Boulder’s Sense Of Itself Challenged By Homeless Youth Plan

Young and Homeless in Boulder
<p>(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)</p>
<p>In this March 4, 2016 photo, the scene just outside Bridge House, a resource center for the homeless in Boulder, Colo. This compact college community of 100,000 has a homelessness problem that can remind visitors of bigger, grittier urban centers when strolling past shops selling hipster outdoor wear and ads for yoga classes. </p>
Photo: Bridge House in Boulder (AP Photo)
In this March 4, 2016 photo, the scene just outside Bridge House, a resource center for the homeless in Boulder, Colo. This compact college community of 100,000 has a homelessness problem that can remind visitors of bigger, grittier urban centers when strolling past shops selling hipster outdoor wear and ads for yoga classes.

Attention Homes says the complex would house about 40 teens and young adults in efficiency apartments. The residents between ages 18 and 24 will likely have been in foster care or were victims of violence.

The charity has worked with troubled teenagers in Boulder for decades. In each of the last two years, it has helped nearly 750 young people at its day drop-in and overnight emergency services facility, up from 196 in 2011.

The proposal has some residents trading questions about traffic and crime, and whether children would be safe walking to school past new neighbors who might be unpredictable because of mental illness.