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Bedrooms Are for People is a grassroots movement of Boulder residents who share a vision for a more just, diverse, and sustainable city. We are renters and homeowners, long-time activists and first-time volunteers, students and teachers, lifelong and new Boulder residents, writers and scientists, hikers and choristers. We live with roommates, in co-ops, in multigenerational households, alone, with children and with spouses. While our friends, loved ones, and we ourselves have found Boulder a difficult place to live because of its discriminatory occupancy laws, we're inspired by what happens when Boulder neighbors take care of each other. We're dedicated to helping Boulder reimagine itself as a more welcoming, affordable, and inclusive community.
Our Team of Volunteers
CHELSEA CASTELLANO
Professional Field: Sustainability
Personal Passions:
Skiing, Wildlife, Activism
Liberty and justice for all should be woven into the fabric of all of our laws. While Boulder's current occupancy limits infringe on those rights today, we have the power to change that, and we will.
KURT NORDBACK
Professional Field: Software Engineering
Personal Passions:
Urban Design, Bike Touring
I grew up in Boulder & have watched it become more exclusive & privileged over the past 50 years, as imposed policies have throttled opportunities for organic change & naturally affordable housing. The result is a city that has bigger bank accounts but is culturally, artistically, & demographically poorer. BAFP is a step towards reversing that impoverishment.
THEODORE K. KOENIG
Professional Field: Atmospheric Chemistry
Personal Passions:
Hiking, Travel, Beer
I had briefly lived in an overoccupied rental for several months, but hadn't thought too much about the occupancy limit. As enforcement was being ramped up in 2015 I realized the occupancy limits just never made much sense, bedrooms are built for people to live in them.
ERIC BUDD
Professional Field: Data Analytics
Personal Passions:
Biking, Economics, Politics
I've lived in Boulder for over 10 years and have seen the massive difficulty that housing puts on people being able to settle down and stay in Boulder. I live in a housing cooperative and want to make it easier for people to live in affordable and community-focused housing.
SARAHDAWN HAYNES
Professional Field: Possibilities Cartographer
Personal Passions:
Housing/Food Security, Sustainability, Trail Work
I am a 20 yr renter in Boulder, 40 yrs of renting in CO. Without roommates, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't live as sustainably as I do. We have lost so many artists, musicians, non-profit leaders & volunteers & other wonderful people b/c the occupancy limit prevents affordability & community.
KRISTA NORDBACK
Professional Field: Transportation Safety Research
Personal Passions:
Biking, Knitting, Chocolate
When I moved here 24 years ago as a young professional, I had friends who lived in "over-occupied" houses because there was little other affordable housing for young professionals. The situation has only gotten worse. I've watched my friends and relatives move out of the city.
ALANA WILSON
Professional Field: Transportation Research
Personal Passions:
Co-ops, Public Transit+Bikes, Food
For nearly a decade as a renter in Boulder, my community has been my housemates. They have provided social enrichment, emotional support, and job connections, and many have become lifelong friends. Sharing can offer a super sustainable, resilient, high quality of life, and it's wrong that it's illegal.
NEESHA SCHNEPF
Professional Field: Geophysics Research Science
Personal Passions:
Trail Running, Singing in Resonance Women's Chorus
This initiative would make it easier for my partner and I to afford living in Boulder. Additionally, I firmly believe that our government shouldn't decide what counts as a family; all households should be treated equally.
SARAH
Professional Field: State & Local Government
Personal Passions:
Gardening, Biking, Hiking
I don't believe Boulder should discriminate in housing based on familial status, or be in the business of defining what counts as a family. As a transplant, my roommates are my Colorado family, & our housing options are severely limited by the nature of us being a group of 4. Finding housing in Boulder is hard enough, & overly restrictive occupancy limits are an unnecessary burden on renters, especially low-income renters.
BECKY DAVIES
Professional Field: Transportation Advocacy
Personal Passions:
Food, Soccer, Animal Welfare
I'm tired of hearing Boulder talk about its goals around housing, transportation, and equity yet fail to enact any of the substantive changes needed to achieve those goals. Allowing people to share homes is an important first step.
CHARLOTTE PITTS
Professional Field: ADU Design
Personal Passions:
Housing Justice, Plants, City Planning
Boulder's antiquated occupancy limits directly affected my ability to afford & live in Bolder when I first moved here, & forced me to live illegally and in the shadows out of fear of eviction. This experience is not uncommon. We must work to make Boulder a more safe and inclusive space while simoultaneously utilizing existing housing for our working class.
BEKAH DUMOUCHELLE
Professional Field: Marketing
Personal Passions:
Biking, Music
In a city where building more housing is difficult, allowing people to share existing homes is common sense. This measure allows Boulder homeowners and renters to share resources, companionship, and expenses.
CEDAR BARSTOW
Professional Field: Right Use of Power Institute Founder & Author
Personal Passions:
Remodeling, Gardening, Reading
I have lived in a co-op house in North Boulder for 36 years. It is my preferred way to live and I want this affordable and sustainable life-style to be welcomed and supported for people of all ages. I plan to age-in-place in my home.
CHRISTOPHER SCHUTTE
Professional Field: Information Science/Coffee Shop Manager
Personal Passions:
Technology, Fitness, Politics
For decades, Boulder local governance has pushed policies with an explicitly anti-student agenda. These policies didn't hurt just students, they've hurt an entire generation of working-class people trying to live in one of the most expensive cities in America, COVID has shown us that these essential workers are the ones who keep this city going, and time to support them and students by making bedrooms for people again.
RILEY BRADY
Professional Field: Ocean Biogeochemistry
Personal Passions:
Running, Reading, Guitar
I came to Boulder in 2016 to start my PhD in atmospheric and oceanic sciences and was thrilled to live in a progresive and active town, where I could commute by bike to my office and around the city every day. I've unfortunately witnessed that the majority of graduate students are forced out of town by cost, increasing their carbon footprint (to commute) and reducing the vibrant local population of passionate students.
NICK GROSSMAN
Professional Field: Ecotourism
Personal Passions:
Snowboarding, Biking, Travel
Allowing all people to safely live together will help address Boulder's severe housing crisis. Homeowners and renters should have the personal freedom to choose how to fill their own private bedrooms.
JAKE RUPERT
Professional Field: Petroleum Engineer
Personal Passions:
Writing, Gardening, People
Green space limitations make Boulder a beautiful place to live, but they have also pushed lower income and minority residents out of our town. I support increasing rental occupancy limits because it seems to me to be the only viable path to a more affordable, more diverse Boulder.
RYAN SELDON
Professional Field: Autonomous Vehicle Simulation
Personal Passions:
Climbing, Affordable Housing
Bedrooms are For People is a critical step toward making Boulder accessible to a diverse group of people who deserve to share in all the great things that make Boulder amazing.
SOPHIA KHAN
Professional Field: Political Science & Philosophy Student
Personal Passions:
Reading, Criminal Justice
I'm fighting for this change because Boulder is an incredible city and it deserves to be easily accessible for all people; not just those who can afford to be here.
CLARE GALLAGHER
Professional Field: Outdoor Industry
Personal Passions:
Running
Having lived illegally for years to find affordable rent, I believe Boulder's housing occupancy limits are outdated, discriminatory and quintessential NIMBYism. I want to be part of the change for a more inclusive and sustainable Boulder.
FIONA PIGOTT
Professional Field: Software
Personal Passions:
Dancing, Baking, Biking
Many of my best relationships in Boulder over the past 10 years been with my roommates—so much so that I recently bought a house with a roommate. I want our 6-bedroom house (4 occupants, legal because of a sibling) to be a place we can both grow into, and I want other people to have the opportunity to stay in Boulder by sharing a house.
BRYAN BOWEN
Professional Field: Architect
Personal Passions:
Cohousing, Sustainability, Making Stuff
When I moved here over twenty years ago, the housing market was showing obvious signs of becoming too economically exclusive, and now that's happened. As times have changed and conventional thinking around housing has evolved, many of us have reevaluated a lot of assumptions that are baked into Boulder's out dated housing policy. At the same time, we've more fully realized how racism and classism can be enacted through housing policy. We need to allow people to live more comfortably with less impact in joyous environments that allow for community.
THOMAS WELLS
Professional Field: Energy Efficiency Data Science
Personal Passions:
Chai, Running, Bikes
I want to move the needle on climate change and racial justice. Reducing transportation emissions by allowing people to live closer to where they work, go to school, and spend their time is the best way to address climate change. Undoing racist, classist, and outdated housing occupancy limits is the best way to accomplish both. It's ridiculous that we have empty bedrooms while people are commuting hours each day to get here or living on the streets.
NICK
Professional Field: Small Business Owner
Personal Passions:
Classical Singing, Philosophy, Meditation
Just as a person should have freedom of association, freedom of speech, so should they be able to live with who they choose. Whether they are biologically or romantically related is none of the state's business.
CHAZ TEPLIN
Professional Field: Rogue Scientist
Personal Passions:
Cycling, Baseball, Parenting
I want a dense, exciting, walkable/bikeable city to live in. Also climate and sustainability. I truly love my neighbors so much that I want more of them.
VADIM GRABOYS
Professional Field: Infrastructure Architect
Personal Passions:
Biking, Hiking, Housing Policy
I love Boulder and I think more people should be able to experience this wonderful city. Allowing more diverse groups of people to live together makes for a more vibrant and interesting community.
SARA CAMPBELL
Professional Field: Physicist
Personal Passions:
Mountaineering, My cat, My dog
While I was a graduate student at CU Boulder, my classmates and I found it much more affordable to rent a house together and share costs. As housing costs increase and climate change remains an issue, I find it unconscionable and discriminatory that the city mandates maintaining empty bedrooms in houses without a traditional family. Now, I own a four-bedroom house, my husband and I occupy one bedroom, and still the city mandates that we maintain empty bedrooms in our own home, rather than building a small 4-5 person community by renting out the available space at an affordable rate.
TARA IPPOLITO
Professional Field: Environmental Studies
Personal Passions:
Cooking, Eating, Running
I have seen and felt firsthand how hard it is to live on a graduate student salary in Boulder, affordable housing is absolutely needed for graduate students and young professionals to live comfortably in boulder.
ADAM GREER
Professional Field: Urban Planning
Personal Passions:
Running, Yoga, Hiking
I believe providing more access to housing will have a positive impact on the environment.
ANGIE NAILLON
Professional Field: Finance
Personal Passions:
Hiking, Backpacking
Maximizing the utilization of existing, available housing stock is a common-sense approach to promoting sustainability (reducing commutes/carbon emissions), supporting affordability, and enhancing Boulder's vibrancy and diversity.
ASLIN KREITZ
Professional Field: Volunteer Coordinator
Personal Passions:
Horseback Riding, Running, Building Community
As a POC living in Boulder and having grown up in a similar environment (Portland, OR) I am exhausted by the progressive facade of these "liberal" areas. Boulder's beauty is meant for everyone, the current policy is oppressive and creates a massive barrier to a sustainably diverse and inclusive Boulder. This is an opportunity for our city to be a leader in progressive change for our state.
SHAWN RUPP
Professional Field: Building Performance Engineer
Personal Passions:
Cycling, Soccer, Cooking
Occupancy limits are discriminatory and exclusionary, and they have contributed greatly to racial inequities and a lack of affordable housing in the city. Eliminating these limits is an important first step toward making Boulder more accessible and equitable.
ANNA KRAMER
Professional Field: U.S. Environmental History
Personal Passions:
Bikes!
Housing policies in U.S. cities have long shaped who is included in and who is excluded from our communities. Reforming the occupancy limit is a simple way to expand housing opportunities, improve affordability, address policies that have fostered racial and class inequities, and reduce environmental impacts.
EMMETT GRUNDBERG
Professional Field: University Student
Personal Passions:
Live Music & Politics
We cannot have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without housing freedom. Boulder's housing prohibition puts a ceiling on prosperity that hurts everyone in our community.
KEVIN MCWILLIAMS
Professional Field: Aerospace Engineering
Personal Passions:
Skydiving, Fire Spinning, Board Games
I've lived in Boulder since 2001 and had several very good households destroyed by the occupancy limit. It is unfair, classist, and prevents Boulder from having rational housing policy.
MICHELLE SOLOMON
Professional Field: Civil/Environmental Engineer
Personal Passions:
Outdoors, Tabletop Roleplay, Knitting
When I moved to Boulder three years ago, the first thing I did was look around for a co-op to live in. But the fact that I was a grad student under 24 years old, and a car-owner, the odds were stacked against me. I want to live in intentional community with a sense of purpose and belonging, and I have the experience and tools to do so. Lets make co-op living not only legal, but affordable and accesible to all of Boulder's residents.
JO BELETIC
Professional Field: Criminal Justice Nonprofit
Personal Passions:
Adventuring, Local Food, My Dog
I envision a Boulder that is prioritizes and supports people, efficiency and sustainability.
CHARLES ALAIMO
Professional Field: High School Student
Personal Passions:
Fencing, Quizbowl
Removing regulatory barriers around housing will make housing more affordable!
CHARLOTTE WHITNEY
Professional Field: Political Science Student
Personal Passions:
Social Equity/Good, Film, Sustainability
Boulder prides itself on its inclusivity, empathy, and openness to all, yet this occupancy law is an arcane and counter-productive contradiction to this atmosphere. Fighting to eliminate restrictive occupancy would end this contradiction and bring more equity to Boulder, in addition to countless other benefits.
ANNA VERNIER
Professional Field: Early Childhood Educator
Personal Passions:
Comics, Juggling, Music
I want the community that I was born in and grew up in to grow, and also to retain/increase diversity. I want Boulder to be a place that everyone who wants to be here can find and afford a place to live.
ALICE AJANGO
Professional Field: Holistic Education Support
Personal Passions:
Outdoors, Community, Books
I want to trend towards inclusivity—I want to live in and foster a community where we use the resources we have to enhance our surroundings. We have the capacity for understanding that unnecessary, outdated laws simply deny access to housing and function primarily to exclude access to this place. I want Boulder to truly be a city that supports its residents, celebrates diversity, and welcomes forward progress.
COURTNEY LOVE
Professional Field: Marketing & Yoga, Wellness Coach
Personal Passions:
Yoga, Climbing, Activism
I have lived in Boulder for eight years and renting is nearly impossible without roommates. Boulder's antiquated occupancy laws are discriminatory, arbitrary, and classist. Adjusting occupancy limits will create more affordable housing options, diversifying our community, and have a positive environmental impact.
KRISTEN ELLER
Professional Field: Chemical Engineering - Microbiology
Personal Passions:
Science, Dogs, Hiking
Everyone has a right to safe place to call home; by limiting the number of residents in a complex Boulder is constraining the city to its ideas of a "traditional" home that is not sustainable, negatively impacts the environment, and contributes the the housing crisis in Boulder. I don't think that is what Boulder should stand for.
PHILLIP OGREN
Professional Field: Computer Science
Personal Passions:
Stand-up Comedy, Sewing, Polar Plunging
If bedrooms aren't for people, then what are they for?! Allowing houses to be fully occupied is one of the easiest ways to both expand access to housing and reduce the impact of our housing footprint on the environment.
JULIANNE RAMSEY
Professional Field: College Student
Personal Passions:
Outdoors, Social Justice, Snowboarding
I’m a Colorado native and a sophomore at CU studying Strategic Communication with a minor in Urban Planning. I’ve recently become passionate about housing justice since joining the BAFP campaign as an intern. I really want to see Boulder become more sustainable and equitable before I graduate in 2023.
KYREN BOGOLUB
Professional Field: Seismology
Personal Passions:
Skiing, Dogs
The University of Colorado is the backbone of Boulder's economy, and the university needs students to be funded. As a graduate student I, like many students struggle with Boulder's discriminatory housing policy which makes it difficult to justify staying here for my education.
JOSEPH STEIN
Professional Field: University Student
Personal Passions:
Hiking, Reading, Tea
I grew up in Boulder and have become increasingly frustrated with the attitudes and policies that make Boulder inaccessible and unaffordable. I'm excited by the prospect of living in a diverse, dynamic, just, and resilient city, and scaling back occupancy limits is an important step in that direction.
MAEVE PHELAN
Professional Field: Childcare (previously Affordable Housing)
Personal Passions:
Affordable Housing, Cycling, Veggie Gardening
The current situation is ridiculous. It's expensive to build affordable housing; let's use the housing that is already built and sitting empty to house people who need it.
NOAH STOUT
Professional Field: Attorney
Personal Passions:
Outdoors, Reading, Food
Access to housing is a fundamental right and Bedrooms for People will make Boulder a more equitable place for all.
LUCY CARLSON-KRAKOFF
Professional Field: University Student
Personal Passions:
Spanish, Italian, Backpacking
I want Boulder to be a welcoming place to all.
RYAN BONICK
Professional Field: Software
Personal Passions:
Biking, Music, Snowboarding
Making Boulder more diverse, affordable, and accessible to all people—without discriminating.
KARLSTON NASSER
Professional Field: Investment Management
Personal Passions:
Environment, Outdoor Activities, Beer
Demand for housing is here and now. Letting existing bedrooms go unused because of outdated zoning laws causes new, unnecessary development far from employment, education and transportation centers, adding to traffic, over-development and pollution. We must change these rules to increase housing options and make it more affordable while improving quality of life in Boulder.
CHELSEA STENCEL
Professional Field: Outdoor Education
Personal Passions:
Climbing
Boulder is the first place I have lived as an adult where I have found an actual community to be a part, but the occupancy limits make it extremely difficult to be able to live here. Scaling back occupancy limits is just one step in the direction towards making Boulder a more diverse and accessible city like the one I know it can be.
JAKE BRADY
Professional Field: Software Consulting
Personal Passions:
Skiing, Dog Adventures, Activism
The only way I was able to afford a rental when I moved to Boulder in 2017 was by living with my sibling and two other friends. The fact that we counted as one person in the eyes of the city struck me as totally arbitrary and I vowed to fight for change. Too many Boulderites live in fear due to over-occupancy; this is unacceptable and BAFP offers an avenue to a brighter future.
ALEX MELDRUM
Professional Field: University Student
Personal Passions:
Sustainability, Human Rights
Signing a lease is already an extremely hard process, sharing a bedroom with someone or having too many roommates should not be an added stress.