Montana
From Commissioner to Planner: Switching Sides
Dave Stauffer was a planning commissioner in Red Lodge, Montana before taking a job as a city planner. Wayne Senville talks to Dave about making the switch.
Third-Grader Brings Bike Lane to Montana
A third-grader in Missoula, Montana has successfully rallied her city to build a new bike lane near her busy street.
Building (and Living) Off the Grid
When Borton and Welsh found 90 acres bordering a national forest near Whitehall, Montana, they parked a trailer, dug in, and began building Sage Mountain Center, a combination of cordwood and straw bale, powered off-grid by the sun and wind.
Grid Could Expand Wind Power in Montana, But Also Coal
Montana is flush with wind power capacity and the state's governor wants $15 billion in federal funding to build the infrastructure to transmit it. But some worry the proposed grid would also expand coal-based energy production.
Largest Land Conservation in U.S. Sealed
A deal between a Montana timber company and conservationists to preserve 320,000 acres of forest is the largest land conservation in U.S. history.
Thinking About Smart Growth in Montana
Gallatin County, Montana, has experienced 20 percent population growth over the last eight years, and officials are hoping that the adoption of smart growth principles will help guide the rapidly developing area towards a sustainable future.
Shifting Demographics Give New Face To Great Plains
The population shift from rural to urban areas is making big changes in the Great Plains. While many rural small towns are disappearing, the shift is opening new doors for business and preservation.
Montana's Most Hazardous Activity: Driving To Work?
Writer–on-the-Range Alan Kesselheim describes the most hazardous activity in Montana -- driving, with a particular focus on Hwy 191 through Gallatin Canyon. Every western state has a similar, hazardous route.
Best Practices of Development in Northern Rockies
A new vision of development in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is taking shape.
Adaptive Recycling: From Brick Wall To Public Park
Community activists and designers have made a deal with local officials to reuse construction materials from a demolished fire station to build an amphitheater in a local park.
Growth Plan Favors Development Over Farmland
Open space in Flathead County, Montana, has been steadily decreasing for years, and a recently approved growth policy emphasizes development and the economic benefits that follow rather than farmland preservation.
Montana Moving To Limit Eminent Domain
The state legislature is moving to place explicit limits on local government's power to take private land in response to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo ruling.
Can't Find Housing For Your Workers? Buy A Motel!
Motels fill a critical housing niche in Montana's booming mountain resort region known as "Big Sky" outside Yellowstone Park: they house area workers as well as guests. While the rooms are shared to reduce costs, dangerous commuting is eliminated.
A Citizens Guide to Subdivisions and Smart Growth
A new guide helps citizens to identify the differences between good and bad subdivisions in Monanta.
Montana Zoning Vs. Cappuccino Cowboys
Once unthinkable, zoning is now being considered by Montana counties to prevent subdividing open space and ranch land.
Property Wrongs: Lessons from Oregon
Report by Seattle-based Sightline Institute documents a growing backlash against "property rights" initiatives in Oregon communities deeply affected by Oregon's Measure 37 and implications for western states.
Series Covers 'Planning In The West'
A series of articles and reports addressing growth in the Western United States, including Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Idaho and other states.
Property Rights Votes Face Six States
Libertarians are pushing ballot initiatives in six Western states to vastly reduce the government's power to regulate land uses. The initiatives seek to limit regulatory takings of land by requiring the government to compensate owners for any losses.
If Ethanol Is Dependent Upon Coal, Is It Green?
To "end our addiction to oil", ethanol, a bio-fuel, seems a likely transportation fuel to boost. However, from an air quality and global warming perspective, if the ethanol is going to be produced from coal-fired plants, is it worth it?
Twin Energy, Real Estate Booms In West Cause Conflict
In the Rockies, developers and oil and natural gas companies are vying for access to the same land -- but what could be the consequences for local communities?
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
