Sprawl, poverty, and workforce development are issues that have received much attention over the years. While these issues are often looked at individually, they are closely related. Sprawl has contributed both to the flight of affluent residents and to industry locating far from population centers and potential workers. Possible workers, unable to find affordable housing or easy transportation to jobs, do not pursue them or do so a considerable cost and inconvenience. The concept of spatial mismatch helps us more clearly see the direct links between jobs, housing, and transportation issues and how they simultaneously contribute to sprawl and poverty within the broader regional context. Metro Denver Works is a proposed public-private partnership initially aimed to address spatial mismatch issues in metro Denver – on the regional, subregional, and individual jurisdiction scales. Using GIS mapping and land use modeling tools, Metro Denver Works identifies clear strategies to alleviate problems created by spatial mismatch. Overall, the goal is to improve the economic health and energy/resource efficiency of metropolitan Denver.

Key issues Metro Denver Works aims to address include: a) location – how to locate housing projects near potential jobs and new businesses near concentrations of housing and potential employees; b) access – how businesses and public agencies can improve accessibility of jobs, childcare, training and other critical services for people that could fill needed jobs; c) affordability – strategies that businesses and public agencies can pursue to make housing and transportation more affordable, supporting the long-term viability of employer/employee relationships; d) skills training -- how to bridge the gap between skills needed by the region's employers and skills possessed by the region's working poor; and e) smart growth – how spatial alignment strategies can help protect the environment, enhance neighborhood livability, and promote community identity.

Looking at the region in aggregate, metropolitan Denver is experiencing robust growth and prosperity. However, if we take a closer look at how the city is performing on the subregional and neighborhood level, we find a mosaic of challenges, some of which are contradictory in nature. We see "hot spots" of job growth and residential growth that don’t match up spatially. These development patterns contribute to commuting problems, traffic congestion, loss of open space, and shortages of affordable housing. At the same time, we see areas "left behind" through a loss of middle-class families, slow job growth, increasing income inequality, and poverty.

Some subregional differences are unavoidable and even desirable -- different types of housing, businesses, and services support a diversity of needs and preferences within the region. Nonetheless, spatial inconsistencies often translate into missed opportunities, inefficiencies, and less livable communities. For businesses, they can mean unfilled job openings, higher absenteeism, lower job retention and employee dissatisfaction, affecting overall competitiveness and the bottom line. For residents, spatial mismatches can translate into a myriad of financial and personal costs -- long commutes, traffic congestion, and logistical hassles handling errands, transporting children, and getting to and from work.