Affordable Housing and Steamboats Lack of it Spurs Joint City-County Discussion

Kathy Diemer, owner of Johnny B. Goods Diner in downtown Steamboat Springs, said she and other business owners are "terrified."

"The housing market is frightening," Diemer told a joint meeting of the Steamboat Springs City Council and Routt County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. "Everyday I talk to people who have lost staff, because their staff lost their housing."

Coming out of the pandemic, the housing market in Steamboat has been crazy, seeing real estate sales records, surging house prices and waitlists for affordable housing units so long it could take decades for someone to reach the top. The problem is exacerbating a shortage of workers for low-wage positions, but it extends to higher earners as well.