had walked the earth?

Living there helped give me eyes to see that hyper-growth can result in both benefits and downsides. I am certainly hopeful for regional cities though.

If residents, realtors, developers and builders thoughtfully engage with this growth, the future of these cities looks bright!

Originally published at https://buttondown.email.