Hamilton, MT: Six Years Later

In the wide open spaces of the west, cities are often defined by their quaint downtowns and the routes that connect them to the next urban area. State highways and defunct rail lines crisscross the cities, dividing the neighborhoods and commercial districts that grew in the in-between spaces. Hamilton, Montana, on the edge of the Bitterroot Mountains, is a classic example of this kind of western grid.

Highways, major routes, and rail lines impact urban growth and development in ways that make connecting with a city 100 miles away a lot easier than navigating a downtown defined by a four-lane highway that is also its Main Street. In 2019, Hamilton applied to our Building Better Places training to help them realize a more vibrant, safe, and pedestrian–oriented downtown district.

A core part of our process is bringing together broad groups of stakeholders, so in addition to civic and business leaders, we included representatives from the Montana Department of Transportation and the Montana Rail Link. The upshot of the collaboration with Hamilton was the Connect 93 Action Plan, adopted in August 2020. In the five years hence, how has Hamilton fared?

“(Community Builders) galvanized our community,” says Matthew Rohrbach, City Planner and Grants Administrator for Hamilton. Matthew was a key participant in the original 2019 program, which spanned the COVID era. While implementation of the entirety of the Action Plan has not been achieved, “the vision is still relevant.” Collaboration became a cornerstone of the community’s pandemic response. Strengthened communication between the City, state agencies, and the public helped build momentum toward the Connect 93 vision, led by the Hamilton Downtown Association and the Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement District. “We realized we would get more done by working together,” says Rohrbach.

Keeping a community focused on updating plans, zoning, and public works standards can be trying, but Hamilton is committed to progress. They recently applied for and received a $1.6M grant to construct a new path and complete detailed design and engineering along the Marcus Street corridor, and are now developing a comprehensive zoning update based on the plan developed through the Building Better Places training.

“The [city] Council and mayor really care about these things and about how to carry them forward”, says Rohrbach. Six years after participating in the Building Better Places training, collaboration and forward-thinking are still guiding policy decisions in Hamilton.