Crossroads: Reimagining Downtown Livingston
This time of year is when Downtown Livingston really shines, whether you’re sipping on wine around a fire pit during the Holiday Art Walk, shopping for the holidays or looking for a cozy spot to enjoy dinner with friends.
We’re excited to share two bits of news about downtown Livingston!
On Thursday, December 9, at 5:30 p.m., students from MSU’s Community Design Center will present Downtown Livingston: Re-imagined, an event in the Lincoln School auditorium. The students will present 13 creative and highly impressive downtown redevelopment projects.
These projects are, of course, conceptual, but they are so good we wouldn’t be surprised if a developer and/or property owner decides to run with an idea or two.
The presentations come out of a partnership between PCEC and Brian Brush, Assistant Teaching Professor/CDC Director, on ways to showcase Livingston’s downtown through the creative eyes of students.
The presentations will be based off a new report called: “Inventory of Space Utilization in Downtown Livingston.”
Written and compiled by Caitlyn Ekberg and Shannon Payne, both graduates from the MSU School of Architecture, the 347-page document reveals comprehensive detail about 17 downtown city blocks from Park Street to the Sacagawea Lagoon, 3rd Street to C Street. The document provides specifics regarding the use and occupancy of downtown building spaces, building and lot vacancies, the type and number of parking spaces, historic documentation, and information about which buildings are privately owned versus which are owned by the public.
As the community continues to decide how best to grow and where to grow, the inventory provides important baseline data to help determine next steps. The inventory could help determine what parts of town are thriving and why, as well as shed light on what sections are underutilized.
Livingston Downtown Master Plan: The downtown inventory and Fall Studio redevelopment projects are important steps towards realizing the ultimate goal of hiring a consultant to lead our community through the process of creating a new Livingston Downtown Master Plan. Livingston’s current downtown plan is almost 20 years. A lot has changed in the past two decades and we need a plan that responds to our housing crisis, prioritizes Livingston’s downtown, and prepares Livingston for a strong future.
A new downtown plan will build off Livingston’s participation in the Montana Main Street Program, an effort PCEC partnered with the city of Livingston and Park County Community Foundation in 2018 to help build awareness about the need for strong foundational planning documents.
Stay tuned for more on Livingston’s Downtown Planning process. We are excited about next steps!
Gardiner Neighborhood Plan:
PCEC has been an advocate for neighborhood planning as a great way to help implement our Park County and Livingston growth policies. State statute identifies neighborhood planning as a way to implement growth policies by adding further vision and planning to specific areas. A new downtown plan would be a neighborhood plan to the recently adopted Livingston Growth Policy. In Gardiner, PCEC has been helping neighbors prepare a draft plan that was just recently released to the public.
Gardiner Neighborhood Plan organizers (an off-shoot of Successful Gardiner) have scheduled a meeting on Saturday, December 11th, 1-4 p.m. at the Gardiner Community Center to help showcase the draft plan and solicit input: Make comments on the draft plan at scheduled meetings and/or here.
The median home sales price in Park County in October was $417,000.
Park County Housing Action Plan: PCEC is holding an informational meetings about the draft Park County Housing Action Plan. These community conversations will be focused on two specific tools: Community Land Trusts and Short-Term Rental Regulations.
You can view the plan and give feedback here!
The community conversations will be held:
Wednesday, Dec. 8 - noon - Short-Term Rental Regulation (Register here)
If you missed our discussion of Community Land Trusts, you can view it here!
If you missed last month’s presentation of the plan, you can view it here!
The Lighthiser crew goes hunting for a Christmas tree.
Our Favorite Holiday Season Traditions
Sarah: Harvest season, eating all the yummy food, prepping for hibernation mode and backcountry adventures, never getting out of my long underwear, growing cat grass and watching the amaryllises bloom.
Robin: Snow!!
Michelle: Slowing down, making fires, puzzles and snow!
Max: All the lights, cookies, gathering with family and friends and the existential dread that awaits us all at the end of the year. 🙂
Karrie: Going to get a Christmas tree on Forest Service land with Scott and our dog, Cache. The best part is seeing how much Cache enjoys it.
Johnathan: Having time to take a break and appreciate friends, family, community and everything else. Also, baking, particularly making Christmas cookies in my Aunt’s machine shed (where the tractors are kept), with my grandma, mom, Aunt Kathy, my sisters and three cousins.
Erica: Tree harvesting and winter picnics!