Mayor Shares Updates On Cheyenne’s Housing Situation

Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins says progress is being made in dealing with Cheyenne/Laramie County's long-standing housing shortage.

But he says affordable housing in particular is a problem.

The shortage is nothing new. Local officeholders and economic development officials have been saying for at least a decade--and probably longer--that housing, and especially affordable housing is a challenge. It's complicated by the fact that unlike some other Wyoming counties, the population has shown a steady growth, driven in large part by a diverse economy and proximity to Colorado's Front Range, among other factors.

The local housing shortage is serious enough that's it's not unusual for people working in Cheyenne to live in Fort Collins or Laramie. That can be a problem during the winter however, as it isn't unusual for winter storms to shut down highways in and out of Cheyenne.

Mayor: Progress Is Being Made

The mayor, in his weekly "Mayor's Minute' column on Friday, said it's a multi-faceted problem:

. I am concerned that the lack of housing will cause Cheyenne to miss out on local businesses expanding or new businesses choosing to come to Cheyenne due to the lack of a workforce. You can’t build a workforce if they don’t have an appropriate place to live. I also feel for families that spend too much of their budget each month for a place to live. It leaves those families scraping to get by. When you have more demand than supply, prices will rise, and the ever-increasing price of housing is devastating to too many Cheyenne families.

But he also said some progress is being made, while admitting affordability remains an issue:

"Recent Census data shows Cheyenne and Laramie County are making some progress in the housing challenge. Since 2020, we have built 2,779 new housing units, or 28% of all the housing units built in the state. We now have 46,960 housing units in the county. The area where Cheyenne and Laramie County are really struggling to make a dent is in affordable housing. We are working with developers to encourage them to build more units, but these kinds of developments require a private public partnership and there is not enough money on the public side to meet the demand. While I share the housing concern, I also wanted to share the successes that are happening in our county."

It's worth noting that Laramie County's economy seems to be continuing to grow, making meeting the housing needs a moving target.

It does appear that a fair amount of home construction has either happened recently or is in the works. A realtor.com website lists what it says are 107 new construction homes in the Cheyenne area, though how many of those qualify as "affordable" to most local residents is another question.

The Stencil group has also announced plans for a 76-unit apartment complex in downtown Cheyenne. Those should be available in the summer of 2026, according to the developer.