The first week of Colorado Community Media’s Long Way Home series focused on what many experts say is a housing crisis across the metro area. In short, housing is increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for Coloradans. Week two of our four-week series turns to how those issues look through the lens of race and younger residents, some whose experience  of the American dream is changing..

Reporters Nina Joss and Haley Lena delve into the realities faced by would-be Black homeowners and others who find skin color can be a factor in achieving their long-term dreams. .

Joss and Lena break down how the system can sometimes work against Black applicants. They also uncover possible solutions, including an initiative from Realtors to provide training that averts subtle biases in the buying process.

Meanwhile, reporter Ellis Arnold asks a difficult question about metro area suburbs: why are they so White? There’s no single answer, but some neighborhood covenants from a few decades ago prove, in writing, that race was sometimes a factor in creating our communities.

Accessibility to housing isn’t only an issue of race. It’s an issue of income, as well. Many Coloradans simply can’t afford to apply for a home, and some of them are redefining their idea of the American dream as a result. Reporter Christy Steadman digs into this issue. When affordability, accessibility and fairness play a role, families are shifting away from the old dream in which people started a family and bought a home. 

When rising home prices and inflation makes that next to impossible for many Coloradans, the American dream may shift from the idea that owning a home is the true measure of success. Still, across generations, many hold out hopes for homeownership.

Statistics, data and experts may have great information on how the market works, but it’s the people living through the crisis who matter the most.

To read all the parts of our  Long Way Home series, visit https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/longwayhome/index.html.

Contributors to the project include:

Michael de Yoanna

Lisa Schlichtman

Thelma Grimes

Kristen Fiore

Scott Taylor

Christine Steadman

Deborah Grigsby Smith

Scott Gilbert

Deb Hurley Brobst

Ellis Arnold

Ellliott Wenzler

Robert Tann

Rylee Dunn

Andrew Fraieli

Olivia Love

Corinne Westeman

McKenna Harford

Tayler Shaw

Nina Joss

Haley Lena

Belen Ward

Luke Zarzecki

Leah Neu

Ben Wiebesiek