Resources
Resources posted here are relevant to our Mission …
To preserve the unique character of Bozeman’s neighborhoods while working with the city on housing affordability, availability and natural resource sustainability.
Government Study Commission Resources
Watch and learn. Here’s a few helpful timestamps:
0:00 – GVS Introduction
4:00 – Dan Clark presentation on what the study commission can and cannot do
1:16:38 – City candidates introduce themselves
1:44:10 – City candidates answer a question about whose voice is not being represented in Bozeman right now
1:57:15 – County candidates introduce themselves
If you have a subscription you can read their candidate interviews for County Government Study Commission
Click the link to the left to watch BTU’s Government Study Commission Candidate Forum. You can also stream just the audio courtesy of KGVM local radio by clicking here.
If you have a subscription you can read their candidate interviews for City Government Study Commission
Resources Related to the City of Bozeman
Bozeman City Meeting Videos
Watch past and present
Engage Bozeman
Subscribe to stay informed
Building Our Future Together
Updating the Development Code
Bozeman Community Plan
Aka, Bozeman Growth Policy
Here you will find video links to ongoing Citizen Advisory Board meetings, and the City Commission. Scroll down the city page further to look up past videos of meetings you may have missed.
Here you'll find all of the projects that the City is seeking to get the word out about and to get your input on. Explore the web page to find easy ways to learn, listen, and participate in projects that matter to you.
Visit this Engage Bozeman page specifically to view the City’s update to the Unified Development Code (UDC). You can view the text of the new proposed code and an incredible map allows you to toggle between the current zoning and proposed zoning.
This comprehensive work is a must read for anyone who wants to seriously engage the city on the topic of growth.
Resources Related to the Proposed UDC Update
Preserving Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
by Donald L. Elliot, a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners
Our Neighborhood Friendly UDC Report
Research compiled by our members
Watch this presentation given at the Bozeman Senior Center on June 19th, 2024 for an explanation from Professor Patrick Condon of the University of British Columbia, on the effect of up-zoning on land value and what we can do about it.
“In many communities, smaller, older single-family homes are the largest source of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH)—unsubsidized privately owned residences that are affordable to low- or moderate-income households.” Zoning Practice, Preserving Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing, Journal of the American Planning Association, December 2023.
“Protecting Existing Neighborhoods from the Impacts of New Development,” A report from the Municipal Resources Services Center explaining the importance of Zone Edge Transitions, Setbacks and Setbacks, and other useful tools for planning a livable city.
Dozens of recommendations to our elected officials and city staff regarding necessary changes to the Unified Development Code that would add essential housing, protect our neighborhoods, and manage the use of our natural resources sustainably for future generations.
Resources Related to Historic Preservation
2019 NCOD Policy Direction Report
Emphasizes public support for Historic Preservation
Building Reuse: Preservation, Sustainability and the Value of (Re)Design
Prof. Kathryn R. Merlino
This comprehensive report issued by the consulting firm of BendonAdams was released in 2019 and was based on extensive outreach to the citizens of Bozeman. The report includes recommended changes to our zoning and development code that will protect our historic resources.
The Alliance Review is the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions’ quarterly publication, which provides members with engaging articles on a variety of topics related to historic preservation commissions
This is a colorful, 70 slide presentation, with slides specific to Bozeman, that answers questions such as, What is historic preservation? Who is preservation for? Who does it benefit? Who decides what is “historic”? Is preservation un-American?
Meet the Historic Preservation Consultants the City has hired to help draft a Local Landmark Program and advise on the fate of the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD)
This is the City’s Engage Bozeman page on the Local Landmark Program. Find info and subscribe!
Resources Related to Affordable Housing
Preserving naturally occurring affordable housing
by Donald L. Elliot, a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners
Affordable Housing Assessment 2021
A report by Root Policy
Equity in Zoning Policy by the American Planning Association
Affordable Housing Overlay Zones: Oakley by the Terner Center For Housing Innovation
An Affordable Housing Overlay Zone (AHOZ) is a tool recommended by multiple planning professionals including our very own Clarion UDC Housing Assessment conducted in 2021. (linked further down this page) The intent is to protect naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) and neighborhood character, while incentivizing local builders to produce the Missing Middle housing we need.
Wolf Avenue, an 8-unit property located in Missoula’s Northside neighborhood, officially transitioned into resident ownership, marking a significant milestone for the residents.
Residents of the Belgrade Village Mobile Home Park are one step closer to owning the land below their mobile homes thanks to a coalition of housing partners ranging from Neighborworks, HRDC, and Gallatin County.
This is an excellent locally-produced video that introduces the concept of Social Housing to provide municipally owned, permanently affordable, mixed-income housing without raising local homeowners property taxes.
This report suggests smaller post war homes have value as NOAH, and articulates several strategies for protecting them from gentrification resulting from redevelopment.
Pay special attention to pages 43 and 44 of the report where preserving existing affordable housing can be achieved through Historic Preservation strategies and overlay zones.
This Municipal Resource Services Center report is accessible even to the beginner because it describes what gentrification and displacement are, how they result from upzoning, and how an AHOZ can be used to prevent it.
Starting on page 16 this report from the American Planning Association describes how zoning overlays can be used to protect both naturally occurring affordable housing, and the business districts that serve those neighborhoods as well.
This report from UC Berkeley is important because it describes how an overlay zone differs from inclusionary zoning which was banned by our state legistlature in 2021
A key component to the success of the Affordable Housing Overlay Zone (AHOZ) in Cambridge was its extensive public engagement to develop specific design guidelines for what the new housing would look like and how it would blend in with existing neighborhoods. This allowed for the developments to be approved in a streamlined process.
Resources Related to Sustainability
Developing Bozeman: An inconvenient reality that Gallatin County is running out of water
Northwestern Energy reports that there are over 2200 net-meter solar customers in Bozeman. Together, they represent nearly 20 Megawatts of generation capacity from privately owned solar electric systems. This is a summary of best practices in zoning for solar.
This is a beneficial agreement between and City of Bozeman and the Gallatin Watershed Council to work together to foster an urban forest that promotes a healthy, resilient and equitable future for the watershed, wildlife, and people of the greater Bozeman area. Thanks City of Bozeman!
See how we’re doing! Notice on page 15 a discussion of dimensional lumber ending up in our landfill. We’ve had 95 demolitions in the past 5 years. A deconstruction ordinance could divert some of this usable building material from the landfill and reduce our emissions.
Local & National Media Resources
Here you can find both Letters to the Editors and Editorials.
Lot’s of great articles by our members, and other concerned citizens!
Co-authored by Ennis Davis of Community Planning Collaborative (consultants hired by the City of Bozeman for the Local Landmark Program) and Bill Delaney. Suggests there are policy tools to combat gentrification and displacement. The photos could be straight out of Bozeman!
Ok, the title is terrible, but even our respectably paid professionals in Bozeman are finding housing unaffordable. Read this and see what you think.
Podcasts and books about housing economics
December 2023
