Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies SONORAN INSTITUTE The Sonoran Institute promotes community decisions that respect the land and people of western North America. Facing rapid change, Western communities recognize and value the importance of protecting their natural and cultural assets. The Sonoran Institute offers tools, training and sound information for managing growth and change and encourages collaboration, civil dialogue and big-picture thinking to create practical solutions. The Institute promotes healthy lands, sound economies, and vibrant communities that embrace conservation as an integral part of their prosperity and quality of life. Founded in 1990, the Sonoran Institute is a nonprofit organization with offices in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; Bozeman and Helena, Montana; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Sonoran Institute Northern Rockies Office 201 South Wallace Avenue, Suite B3C Bozeman, MT 59715 406.587.7331 Sonoran Institute 7650 E. Broadway Boulevard, Suite 203 Tucson, AZ 85710 520.290.0828 [email protected] www.sonoran.org PUBLISHER: Sonoran Institute AUTHOR: Ralph Johnson EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Dennis Glick PROJECT COORDINATOR: Jennifer Boyer EDITED BY: Victoria Collier DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Brian Brush PHOTOGRAPHY: Brian Brush and Jennifer Boyer Unless otherwise noted Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies Produced by the Northern Rockies office of the Sonoran Institute in Bozeman, Montana, Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies is intended to recognize the successes that have been achieved by communities throughout the region and offer other communities precedent on which they can build. SONORAN INSTITUTE Whitefish Livingston Madison County Park County Driggs © Erin Mock/Sonoran Institute In-Town Case Study Edge Case Study Rural Case Study Noteworthy Project ii Contents Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies Preface...........................................................................................................v Mountain Line Transfer Station........................................................68 Acknowledgments........................................................................................xi Park Cottages..................................................................................70 Introduction....................................................................................................1 Downtown Phillipsburg....................................................................72 The Northern Rockies......................................................................................5 Downtown Powell............................................................................74 Character and Circumstance..........................................................5 Downtown Red Lodge....................................................................76 Growth and Stewardship..................................................................6 Xanterra Employee Housing...........................................................78 Shifting the Debate...........................................................................7 Other Noteworthy In-Town Projects................................................80 Identifying Best Development Practices......................................................9 Edge Case Studies........................................................................................82 Best Practices for Town Centers...................................................................11 Hellgate Meadows..........................................................................84 Best Practices for Community Edges...........................................................15 McCauley Butte Master Plan.........................................................86 Best Practices for Rural Communities..........................................................19 Orchard Gardens............................................................................88 Best of the Northern Rockies Case Studies...................................................25 Valley West......................................................................................90 Overview.........................................................................................25 Wilson/Sage Meadows....................................................................92 In-Town Case Studies....................................................................................26 Other Noteworthy Edge Projects....................................................94 Downtown Billings Framework........................................................28 Rural Case Studies.........................................................................................96 BoDo (Boise Downtown)...................................................................32 Big Hole River Land Use Plan.........................................................98 Bonner General Hospital Healing Garden.....................................34 Hebgen Basin Zoning District.........................................................100 Bridger Apartments.........................................................................36 Rocking Z Ranch............................................................................102 Bus Transfer Station..........................................................................38 Rocky Boy’s Reservation Master Plan............................................104 Butte Community Trail.....................................................................40 Teton Science Schools’ Jackson Campus...................................106 Cedar Street Bridge........................................................................42 Other Noteworthy Rural Projects...................................................108 Center for the Arts...........................................................................44 What We Learned.......................................................................................111 Fields Condos..................................................................................46 Policy Recommendations...........................................................................115 Flat Iron Townhomes.......................................................................48 A Common Theme........................................................................115 Downtown Fort Benton...................................................................50 Promote Appropriate Development............................................116 Front 5...............................................................................................52 Financing Change.........................................................................117 Gold Dust.........................................................................................54 Framework for Change.................................................................117 Great Northern Town Center..........................................................56 Achieve Predictable Development.............................................118 Home on the Range........................................................................58 Insure Timely Development Process.............................................119 Hyde Park Place..............................................................................60 Economically Feasible Development...........................................120 Indian Creek Daylighting Project...................................................62 Glossary......................................................................................................123 Little Bighorn College......................................................................64 Bibliography................................................................................................130 Mill District........................................................................................66 iii iv Preface A Short History of Development in the Northern Rockies featured compact communities with hard edges that provided services to farmers and protected prime farmland from development. By Dennis Glick, Director Saints also played a significant role in the While most new settlers moved to exist- Northern Rockies Office, Sonoran Institute early planning of communities in the Northern ing communities, the Homestead Act of 1862 Rockies. Mormon settlements like Idaho Falls spurred Western migration by bringing waves Many a Rocky Mountain courthouse is adorned with an historic “bird’s-eye-view” lithograph of the surrounding community in the late 1800s. These often reveal a striking degree of optimism that founders had about the future of their community. While only a few dozen houses may have actually existed, the yellowed drawings document the ambitious street network, parks, railroad lines, industrial sites and other developments they envisioned. In many cases, the towns that eventually materialized did indeed closely follow these plats. Homes and businesses were often mixed. A diversity of housing could be found on the same street. Neighborhood parks were within walking distance of nearly everyone. Public transportation lines were easily accessible. In the Northern Rockies, towns like Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and Dillon, Montana, were platted with wide streets, and the fronts of buildings were constructed at the edge of the street right of way. Along rail lines, the railroad- ers themselves planned many communities. In towns