Planning in the West
SMARTER GROWTH
Contextual Design Lends to Vibrant Communities, Healthy Landscapes
Checkerboard subdivisions and fragmented open space spotted with homes is not a popular development plan for the Northern Rockies.
Owners dividing large tracts of land to create smaller lots to sell to buyers became widespread post World War II. This formalized method of expansion assisted in cities rapidly growing suburbs into surrounding farmland.
The problem: The old approach did not address the overall impacts and ignored the need for a comprehensive approach to planning communities – hence, it created rural sprawl.
The lesson: develop in town, or when it happens in rural areas, reduce the impacts through good design.
Through the Sonoran Institute’s research in Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies book project, the group has witnessed a remarkable renaissance of well-designed neighborhoods and subdivisions in the region.
[more]
Dethroning King Coal
‘Clean’ Coal Faces Grimy Future
"Clean" coal suffered another significant setback this week as Xcel Energy said it would put off a decision on a proposal for a billion-dollar-plus coal-gasification plant. "At least 10 proposals for coal-gasification plants in the U.S. have been delayed or canceled this year," according to Steve Raabe of The Denver Post.
Xcel's delay in considering trying to build a clean-coal plant is particularly significant because the proposal included a carbon-sequestration system to inject and store CO2 underground.
Montana Gov. Schweitzer's ambitious plans to create a coal-to-liquid-fuel industry in the state have also largely been derailed.
In other energy news: investors gather to plot geothermal production on the Western Slope; Congress hears about health risks from rampant natural gas drilling in the West; and Aspen Skico plans a large solar array for Carbondale.
[more]
FROM STUMPTOWN TO SKI TOWN TO....?
What Makes Whitefish Special?
When people come to Whitefish for the first time, they expect to find another resort town. After all, the northwestern Montana community of 7,500 people is nestled in the shadow of mighty Big Mountain, with the strikingly visible ski runs of world-renowned Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort serving as the town's unofficial icon. And there's more than a ski hill.
Whitefish also sits on the doorstep of Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, and Flathead Lake, the West's largest body of fresh water, all surrounded by national forests, large lakes, wild rivers, and mountain scenery. The town even has its own lake, Whitefish Lake, a natural beauty.
But Whitefish is hardly your typical resort town.
[more]
Non-profits of the Gallatin Valley
Greater Yellowstone Coalition: Striving to Keep an Ecosystem Whole
The Gallatin Valley is home to over 200 non-profits. These organizations do not hinge on metropolitan amenities, and are often created to preserve the intact rural and wild places of the West. As part of our New West economy, NewWest/Bozeman is highlighting an organization as a weekly series.
Encompassing two national parks and six national forests, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the largest, relatively intact temperate zone ecosystems in North America. This unique patchwork of public and private lands spans three states and continues to house nearly all of its original native species.
Created under the notion that an ecosystem will only remain healthy and wild if it is kept whole, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has been a leading voice in ecosystem management and strives to fulfill their mission statement: “People protecting the lands, waters and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem now and for future generations”
Today, this non-profit has 20 board members, 25 staff members and more than 10,000 members from all 50 states, with approximately one-third of those members residing in the three states that comprise the ecosystem, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Rivers Conservation Coordinator, Scott Bosse, expands on GYC and their efforts.
[more]
Gallatin Valley Speaker Series
Speakers Address Growth and Future of the Gallatin ValleyHow would you visualize the Gallatin Valley and your neighborhood in 10 years? How about 20 years? Or 50 years?
As we construct this hopeful vision of where we live, it is vital that we are knowledgably engaged with each other, with our neighbors, with our decision makers and politicians, with the hope of shaping the sort of future we want, rather than letting it shape us. —Opening remarks, Lucia Stewart
About 150 people attended the first community conversation in the Gallatin Valley Speaker Series Wednesday night in the Hager Auditorium of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. The event, “Shaping the Future of the Valley: Our Growing Challenge,” was organized by NewWest.Net/Bozeman and the Gallatin Grassroots Forum.
The speakers addressed five main issues affecting growth in the Gallatin Valley: agriculture; community design and growth management; housing and real estate; water and air quality; and economic vitality. Their presentations provided information to what are the current transformations going on in the Gallatin Valley and its importance to how we grow our place for the future.
[more]
WESTERN DEVELOPMENT
Montana Development Offers Homebuyers A Slice of Ranch LifeHigh-end developments aren’t new to Montana – The Stock Farm in Hamilton in the Bitterroot Valley, the Yellowstone Club at Big Sky, Elk Highlands near Whitefish – all offer wealthy clients a personal slice of the Big Sky State.
But Cascade County commissioners said The Ranches at Belt Creek is a first for their Montana county.
The Great Falls Tribune reports today that what makes the proposed 810-acre subdivision near Belt unique in the history of that county is the developer’s focus on second-home seekers and wealthy retirees as potential homeowners.
The subdivision, if approved, would offer log or stone homes, starting at $500,000 or more, on lots that range in size from five to 40 acres. The subdivision comes with a full slate of amenities, too, with a concierge service available to arrange activities such as hiking, horse riding, rafting, fishing, hunting, skiing, snowmobiling and golf.
[more]
Monday Business Roundup
Denver-Based Janus Capital Hit by DeparturesShares in Denver-based Janus Capital Group are down more than 2 percent this morning after last week's departure of star fund manager Scott Schoelzel, considered one of Wall Street's most astute traders. Schoelzel's departure caps a string of defections for the largest investment house in the Rocky Mountain West, which has about $191 billion under management, down from a late-1990s peak of $330 billion: "Three of the top brass - the chief financial officer, the chief lawyer and the head of sales to institutional investors - have left this year," reports the Rocky Mountain News.
Janus endured a series of setbacks starting with the tech crash in 2000, losing big clients like the state Public Employees' Retirement Association and seeing the value of its assets drop by more than a third. Now, though, writes the Rocky's James Paton, "After paying a steep price, Janus finally has turned the corner." Money inflows have surpassed withdrawals for the first time since 2001,the company's spinoff Intech (which uses "algorithmic trading" based on mathematic formulae rather than the parent company's traditional approach) has grown to $70 billion, and Janus' share price had climbed 50 percent this year before the recent market downturn.
In other business news: Level 3 faces leveling-off demand for network services; LifeBridge Church's massive Longmont development moves forward; and Northern Colorado cities push ahead with wireless network despite discouraging results elsewhere.
[more]
Growth in Madison County
Madison County Planning Office Hires New DirectorMadison County Commissioners are looking forward to getting their planning office back on its legs after hiring a new planning director last week. This June Madison County lost both its planners, which effectively put all new subdivisions on hold in the steadily growing area.
Charity Fechter will be coming to Ennis from Farmington, New Mexico to the tune of $65,000 a year, and she will face a hefty backlog of work starting October 8th. Fechter, who owns property in the Madison Valley, received her bachelor’s degree in earth science with a planning emphasis from Montana State University in Bozeman. Fechter has a masters in geography with an emphasis in regional land use planning and resource geography. She also holds a masters degree in aeronautical science, which was not a prerequisite for the planning director position.
The commissioners recently extended a June 2007 resolution placing a moratorium on new subdivisions until September 15th. Madison County Commission Chair Dave Schulz is excited about Fechter’s hiring, but he says he expects the county will have to continue to contract out planners to keep pace with incoming subdivision applications.
[more]
Can we develop a guide for our “livable” place that lasts?
Adapting Bozeman’s Community Growth Plan for 2020The blueprint of Bozeman’s future is back on the drawing table after city commissioners listened to land-use & planning consultant’s advice on how to approach updating the plan Monday night.
Facing high rates of growth and development, Bozeman is revamping its 2020 Community Plan, originally adopted only six years ago.
“It’s great that planning and growth is a topic of discussion,” said Ben Herman, from Clarion Associates. “Ten years ago you didn’t read about planning and growth in the Wall Street Journal. Today you do.”
Previously, city planning focused mainly on building elevation and color, the number of traffic lanes and units per acre. But now, cities are discussing livable communities focused on land use, transportation, design and open space & trails.
Read on for Clarion Associates’ advice on how to keep Bozeman “the most livable place.”
[more]
GEORGETOWN LAKE
Neighbors Blue About Montana Governor’s New NeighborhoodGov. Brian Schweitzer's new home on Georgetown Lake must be a sight to behold. Gwen Florio's article in Monday's Great Falls Tribune paints an inviting picture of the 4,000-square-foot cedar and sandstone house that juts out into a picturesque bay on Montana's Georgetown Lake with the Pintler Mountains towering in the distance.
Schweitzer paid $2 million just for the land, buying two lots in industrialist Dennis Washington's Badger Bay subdivision, where the Schweitzer's four-bedroom, six bath home is the first to be built.
The governor says he's glad to be making his home among the blue-collar folk of the state--people who herald from Butte, Anaconda and Phillipsburg.
[more]
