Civic research · Colorado Springs
Evidence first,
then the argument.
The Palmer institute works on the questions Colorado Springs keeps arguing about. It looks at what has worked in other places, checks the numbers, says what nobody knows yet, and then says what it would do.
What We Do
Most arguments about a city run on a handful of numbers, repeated until they feel settled. Some of them hold up. Some come from people with something riding on the answer. A lot of them have never been checked against the records they came from.
The institute does the checking. It reads the research, traces each figure to its source, counts what it can from public records, and grades how much weight each finding can carry. Then it takes a position and shows its work, so anyone who disagrees can see exactly where they part ways with it.
An Example
The Pew Charitable Trusts, which supports zoning reform, reported that Austin’s rents fell 19% from 2021 to 2025, after inflation. The city had permitted more than 136,000 homes from 2015 to 2024. We checked the rent figure against Zillow’s rent index and got 13%. The direction held. The size didn’t. We used 13%, and said why.
How the Work Is Done
- 01
Say what we’re after, in order.
Each piece names the outcomes it is trying to reach and ranks them before choosing any tools. When two good things conflict, you can see which one won.
- 02
Grade every finding.
Strong, moderate, weak, or only logic. Most findings in city policy are moderate: one good study, or one city that tried it. We say so.
- Strong
- Moderate
- Weak
- Logic only
- 03
Name who produced each number.
Advocates, industry groups, and agencies grading their own programs all produce useful numbers. Theirs get marked, and the important ones get checked, including the ones that agree with us.
- 04
Count it ourselves.
Where public records allow, we compute the figure directly, from zoning maps, permit files, budgets, and utility reports.
- 05
Say what we don’t know.
Every piece ends with the questions the evidence leaves open, and the ones we would ask someone inside city government.
- 06
Then propose something.
Analysis that doesn’t land anywhere isn’t much use to a city. Each piece ends in a position specific enough to disagree with.
Where We’re Starting
Housing
How many homes the city allows, where, and who they’re for.
Homelessness
Who becomes homeless here, who gets out, and what keeps people housed.
Growth and water
Where the city grows, whether the water is there, and who pays.
The first pieces are in draft. They’ll be published here.
In Person
Alongside the research, the institute will host workshops, seminars, and small gatherings where people who wouldn’t otherwise meet spend an evening with one of these questions. They rest on one conviction: how strangers learn to listen to each other is how a city learns to think with each other.
Named For
General William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs in 1871. He planned its wide streets, gave thousands of acres for public parks, and helped found Colorado College. The city still lives inside decisions he made about land.
The institute that carries his name works on the decisions being made now. The city will live inside those for a long time, too.
Built By
Seth Palmer Harris — community connector, partnership builder, and cultural strategist. Twenty years along Colorado’s Front Range, in arts and culture.
The institute marks who produced every number it uses, and holds itself to the same rule. When it takes outside money, it will publish where the money came from.
Hear When We Publish
Stay close.
One note each time something new is out. Nothing in between.