Colorado lawmakers are wading into the housing crisis with a proposal to free up vacant parcels of state-owned land that could be leased or sold at a discount for affordable housing projects. The proposal is part of a snowballing trend kicked off by cities utilizing city-owned parcels and has since spawned requests to the federal government to open up land for residential development.

The struggle for affordable housing is playing out in Vail, Colorado, where the owners of a ski resort are trying to create an affordable housing complex for the chefs, bus drivers, ski lift operators and other workers who keep the resort humming.