Mayor Yemi highlights the "Colorado Springs Advantage" in 2026 State of the City address

Mayor Yemi Mobolade today delivered his fourth State of the City address at Broadmoor Hall, highlighting the "Colorado Springs Advantage" as a model for Colorado's future. He connected the city's competitive edge to progress on affordability, business-friendliness, public safety and infrastructure, and the work of building a city that works for everyone.

"We are becoming one of America's great emerging cities," said Mayor Yemi Mobolade. "Despite economic uncertainty, budget pressures and political divisions, I am proud of the progress we are making together. Respecting taxpayer dollars. Building more homes. Competing for investment. Championing entrepreneurs. Keeping our neighborhoods safe, public spaces welcoming, and businesses flourishing. I call it the Colorado Springs Advantage."

The address highlighted four questions Coloradans are increasingly asking.

1. Can I afford to live here?
2. Can my business succeed here?
3. Am I safe here?
4. As we grow, are we taking care of the city we love?

The mayor pointed to measurable progress across all four priorities, from attracting new residents and economic investment to reducing crime, addressing homelessness and improving essential City services. Together, those results demonstrate how Colorado Springs is strengthening its competitive advantage while building a more affordable, safer and prosperous community.

Highlights from the address include:

Affordability

• Protecting taxpayers: The City protected essential services and strengthened reserves through efficiencies, and Mayor Yemi is the first mayor in nearly 30 years to not propose a tax increase or new bond measure.
• Expanding housing choices: Roughly 9,100 housing units have been developed, built or leased since Mayor Yemi took office, including more than 3,000 affordable homes. The address also highlighted more than $260 million in affordable housing investments, including Proposition 123 funds.
• Expanding childcare access: The City modernized zoning rules to make childcare facilities easier to open and continued working with partners to expand capacity. At Bradley Ridge, 336 affordable homes for working families are being built alongside childcare.  

Business-Friendliness

• Competing for jobs and investment: Since Mayor Yemi took office, the City and Chamber & EDC have partnered on a record 20 City Council-approved economic development agreements. Those agreements are expected to create nearly 2,000 high-paying jobs, retain more than 700 jobs and generate $628 million in capital investment.
• Attracting major business investment: Projects highlighted included UCHealth's $463 million investment in Memorial Hospital North, Swire Coca-Cola's $475 million investment at Peak Innovation Park and Weidner Apartment Homes' $200 million investment in Inspire at Epicenter.
• Championing small businesses: Bluevine named Colorado Springs the No. 1 city in America for small business, while the City continues to provide resources and support to help small businesses thrive.
• Strengthening aerospace and defense: The Department of the Air Force announced plans for a $250 million Space Force Operations Facility supporting national-security missions and approximately 2,500 civilian jobs.
• Supporting the visitor economy: A record 25.6 million visitors spent a record $3.1 billion in the Pikes Peak region in 2025, and a $63 million airport terminal modernization is improving accessibility, gates, restrooms and local dining options.

Public Safety

• Reducing major crimes: Colorado Springs recorded the second-largest decrease in motor vehicle theft and fifth-largest decrease in homicides in the first half of 2026 among the cities included in a Council on Criminal Justice study of 36 large American cities.
• Responding faster to emergencies: Priority 1 police response times fell by more than half, from roughly 24 minutes to under 11 minutes. Eight out of 10 calls to 911 are answered within 20 seconds, compared with four out of 10 three years ago.
• Strengthening staffing: More than 320 police officers have been hired since Mayor Yemi took office, and the communications center is 95% staffed, up from 78%.
• Using technology with accountability: The Real Time Crime Center, drones, N5 wildfire sensors, and other tools are helping first responders locate missing people, investigate crimes and respond to emergencies. The City is strengthening data protection, transparency and oversight and issued a request for proposals for an independent external audit to ensure best practices.
• Preparing for wildfire: Wildfire mitigation has increased 60% since 2022, participation in neighborhood chipping has increased nearly 80%, and neighborhood participation in mitigation has more than doubled.

Infrastructure

• Delivering long-term road investment: The voter-approved, 10-year renewal of 2C commits $820 million to road repaving. The renewal is helping address another third of city streets as the City works through decades of deferred maintenance.
• Accelerating pothole repairs: Public Works crews repaired more than 100,000 potholes over the past 12 months, including during the five-week Pothole Surge. Repairs are 64% ahead of last year's pace. The City ordered two additional pothole trucks, and Mayor Yemi proposed a dedicated pothole crew in the 2027 budget.
• Preparing transportation for growth: More than $350 million in transportation projects over five years includes $20 million in downtown improvements and the Powers Boulevard extension toward Interstate 25. Safe Streets COS is expanding school zones, improving school-area infrastructure and strengthening traffic enforcement.
• Preserving parks and open spaces: The new Park System Master Plan guides the next 10 to 15 years. The City expanded its Trackchair Program, advanced trail connections and accepted approximately 100 acres at Pikeview Quarry for future public use.
• Keeping public spaces clean: The Keep It Clean team removed more than 7 million pounds of trash over the past 12 months, including 600 tires and 1,200 shopping carts, alongside continued community cleanup partnerships.
• Advancing homelessness response: The City completed 59% of the action items in its five-year Homelessness Response Action Plan in less than two years. It expanded the Homeless Operations Team from six to 15 members and established a coordinated response team across 15 City departments.
• Progress on homelessness: A decrease of 20% in homelessness and 41% decrease in unsheltered homelessness; numbers have remained flat over last 9 years while other Colorado and peer cities have increased significantly.

Steve Schuck receives Lifetime Achievement Award

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Mayor Yemi presented Steve Schuck with the Mayor's Spirit of Colorado Springs Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing decades of business and civic leadership that helped shape the city's growth and expand opportunity. View the highlight video of Steve Schuck here.



Community Stories

Four community-story videos connected the Colorado Springs Advantage to the people and partnerships behind the address's priorities.

• Jan — Affordability: Shiloh Mesa resident Jan helped tell the story of Sunrise at Shiloh Mesa, highlighting what is possible when a new housing development, a nearby church, and an established neighborhood work together.
• Danny — Business-Friendliness: Danny Mientka shared his perspective as an investor in South Nevada Avenue on Keep It Clean and Safe (KICAS), the City's coordinated effort to improve the commercial corridor and support businesses already there.
• Tara — Public Safety: Tara's story underscored why seconds matter in an emergency and the importance of investing in technology to support first responders.  
• Carl — Infrastructure: Air Force veteran Carl Petersen takes action for his neighborhood through the GoCOS app, and highlights the response from the City for service requests.  

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