Like many urban centers in the West, Colorado’s three largest cities face a homelessness crisis that, over the years, has drawn a bigger and bigger share of fiscal resources and political attention.

The crisis prompted Denver’s new mayor to declare a state of emergency, allowing the city to dispense with public bidding, for one, in order to procure homeless shelters in its race to deliver on a promise — get 1,000 people off of the streets by Dec. 31. Already, the city has swept three homeless encampments, one of which sat right across from the Governor’s Mansion.

In Colorado Springs, the new administration seeks to build on what many regard as a successful strategy, which has driven down the homeless population in El Paso County. Notably, the strategy includes strictly enforcing a camping ban.

Meanwhile, Aurora officials are closely watching the experiments in Denver and Colorado Springs — as well as in other parts of the country — in the hopes of figuring out the best strategy or combination of approaches to meaningfully help the homeless.

Of the cities’ three mayors, Denver’s Mike Johnston, a Democrat, faces the biggest problem: Colorado’s capital city counted 5,818 homeless people in January, up by 1,024 compared to the year before. Of the total, 2,763 were “unsheltered” — people who live in public spaces, such as cars, tents or the street. That figure rose by 33% from 2022.

Denver has been pouring significant resources into the crisis. Over the next two years, officials look to spend half a billion dollars — $254 million this year and $242 million next year. Using the latest homeless count, that translates to roughly $85,000 per homeless person total for two years. When Johnston’s predecessor, Michael Hancock, first took office in 2011, the city spent only $8 million on homelessness.

Yemi Mobolade, Colorado Springs’ new and politically independent mayor, maintains his city and El Paso County are “doing really well” and the numbers are “trending in the right direction.”

The point-in-time surveys show a 17% decline in the county’s homeless population — from a high of 1,562 in 2019 to 1,302 in January. The survey counts the homeless across all categories and age groups, from people living on the streets to those in transitional housing. The city allocated about $6.2 million to homelessness this year, excluding costs from the police department to enforce the urban camping ban, as well as vagrancy, loitering or trespassing laws. That translates to nearly $5,000 per homeless person for one year.

In Aurora, Mayor Mike Coffman supports a “work-first” strategy, noting the city is hewing closer to Colorado Springs’ approach. Coffman disagrees with “housing-first” models — the preferred strategy in Denver — because, he argues, they measure success by how many people are taken off the streets, while he looks at employment and self-sufficiency as more meaningful yardsticks.

Aurora’s homeless population stood at 572 in January, down from 2022’s point-in-time count of 612, which was the highest mark in five years. The city spent about $5.6 million on homelessness last year. That’s roughly $10,000 per homeless person.

Opinions differ on which city’s approach is most effective. This series explores the unique complexities and similarities of each city’s homeless challenge. Part 1 focuses on Denver.