Planning and Development Challenges in Western Gateway Communities

Abstract

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.

Modeling alternative future scenarios for direct application in land use and conservation planning

“…Certainly, in the development of this study, we identified a need for more examples of such work. While the idiosyncrasies of different socio-ecological systems make it difficult to directly export inferences about land use-change findings and apply them to another region, our primary drivers of development strategy and population growth are common concerns (Park & LaFrombois, 2019;Stoker et al, 2021) and the interactive dynamics our study found between our scenarios may be informative for application in other studies.…”

Coronavirus Pandemic Refugees and the Future of American Cities

“…Other corporations as well as some government and nonprofit organizations may do the same. Such decisions will have enormous implications for whether coronavirus pandemic refugees will return to expensive urban markets like New York City or whether they will seek out less dense suburban, exurban, and rural destinations with broadband access in the South and West regions of the country, creating, in the process, Zoom towns (Potter, 2020;Levine, 2020;Sen, 2020;Smith, 2020;Stoker, Rumore, Romaniello, & Levine, 2020).…”

“…Media accounts and preliminary empirical research suggest that the response to the pandemic is no exception (Haynes, 2020;Patino, 2020;Allam, 2020;AFP Relaxnews, 2020;Stoker, Rumore, Romaniello, & Levine, 2020). Nearly a half million people reportedly fled hard-hit New York City within two months of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus disease a global pandemic (Horn, 2020;Hall, 2020;Frank, 2020;Sound Health and Lasting Wealth, n.…”

Affective Dimensions of Compound Crises in Tourism Economies: The Intermountain Western Gateway Community of Nederland, Colorado

“…It is recognized that gateway communities require deeper representation within conservation social science research [8,9]. Stoker et al (2021) distinguish IWGCs from other gateway communities as places of "150 to 25,000 people that are: (1) within 10 linear miles from the boundary of a national or state park or forest, major river or lake and (2) further than 15 miles from a census-designated urbanized area by road" ( [9], p. 23). This description was originated within the scope of the United States, referring to the western side of the Cascade and the Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges.…”