Bedrooms: Diversify CU and Boulder

By Ambika Kamath. Also published as a letter to the editor in the Daily Camera on October 27, 2021.

"I moved to Boulder in August 2021 to start a job as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Part of the reason I was hired at CU is to bring novel perspectives to my department and institution — Brown and queer perspectives are woefully underrepresented in both research and teaching, and diversifying the faculty at CU is central to the institution’s vision for its future. And though I’m new to Boulder, it is clear that CU is a large part of this city’s fabric. The effort to diversify CU must go hand in hand with making Boulder a great place for all kinds of people to live.

I see yard signs all across Boulder saying that people like me are welcome here, but the laws tell a different story. I was quite honestly shocked when I learned about Boulder’s tight restrictions on whom one can choose to live with. Zoning laws that prohibit more than three unrelated people from living with one another, no matter the number of bedrooms in the dwelling, are deeply antithetical to efforts that allow us to build community in creative and progressive ways. Those of us moving to Boulder as part of efforts to diversify CU should be able to grow our families and support systems in ways that feel right to us. At present, we are constrained by both the impossible costs of housing and the law.

And that’s why I’ve been canvassing to inform Boulder voters about Ballot Question 300 and making the case for a 'Yes' vote. Opposition to this measure focuses on undergrad student housing, with no consideration for those of us who are neither undergrads nor wealthy members of traditionally structured nuclear families — but we matter too. Please vote YES on 300, Bedrooms Are For People."