Painting a city gripped by worries over deportations, high cost of living and economic struggles, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Wednesday unveiled his goals for the year, saying he will focus on resolving familiar challenges — housing, homelessness and safety.  

“I want to make sure people see how serious we know the stakes are,” Johnston said at the newly upgraded Denver Central Library.

“There are folks in the city today who are very, very afraid,” he said. “Whether that is worry about them or their family members being caught up in mass deportations, whether that is someone who is fighting hard to make sure they can still pay the rent this month, someone who’s trying to keep their small business going and they’re struggling in the midst of economic conditions … We will be here every step of the way to attend to those.”

Johnston disclosed his priorities at a time of uncertainty in the city whose reigns he took over nearly two years ago. The mayor had outlined an ambitious agenda when he campaigned for the office. Notably, he vowed to eradicate homelessness by the end of his first term, which means he has a little over two years to deliver on that promise.   

Homelessness 

For 2025, Johnston said he wants to move 2,000 homeless more people into temporary or permanent housing, while also connecting 2,000 people already in temporary housing with permanent options.

“We will articulate even more ambitious targets than we have in the past,” Johnston said. “We’ll now endeavor to speed up that momentum … and critically, continue to expand our ambitious focus on getting people to permanent housing.”

As of Wednesday, 1,869 homeless people are indoors in permanent shelters or in the five hotels-turned-shelter sites and three “micro-communities,” according to the city’s homeless dashboard.

Out of the total 2,223 people moved into temporary shelters, 857 have moved into permanent housing in the last 18 months, according to the dashboard.

Johnston’s homelessness campaign had been expensive. Since taking office in July 2023, his administration has spent $155 million on the crisis — $65 million more than he previously said it would cost.

Even as he aggressively pursued his programs, the number of homeless families in metro Denver spiked last year by more than 134%, and, all told, the number of homeless individuals grew by roughly 2,200, an increase of more than 40%. That homeless count occurred roughly six months into his term. 

‘Strategic investments’ and a ‘revitalized’ downtown 

Repeatedly using the term “vibrant” to describe his aspirations for Denver, Johnston said that means, among other things, creating comprehensive plans for “strategic investments” across Denver neighborhoods, plus a “revitalized” downtown Denver.

Key to that, he said, is fast-tracking permitting.

“We’ll continue our effort on transforming our building process here in Denver to make it easier and faster to be able to approve and build projects in all parts of the city,” Johnston said, adding the city reduced permitting time by about 30% in 2024.

The mayor also said the city needs to create more public spaces, transforming vacant commercial spaces into housing and attracting more local vendors.

He mentioned the 16th Street Mall facelift, which the city hopes to fully reopen this summer after years after construction. Most recently, four people were stabbed along the 16th Street corridor and two died, raising questions about safety in the heart of Denver.

Decrease in gun violence, non-violent crimes

The Denver mayor said he wants to decrease violent gun crimes by 15%. He said the city has already decreased gun violence rates by 23%.

“We also know that’s not good enough,” he said. “We want to make sure we are addressing violent crime in all parts of the city, so we’ll maintain a citywide focus on that goal.”

The city also looks to launch a strategy to address “non-violent” crimes, such as drug dealing and theft, Johnston said.

“Across the city, there are places where folks don’t feel safe because of the everyday interactions of small, non-violent crimes that affect quality of life for residents, for business owners, all across the city,” Johnston said.

“This year,” he said, “we’ll launch a coordinated strategy to focus on all of those issues citywide, as well, whether that includes things like theft from retail establishments, where we want to make sure our businesses are vibrant and thriving.”

It remains to be seen which policies, exactly, the Denver mayor intends to pursue. In neighboring Aurora, the city council lowered the threshold amount for mandatory sentencing for retail theft, increased the jail time for repeat offenders and tackled “dine and dash” type of crimes, arguing that a tougher approach would curb them.

The “harm reduction” approach permeates the Denver City Council, which recently passed a proposal to expand the city’s needle exchange program. Johnston vetoed the measure, calling it “the wrong solution at the wrong time.”

3,000 affordable housing units

Just like last year, Johnston said he intends to create 3,000 more affordable housing units. He did not mention how many affordable units the city helped facilitate coming online in 2024. But a spokesperson said the city “developed and preserved” 3,022 affordable units “in 2024.

The mayor said Denver is roughly 44,000 units short of the amount of affordable housing it needs to develop over the next decade.

“If you are a teacher or a nurse or a firefighter or a server at your favorite restaurant, we want to make sure you can stay in Denver and can afford to live in Denver,” Johnston said.

Heat pumps, EV chargers and solar arrays

Johnston said he will focus on “climate resilience,” citing efforts to cut carbon pollution and reduce municipal water usage.

The goal, Johnston said, is to add 2,000 heat pumps, EV charges and solar arrays in homes, businesses and nonprofits in 2025. Furthermore, he said, the city intends to plant 4,500 trees in Denver neighborhoods and reduce municipal water usage by 20 million gallons.

“That means for us making sure we address the risk of heat and growing sections of the city that are getting hotter and hotter,” he said. “One of the most powerful ways to do that is to add tree cover and tree canopies.”

The city has been pushing the idea of a “15-minute city,” which envisions a community where employers, shops, schools, medical care, and recreation all lie within a 15-minute walk, bike or bus ride from where residents live.

Opponents, meanwhile, are widely skeptical about “density” as a cure-all, and about rapid transit as a means to enable that. Some have cited a kind of circular logic embedded in the idea, along the lines of “we need more residents to serve buses,” and then “we need more buses to serve residents.” They also questioned the idea that a future expansion of public transportation will allow the concept to succeed.

Out-of-school programs

Johnston said he will also focus on adding middle school and high after-school programming this year.

Specifically, he said, the city wants to connect 5,000 children to “high-quality,” out-of-school programming and place 2,500 young adults in jobs.

“We think the urgency is around connection to both learning opportunities and growth that happen outside of the traditional eight to three o’clock school day,” Johnston said.

Johnston’s Mayor’s Youth Works program hopes to connect 2,500 young adults to summer jobs, including long-term career training for 18 to 24-year-olds.

“That is also a great protective factor for young people’s mental health,” Johnston said. “The more connected they are to other experiences, other peers, other adults, those are all anchors for them in the storm to make sure that they are healthy and growing.”