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Sisters 2040Civic Design Project

Research library

Evidence before opinion

Every brief separates what the research shows from what remains uncertain, cites its sources, and stops short of claims the evidence can't carry. Challenges and corrections from residents are part of the method.

Education / Housing

Teachers Can't Stay Where They Can't Live: Housing and Retention in Amenity Towns

High-amenity small towns keep pricing out the public servants they depend on. What the evidence shows about teacher housing, and what other communities have tried.

Education and Youth Studio

Transparency / Governance

Deciding in the Open: Civic Transparency at Small-Town Scale

Trust in local government gets built or spent through the mechanics of how decisions are made visible. A look at what actually works, and what backfires.

Data and Futures Studio

Wildfire / Resilience

Living With Fire: What the Evidence Says About Wildfire and Towns Like Sisters

Sisters sits in a fire-adapted ponderosa landscape. A plain-language look at what wildfire research can and cannot tell a small mountain town about getting ready at community scale.

Wildfire and Resilience Studio

Third Places / Community

The Case for Third Places in Small Towns

Why the cafés, parks, halls, and trailheads where people gather count as real infrastructure, and what mountain towns tend to get wrong about winter.

Community Design Studio

Trails / Mobility

Trails as Transportation: What Small Trail Towns Teach

Recreation trails and transportation trails are different infrastructure. Lessons from towns that connected theirs into a network you can use for daily life.

Mobility Studio

Housing / Downtown

Gentle Density: How Small Downtowns Grow Without Losing Themselves

What the evidence says about concentrating growth downtown, with height, mixed use, and character all on the table, in towns that intend to stay towns.

Community Design Studio