Montana
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?
Paradise Valley Tries For A Perfect Plan One More Time
Yellowstone gateway looks to guide rapid growth, change.
A Community That Fails To Plan, Plans To Fail
Steve Herbaly, a former planning director, talks about how politics gets in the way of planning.
Inhabitable Grain Bins Have Their Advantages
Promised applications range from homes to guest retreats to refugee shelters.
PBS Documentary On Small Town Divisions
"The Fire Next Time" deals with how talk radio divided a small town already suffering from economic and community woes dealing with land use.
Montana Mulls Wal-Mart Tax
Montana, which has no sales tax, wants Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco to pay a tax to offset the state's welfare costs related to the big-boxes' poor labor practices.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
