What’s up with U+2?

Why it’s bad For

Fort Collins

Photo From: The Collegian

Before coming to Colorado I was a resident of Southern

California, where just about anything is permissible (as far as

housing goes) but once I arrived here in Fort Collins Colorado I

learned of a law called U+2 which is a law that restricts you

acquiring a house with more than 2 people that are not related to

you. “WHAT!!?” was my exact reaction after hearing this from a

friend around 2 years ago. “So we can’t live in a house together if

we aren’t related? This became a problem because my

roommates and I are all from out of state because we came to

Colorado State on scholarships to play football. So after our first

year in the dorms, we needed to find an affordable place to live

together. The four of us are all student-athletes that are

thousands of miles away from home with only the money we

receive each month from our stipends.

My Opinion

In my opinion, the Law is useless, all it does is inhibit those who

need to find affordable housing from doing just that. Fort Collins

is a college town that is growing annually each year so with the

spike in residents, it cannot expect to uphold a law that was

created in the 1960s. A lot of people are struggling, including

myself, finding a place to stay while here for college but each year

rent goes up in every apartment complex when it already wasn’t

affordable to begin with.

Who does it affect?

This law affects a lot of the student population in Northern

Colorado because everyone, including myself and my

roommates, are on the prowl for temporary affordable housing.

“As far as a college town, near campus, I believe you should be

able to have as many people living in the house as there are

bedrooms listed in the mls. There are so many bedrooms in a

college community, you should be able to fill them all!” said

Ricky Santo, a realtor in the Fort Collins area. On average I

spend about $1000 a month on rent, parking, and utilities at my

apartment complex. Multiply that number by 4 and BOOM! That

is $4000 a month for a small apartment complex. When

researching houses in the area I came to find many options for 4

roommates that when rented came to almost half the price of

that whopping $4000 mark.

The negative cultural Impacts

Growth!! How does a city grow you may ask? By increasing its

population the cities economy will begin to rise as well but with

this law intact, it inhibits likely residents each year and stunts its

growth. In the last decade Fort Collins has only seen an increase

of around 26,000 residents and likely only due to the

Universities efforts in research and employment count.

Growth is not always good

Sometimes a growing city is not always good. Contrary to what

he said before Mr. Santo said “For a growing town, I believe it is

a good rule.” This being because overpopulation is a real thing

and limiting a population that is already growing exponentially

could do more good than bad. Take my home Riverside County

in Southern California for example. It has seen a 15.5% growth in

population over the last decade and it is one of the most

unenjoyable places to live (personally) because a 10 minute drive

can easily be turned into 30. The place is just over populated and

homeless rates are skyrocketing.

Conclusion

U+2 is a law that inhibits affordable living in Northern Colorado

for people who are not related by blood. Why restrict people

from finding affordable living? The law feels outdated and it is

time to reconsider the validity of it.