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Drew Nesmith

@drew-nesmith

Legislative Advisor :Energy, Housing, Land Use, Transportation, Climate, & Urban Economic Development AR, MS, CO. Hiking, reading, and Premier League when I’m able, Urbanist

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Latest posts by Drew Nesmith @drew-nesmith

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Denver may allow ‘single stair’ apartments by 2026 The goal is to “unlock so much housing supply.”

Denver may allow single-stair apartment buildings from 2026.

"The preliminary Denver proposal would allow five floors above grade, with no more than four units per floor. Including basement residences, a typical single-stair structure might fit 24 homes."

cc @stephenjacobsmith.com

17.06.2025 13:14 👍 11 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1
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WM draft accelerates tax credit phase out for projects placed in service after 2028. It kills transferability for a number of credits, including the ITC and PTC.

Rather than repealing them, they're making credits less generous AND more difficult to use.

Pictures credits @advaitarun.bsky.social

12.05.2025 19:12 👍 19 🔁 7 💬 4 📌 4
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Public Service and Imagining the Future Public Sector This week, during Public Service Recognition Week of all weeks, my social feeds are filled with tributes and reflections from friends and colleagues leaving federal service because they were either fo...

A beautiful and somber elegy written by my colleague @ashwinwarrior.bsky.social

This moment demands we marshal ambitious visions for state and municipal capacity. What could be more fitting to honor what we've lost and to prepare for federal reconstruction?
publicenterprise.org/public-servi...

09.05.2025 15:02 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
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Would you buy a Colorado ski-town parking spot for $415,000? In a few Colorado ski resort towns, and to a lesser degree in downtown Denver, parking spots are now a hot accessory real estate item.

A $415K parking spot at a ski resort is wild, but it reveals an important truth: 'Free' parking isn’t free. We pay for it in higher rents, lost common spaces, and hidden subsidies.

www.denverpost.com/2025/04/17/s...

08.05.2025 19:48 👍 51 🔁 12 💬 4 📌 1

Removing minimum parking mandates gives us cleaner air, cleaner water, and more affordable housing. The #Washington state legislature gets that.

This Earth Day, make sure your elected officials know that too!

22.04.2025 22:59 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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HVH:Home of Vertical–Horizontal Connection HVH:Home of Vertical–Horizontal Connection

"HVH - Home of Vertical-Horizontal Connection" design submission for the Denver Single Stair Challenge by Ming Chen, Xiaochi Chen, & Ying Chen

A single-stair layout enhances natural ventilation, daylight, & social interaction through shared hubs on each floor

worldarchitecture.org/architecture...

19.04.2025 16:50 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Colorado bill would increase penalties for careless drivers who kill with their cars Supporters say the bill would send a message to drivers that careless driving needs to be taken more seriously.

New: Colorado bill would increase penalties for careless drivers who kill with their cars -->

www.cpr.org/2025/04/10/c...

10.04.2025 19:11 👍 71 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0

This could be us Denver.

Austin joined an elite club today following the lead of NYC, Seattle, Honolulu, Nashville, Memphis, and Jackson (TN) which all allow mid-rise single stair housing.

10.04.2025 22:56 👍 34 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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Safety Under Assault Across the U.S., anti-regulatory sentiments and lobbying efforts are weakening or erasing critical safety codes, officials say

NFPA is misguided in making the claim that single-stair egress makes buildings "less safe." What evidence was used to backup the claim that single-stair legislation weakens safety codes?

Recent data shows single-stair housing has a strong safety record.

www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-a...

24.03.2025 23:08 👍 30 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 4
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NEW: Judge Chutkan has blocked the EPA from terminating grants for climate programs held by Citibank, saying the Trump administration failed to abide by legal procedures and provided no evidence of impropriety.

ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

19.03.2025 00:20 👍 7726 🔁 1813 💬 90 📌 67
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Colorado firefighter opposes allowing single-stair in the state, says that Europe “frankly has different risk tolerance.” That is true, but not the way he’s implying – their tolerance is lower! www.ctif.org/sites/defaul... (pg. 63)

18.03.2025 22:05 👍 131 🔁 15 💬 9 📌 2
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Denver Is Tired of Subsidizing Parking Denver wants to repeal parking mandates citywide. This will help the city fight the housing crisis by reducing the costs and regulatory hurdles of development.

“In 2024, #Colorado mandated that its cities stop enforcing parking mandates for multifamily developments within a quarter mile of transit. #Denver, the state’s capital, wants to take it further and repeal the costly mandates citywide."

www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...

15.03.2025 00:57 👍 20 🔁 4 💬 2 📌 0
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The Single-Stair Solution: A Path to More Affordable, Diverse, and Sustainable Housing FIGURE 1. Milo Apartments, Denver, Colorado by SAR+ Architects

Why legalize taller single-stair housing in the U.S. and Canada?

I co-wrote this brief with an affordable housing developer answering the question about why there are efforts to reform the code to unlock more 'missing middle' housing in North America.

www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

19.02.2025 21:37 👍 11 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 2
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The Single-Stair Solution: A Path to More Affordable, Diverse, and Sustainable Housing FIGURE 1. Milo Apartments, Denver, Colorado by SAR+ Architects

@seanjurs.bsky.social and Peter LiFari show how single-stair reform would help make infill construction possible on Denver's Colfax Ave: www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

19.02.2025 21:49 👍 18 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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Path of destruction: See the downtown Denver highway that almost happened If the plan had been enacted, the freeway would have swept from I-25 to I-70, charging through Lower Downtown between Blake and Larimer streets.

Imagine if they had built this -- a highway straight through downtown and northeast Denver. denverite.com/2017/09/19/p...

19.02.2025 04:57 👍 18 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Imagine 6 families co building with a non profit developer and selling 6 units to help pay for it.

All because the building and approval process was simple, predictable, repeatable and affordable…

14.02.2025 02:11 👍 77 🔁 14 💬 2 📌 1
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Project 2025 aims to ‘eradicate' climate change research, slash disaster aid The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, takes aim at climate change across the federal government in its Project 2025 policy proposals. The 922 page document targets the National Weather S...

In October, I reported on Project 2025’s plan to gut NOAA, the National Weather Service, & climate research

Today The Guardian is reporting “DOGE staffers enter NOAA headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats”
www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa...

05.02.2025 03:51 👍 385 🔁 193 💬 18 📌 24
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🏫 New Vista unveils $52M custom campus - The Boulder Reporting Lab Good morning, Boulder. The sun returns today — enjoy the break in the clouds while it lasts. Leading the news: School is back in session, and New Vista High School students walked into their first-eve...

" #Boulder has advanced discussions on eliminating parking minimums citywide. A 2024 #Colorado law prohibiting parking minimums near transit stops starting June 2025 — covering 81% of city parcels — has added momentum.”

Statewide reform is where it’s at!
boulderreportinglab.org/newsletter/%...

13.01.2025 20:34 👍 10 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

If you're in Denver, be sure to call or email your councilperson and ask them to support eliminating costly parking mandates citywide instead of just in the limited areas the state law requires

10.01.2025 18:43 👍 9 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Minimum Parking Requirements | Colorado General Assembly

The text of HB24-1304: leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1...

10.01.2025 18:42 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Signed by Gov. Polis in May 2024, and beginning in June 2025, HB24-1304 eliminates minimum parking requirements near public transit stations statewide. The bill also creates technical assistance materials to help municipalities better manage on & off-street parking.

📍Colorado 🏔️

10.01.2025 18:37 👍 33 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 1

I’ve been trying to schedule something with a fire engineer related to elevators, and he kept putting me off, saying he’s tied up with a major proposal. I finally talked to him today – turns out that proposal was about single-stair! I think this building code reform stuff might be starting to stick.

10.01.2025 18:19 👍 180 🔁 9 💬 2 📌 2
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A new bill just dropped in #waleg to require the state building code council to allow smaller, internationally best-in-class elevators to be built in small apartment buildings.

Read #SB5156 here: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...

09.01.2025 05:26 👍 91 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 9
A map showing the highest wildfire exposures for California's FAIR Plan, with Pacific Palisades at $5.89 billion, one of the highest in the state.

A map showing the highest wildfire exposures for California's FAIR Plan, with Pacific Palisades at $5.89 billion, one of the highest in the state.

The Pacific Palisades neighborhood caught in the #PalisadesFire is one of the biggest users of California's insurer of last resort, with nearly $6 billion in exposure

www.cfpnet.com/key-statisti...

08.01.2025 15:30 👍 159 🔁 72 💬 9 📌 9
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How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels The country’s residents installed 200MW of balcony solar during the first half of 2024. It’s becoming an increasingly popular way to take climate action…

Hey y'all: is anyone out there thinking about what enabling policy/regulation it would take to permit balcony solar in the USA? Shouldnt we? (Context www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...). 🔌💡

06.01.2025 22:28 👍 188 🔁 45 💬 23 📌 7

NEW: A Democratic vacancy committee made up of 42 members just selected state Rep. Iman Jodeh to serve as the senator for Senate District 29. She fills the seat of Sen. Janet Buckner, who will resign Thursday after winning reelection on Nov. 5. #copolitics #coleg

07.01.2025 03:37 👍 22 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 4
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Mike Eliason on "Corridor" Zoning A Guest Post

a little op-ed on why corridor zoning is a really terrible way to plan a livable, walkable, and healthy city - for seattle and WA state politicians

cc @markoliias.bsky.social @jessdbateman.bsky.social @staterepjuliareed.bsky.social @davina425.bsky.social

ronpdavis.substack.com/p/mike-elias...

05.01.2025 05:08 👍 74 🔁 13 💬 5 📌 5
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Thrilled to see @publicenterprise.bsky.social in the Treasury Department's report on providing capacity for elective pay! If you represent a state/local gov, please reach out! @advaitarun.bsky.social @pewilliams.bsky.social @buddyyakov.bsky.social
home.treasury.gov/system/files...

17.12.2024 17:20 👍 11 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1
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Ski patrol strike disrupting holiday week at Park City may set tone for union talks ahead in Colorado Vail Resorts has been sending non-union managers to mind its Park City ski area as Colorado ski patrollers worry about morale

Ski patrol strike disrupting holiday week at Park City may set tone for union talks ahead in Colorado coloradosun.com/2025/01/03/u...

03.01.2025 14:53 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

May 2025 be the year we stop freezing neighborhoods in amber and start building more homes where people want to live.

01.01.2025 18:33 👍 378 🔁 66 💬 1 📌 4