Thanks in part to an influx of remote workers, the Montana town faces soaring housing costs and practically non-existent vacancy rates.

When Montana State University decided to reallocate its family and graduate student housing to undergraduates, they may have dealt a fatal blow to what one professor calls "Bozeman's only racially diverse neighborhood." The university-owned housing, writes Surya Milner in High Country News, was home to "custodians, researchers and tenure-track professors at the university," many of whom are now forced to relocate to more expensive housing in other parts of the city—or leave the city altogether.
Although the housing crisis in small, recreation-dependent towns predates the pandemic, "the recent influx of remote workers to towns like Bozeman has only exacerbated it." The Human Resource Development Council, a local nonprofit organization, is helping some of the displaced residents find affordable housing, a difficult task in a city with a rental vacancy rate of almost 0%.
"MSU’s vice president of university communications, Tracy Ellig, said that the decision to evict the current residents was not made lightly. Rather, he said, it was made for the benefit of the students, who are the university’s first priority." With the university's enrollment steadily rising, "more students and recent graduates are spilling into an already-strained housing market." Students like Anaya Paschal, president of MSU's Black Student Union, worry that losing the affordable university-owned housing will "be detrimental to the BIPOC community in Bozeman" and drive people of color away from the city.
FULL STORY: Bozeman’s sole multicultural enclave faces evictions amid a housing crisis

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response
Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.

The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.

Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk
High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont