{"id":27192,"date":"2024-06-10T20:18:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T02:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coloradans-want-politicians-to-do-something-about-cost-of-living\/"},"modified":"2024-06-11T02:18:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T02:18:26","slug":"coloradans-want-politicians-to-do-something-about-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coloradans-want-politicians-to-do-something-about-cost-of-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Coloradans want politicians to do something about cost of living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Pam
Pam Giordano sits in her kitchen in Denver's Goldsmith neighborhood on Nov. 17, 2023. (Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

There\u2019s a catchall phrase that\u2019s been tossed around as parody for decades, but feels increasingly earnest: In this economy? As in:<\/p>\n

Go out to eat, in this economy?<\/p>\n

Go to a concert, in this economy?<\/p>\n

Get a Christmas tree, in this economy?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just you. Thousands of Coloradans have responded to the statewide Voter Voices survey<\/a>, an effort by more than 60 newsrooms, including The Durango Herald<\/em>, to break from horse-race reporting and cover the upcoming election in a way that truly serves readers.<\/p>\n

\"Evanne
Evanne Caviness walks through a gate after checking on cattle Tuesday, June 4, 2024, at her and her husband Tyson\u2019s ranch near Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The survey asks participants to rank the top three issues that they want to see candidates address from 13 categories, along with an open-ended question at the top of the survey: \u201cWhat do you want candidates to talk about as they compete for your vote?\u201d<\/p>\n

As of May 28, 4,558 Coloradans had taken the survey. Nearly 15% said that the economy was the No. 1 issue that they want to hear about in the coming months, ranking second behind \u201cdemocracy and good government,\u201d which 40% of participants consider the biggest issue.<\/p>\n

The economy and cost of living were ranked as the most important issue among voters ages 18 to 29 and conservative voters in rural regions. Groups that ranked the economy as the second-most important issue include voters ages 30 to 44 and 45 to 64; male voters; voters in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th congressional districts; conservative voters; moderate voters; and voters in urban, suburban and rural regions of the state.<\/p>\n

In other words, Coloradans from every political party, every region and just about every age group are feeling pressure from the economy, and they want politicians to do something about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAutomobile insurance, homeowners insurance, taxes and God-awful groceries,\u201d said Theresa Springer, a 65-year-old rancher who lives in Hartsel in rural Park County. \u201cEverything just went way, way high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest concern<\/div>\n

As The Colorado Sun has explored in its ongoing series, \u201cThe High Cost of Colorado<\/a>,\u201d high prices dig into every part of Coloradans\u2019 pocketbooks \u2013 from housing to groceries to going outside. It makes sense that high costs would be on voters\u2019 minds. But \u201cthe economy\u201d is a broad topic, so we looked at the open-answer question and called up respondents to see what exactly about the economy feels the most burdensome.<\/p>\n

One clear concern emerged: housing.<\/p>\n

Breaking down that subcategory, we heard about insurance, property taxes, affordable housing complexes (with tie-ins to density around public transportation), maintenance costs, rent costs and making it easier to build multigenerational homes.<\/p>\n

What goes up, stays up<\/div>\n

One of the concerns that most homeowners brought up was the high cost of insurance. Pam Giordano, a 77-year-old part-time teacher, has owned her home in Denver for about 30 years. Her homeowners insurance went up 22% this year, she said. She\u2019s not sure about her car insurance bill yet. \u201cI\u2019m afraid to open it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Giordano said that she\u2019s called her homeowners insurance company to try to negotiate the price down, but the company is stuck citing the crime rate in her neighborhood (Giordano listed \u201ccrime\u201d as her second most important priority for candidates to address).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the crime rate in Denver goes down, I\u2019m quite sure my homeowners insurance reps aren\u2019t gonna say, \u2018Oh, Pam, crime is down 10%. We\u2019re gonna charge you 10% less.\u2019 I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s right. For what it\u2019s worth, crime is down in Denver, though it\u2019s still higher than before the pandemic began in March 2020.<\/p>\n

These conversations leave Giordano, and many others, feeling the pressure no matter how hard they pinch pennies.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you can spend less at the grocery store. Yes, you can spend less on entertainment. Yes, you can spend less on streaming services and things,\u201d Giordano said. \u201cBut the big hits, in many ways, are not things you can control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling stuck<\/div>\n

Several of the survey respondents contacted \u2013 homeowners and renters alike \u2013 said they feel \u201cstuck\u201d with regard to their housing.<\/p>\n

Giordano raised two kids in her home in Denver. It has bedrooms she and her husband don\u2019t need, and it\u2019s located in a neighborhood she\u2019s not happy with anymore. But when they looked into moving, the couple faced a hard reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would literally cost us double to move with housing expenses today,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, you know, we\u2019re kind of locked into where we are. It\u2019s a situation that a lot of people in our demographic deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New
New homes built in the Railyard Neighborhood in Leadville. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In fact, it\u2019s a situation that a lot of people in every demographic deal with.<\/p>\n

Elianna Patridge, a 20-year-old about to graduate from the University of Denver, wants to move out of her mom\u2019s house. They\u2019re close, she said, and it was a good situation while she was in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t want to live in my mom\u2019s house forever,\u201d Patridge said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t really want to live in the suburbs anymore, there\u2019s not a whole lot of stuff here for people my age. I want to be able to move into the city and live in Denver, but rent in the metro area is just crazy, crazy expensive. I\u2019m trying to figure out: Will I be able to afford to move out? And it\u2019s like, it doesn\u2019t seem so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patridge said that she and her mom talk openly about their options: Should her mom rent out Elianna\u2019s space once she moves out? Should they both move into Denver and rent out their current home? Should they live in Denver together?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that would be my ideal, just because I do want to launch and have my own place,\u201d Patridge said, of the last option. \u201cBut she and I are very tight and we do enjoy the company a lot, so I definitely would not hate it if we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building up and out<\/div>\n

When it comes to building new housing, a lot of respondents were eyeing the prohibitively expensive, time-consuming permit processes \u2013 the red tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really see the housing issue as a problem of scarcity. I see it as more of a legislation problem,\u201d said Keenan Marrinan, a 28-year-old voter who grew up in Boulder. \u201cWe have all these policies that are in our way of building more houses. It\u2019s not that we can\u2019t build more houses. I mean, after the Marshall fire, it took about a year to get all those houses rebuilt. But then when it comes to building any affordable housing, it takes multiple years to get anywhere. So I really think that\u2019s something that we can change on the back end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Clouds
Clouds form on a cold day in January 2023, above the Eleven Mile Reservoir near Hartsel. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Meanwhile, Springer, the rancher in Hartsel, is also frustrated by the difficulty of making improvements to her home, where she has lived for more than 30 years. She\u2019d love to make improvements for her grandchildren to take over the house someday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden this house that\u2019s grandfathered in has to meet all these new building codes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Springer raised six children in the house. One of her sons still works on the ranch, on top of a full-time job, she said. Her desire to pass along her home is more than just a generous economic move \u2013 it signals the continuation of her way of life, that of a small cattle ranch that hasn\u2019t \u201csold out to the multimillionaires,\u201d as she put it. \u201cWe\u2019re not gonna do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be that you sat down (each season) and said OK, this is how we\u2019re going to make it work,\u201d Springer said. \u201cNow we look at the numbers and don\u2019t even get past car payments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making it work<\/div>\n

Other issues frequently cited in the open-answer question were medical costs, inflation, grocery prices and taxes.<\/p>\n

While some issues were clearly divided along party lines \u2013 social justice and equity ranked as the fifth most important issue for liberal voters, but came in dead last among conservatives \u2013 the majority of issues weren\u2019t cleanly divided among parties, genders, regions or age groups.<\/p>\n

Despite his deep concerns about the cost of living, Marrinan, the voter born and raised in Boulder, was optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say that there\u2019s too many people moving here. But that\u2019s more income for our state. We can support those people. Growth is hard, change is hard, especially when nationwide everything is more expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if we do it correctly, then it\u2019ll be even better. In a decade or so, if we expand in a good way, things will be amazing, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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