the sonoran institute's book release

Pat Williams on What is Right with New Development

By Matthew Frank, 4-22-07

	Former Montana Congressman Pat Williams. Photo by Chris Boyer, www.kestrelaerial.com.

The Northern Rockies “has crossed the threshold from the Old West to a very different place,” former Montana Congressman Pat Williams said Friday. “Subdivisions are replacing sawmills, but we’re healthier because of this diversity.”

He was speaking in Bozeman—in Gallatin County, the fastest growing county in Montana—at a Sonoran Institute event celebrating the release of its new book, Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies.

The book, composed of examples of community-based development and best practices, attempts to shift the debate around growth and change from “what is wrong with new development to what is right,” Sonoran Institute’s regional director Dennis Glick said.

Before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 250 people in Bozeman’s Emerson Cultural Center, Williams said the region’s old economy, long reliant on extractive industries, has been replaced by the Last Best Place, and an economy rooted in conservation, restoration, hi-tech industry and services. “Old industries cannot return to their heyday even if we wanted to,” he said.

Williams described this new economy as being “footloose,” with jobs following people, as opposed to the traditional trend of people following jobs. And what are people drawn to? “The growth and prosperity of the region is indisputably occurring close to the places with the most natural amenities,” Williams said.

But growth needs to happen in a way that protects these natural amenities, Williams said, both for ourselves and future generations.

Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies highlights development that does just that, thus catalyzing “significant change in the pattern and character of new development in the region.”

The book is the result of two years of work by a team of architects, developers, planners, realtors, conservationists, affordable-housing advocates and community leaders.

The team found, according to the book’s executive summary, that architects and developers are designing and building a new West that honors the region’s traditional designs and patterns of growth; incorporating energy efficiency and environmentally friendly materials; creating walkable, affordable communities where stores and homes are in proximity; and involving the community in the planning of these projects.

The Institute’s executive director, Luther Probst, regards this work as creating a “society to match the scenery,” he said, paraphrasing Wallace Stegner.

Such projects, ones featured in the book, were recognized with awards Friday night, including Helena’s Great Northern Town Center, a mixed-use revitalization development connected to the city’s commercial district; Missoula’s Gold Dust complex that demonstrates how sustainable energy and community principles can effectively combine with affordable housing; and other innovative projects in Jackson Hole, Sandpoint, Philipsburg, and other cities across the Northern Rockies.

“It just may be,” Williams said, “that good development may be catching.”

At the end of the event, Glick left the audience with this: “Change can happen by default, or it can happen by design.”

The Sonoran Institute has available complimentary copies of Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies. Email sbrodie@sonoran.org for more information.

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