In a housing market where the median home price flirts with the impossible and affordability feels more like a talking point than a reality, Boulder, Colorado, is trying something different. Instead of debating the problem to death, the city is quietly experimenting with a modular approach that blends housing production, workforce development, and education into one very practical solution. It’s not flashy—but it is deliberate.
What makes Boulder’s approach worth a closer look isn’t just that it’s modular. It’s who is involved and why. A city-owned modular factory, partnerships with Habitat for Humanity, and collaboration with the local school district have created a system where homes are built faster, costs are controlled, and students gain real-world construction experience before they ever graduate. That combination raises an uncomfortable question for the rest of the industry: why aren’t more communities doing this?
The real eye-opener, however, is the role high school students play in the process. These aren’t casual shop-class projects or symbolic internships. Students are working as apprentices inside the modular factory, learning real construction skills, understanding production workflows, and seeing firsthand how homes come together—long before graduation. In an industry that constantly complains about a shrinking labor pipeline, Boulder is growing one on purpose, giving young people a tangible path into construction careers while producing housing the community desperately needs.
This isn’t simply a feel-good affordable housing story. It’s a case study in how modular construction can solve more than one problem at a time—housing shortages, labor pipelines, and local workforce engagement—if leaders are willing to rethink how the pieces fit together. Boulder may not have all the answers, but it’s asking the right questions, and the rest of us should be paying attention.
You can read the full HousingWire article here:
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/boulder-modular-housing/
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With more than 10,000 published articles on modular and offsite construction, Gary Fleisher remains one of the most trusted voices in the industry.
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