Sustainable Community

The MIST Sustainable Community initiative works to connect elements of healthy living into a cohesive system. The vision is flexible and changing, based on new ideas, research, trends and community partnerships. In order for a sustainable transportation system to function, relationships between aspects of modern daily life must be discussed, connected and grown.

For instance, instead of designing city center streets to accommodate 73’ long tractor trailers in order to deliver food from hundreds of miles away, a better approach is to grow as much local, organic food as possible, right here in the garden city. Instead of creating a new commuter rail or bus route to the edges of the valley for a new subdivision, we’re better off infilling vacant lots close to the middle of Missoula. Instead of designing our local transportation system around fossil fuel energy that must be trucked, trained or piped, we can harvest the sunshine, wind and heat of the Earth that arrives on our doorstep on a daily basis.

To go further, transportation system design is a reflection of our community system design, with a strong emphasis on land use and development. In addition to making walk and bike paths that connect neighborhoods and regions, let’s also make grocery stores and gardens within the zones that people live. We suggest it’s better to get things closer together whenever possible, paying attention to human scale and scope, attempting to find the right mix of efficiency and freedom, privacy and public good. This approach has challenges. Who would build the little corner grocery store? Will people shop there? Does zoning or the existing neighbors want or allow commercial development? MIST is available to help with these decisions and conversations. As awareness grows around issues like climate change, clean water and air, and the benefits of neighbors knowing each other, the time seems ripe to continue the discussion and to take action.

Both the City and County of Missoula are in the midst of major updates to growth policies, zoning, development guides, street standards and more. While groundwork has been ongoing, development and growth is a continual process that requires stewardship and participation. We all can have roles to further positive growth of the community. Learning stewardship techniques from each other on both personal and organizational levels increases the chances for a healthy future.

This initiative, Sustainable Communities, requires MIST to play a more supporting role than our other three main initiatives. While we have considerable expertise with transportation infrastructure, programs and policy, our approach to the community as a whole is to learn and collaborate with community members and partners. The flip side of this equation is true too- by teaching and promoting sustainable transportation techniques and concepts, these other community members and partners can increase their power and effectiveness with their particular sphere of influence. For example, because very large trucks often degrade city center transportation and development, and because there are emerging, more sustainable alternatives (smaller trucks and cargo bikes for example), MIST has an obligation and duty to stay connected to other community groups working to better our food system. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s a cursory look at some of the major elements of sustainable community:

Transport: From our beginning roots of walking and running, to modern day life that includes driving, biking and flying, mobility and moving has always played a central role in our individual and group well-being. For most of time, the foot has been the method of travel. More recently, we figured out how to burn various fuels and convert that energy into propulsion. Transporting ourselves with little effort can have immense benefits, as meeting our daily needs can be quite simple for many people. Yet there also tends to be substantial costs, such as pollution, fragmented habitat and torn social fabrics. These communal and societal costs can be addressed and mitigated with collective effort.

Food: We eat therefore we live. Where does our food come from? Our backyard? 12,000 miles away? What are the delivery methods? We believe our food should be the most healthy and local as possible. How does one define local? It seems the closer the production or growing the better. Missoula used to grow nearly all our own fruits and vegetables (hence our nickname the ‘Garden City’), and had small grocery stores in every neighborhood. We now ship most food and have a few giant supermarkets. This dynamic has been shifting however, with a community garden network and more organic-related, small food stores developing in Missoula.

Water: Missoula is blessed with one of the largest and cleanest water sources in the world- an immense alluvial aquifer underneath our feet (ranging from about 20’ to 80’ below the surface depending on location in the Missoula Valley). A sustainable water system pays attention to pollution threats, ownership structures and consumption patterns. Missoula recently completed a community buy-back of our water system from a global entity- our water system now seems much more secure for the future.

Shelter: Sustainable housing is obviously an important element of a sustainable community. The types of housing and shelters we live in, along with the proximity and arrangement to each other is of utmost concern as population generally increases. For overall community health, we believe building materials should be as local as possible (similar to food), the denser parts of the community tend toward the center, most neighborhoods or zones should have a mixing of uses and housing styles, and, increasingly, we must find new ways to keep our shelters affordable for each other.

Energy: How do we define energy? Is it not the food we eat? Do we typically think about oil, coal and gasoline when we think about energy? How feasible is a community or neighborhood based energy system? Like the other elements of sustainable community, ‘as local as possible’ seems just right. A low carbon footprint, understanding life cycle, and being as clean and healthy as possible all are important. Missoula has stated policy to move away from fossil fuels. Averting the worst effects of a heating planet depends on places like Missoula to step up efforts. The ideal situation seems to be people power. This is a large reason that walking and cycling are so appealing. Utilizing old bikes to make pedal power tools and devices comes into play too, for sustainable community and future. The immense BTU’s and energy stored in fossil fuels are undeniable, almost to the point that we do not think about energy use. As the planet warms, prices increase and habitats are fragmented by energy exploration, we must keep talking about the role of energy within our community. Conversations on conservation will eventually lead to a sustainable Missoula.

Transportation, land use, food, water, shelter and energy are major thrusts of everyday community life. So are education, governance, arts, culture, waste water, and communications. A community is made of many different aspects and parts. Together we can weave the fabrics of Missoula for a healthy future.. Let us know your thoughts, ideas, actions and projects.