Problem, research strategy, and findings: Small towns and cities outside of national parks, scenic public lands, and other natural amenities throughout the western United States are becoming increasingly popular places to live and visit. As a result, many of these gateway communities appear to be experiencing a range of pressures and challenges. In this study we draw on the results of in-depth interviews with 33 public officials and a survey of more than 300 public officials to shed light on the planning and development concerns across western gateway communities. Our results indicate that gateway communities throughout the western United States are experiencing a range of planning and development challenges, many of which seem atypical for small rural communities, such as challenges associated with housing affordability, cost of living, and congestion. These challenges seem to be more related to population growth than increasing tourism and stand out in stark contrast against the fact that these communities strongly value and identify with their small-town character. Our findings suggest gateway communities are doing a variety of things, some quite innovative, to address their planning and development challenges but often feel overwhelmed, behind the curve, and in need of additional capacity and planning support. Takeaway for practice: Our study highlights the importance of effective and proactive planning in gateway communities. It also suggests that to do forward-looking planning and to respond to the challenges they face, many gateway communities will need additional planning support and tools. We highlight gateway communities here to provide a platform for future efforts aimed at assisting these small, rural communities in protecting the qualities that make them such special places to live and visit amid the planning and development pressures and challenges they face.

Communities outside of major public lands and other natural amenities throughout the western United States face a variety of transportation and planning-related concerns associated with rapid growth and increases in tourism. Surprisingly, while the unique transportation and planning-related challenges of these western gateway and amenity region (GNAR) communities have, to some extent, been documented in recreation and tourism research, these concerns have largely been overlooked in planning scholarship. To begin to address this gap, this report presents key descriptive findings from a study aimed at examining the unique transportation, mobility, and access to opportunity-related challenges being experienced by GNAR communities throughout the western U.S. It draws on findings from indepth interviews with 31 planners and other key public officials from 25 western GNAR communities, an online survey of planners and other key public officials in GNAR communities throughout the west, and observation of planning efforts in the regions around Zion National Park and Moab, UT, and Sandpoint, ID. Our results provide empirical evidence that many western GNAR communities are experiencing significant increases in growth and visitation pressures along with a number of related "big-city" problems, such as lack of affordable housing, income inequality, and transportation issues. These changes contrast against the fact that these communities value their small town character and related community characteristics. Our data suggest that despite these pressures, most GNAR communities are experiencing improved quality of life and visitor experience. However, some communities report declining quality of life and visitor experience, as well as extreme challenges associated with housing, transportation, and other planning concerns, raising the question of whether GNAR communities reach a tipping point at which visitation and development pressures result in overall impacts on community wellbeing. Our results also show that GNAR communities throughout the west are experimenting with innovative and promising approaches for tackling their housing and transportation issues. Further analysis is needed to better understand what kinds of GNAR communities are experiencing what kinds of challenges, as well as to assess the effectiveness of different kinds of strategies for addressing these challenges; we will explore those topics in future publications. One key takeaway from this study is that housing, transportation, and land use decisions are highly interwoven in GNAR communities throughout the west; further research is needed to better understand this connectivity and what it means for appropriate housing and access solutions.