Missoula, MT
Housing, Built environment | 2025
Surveyed residents to identify policy solutions that reduce instability and evictions, improve rental conditions and access, and support community ownership.
Maintaining stable, affordable housing and preventing displacement can lead to better health outcomes for residents. In Missoula, many residents who are Indigenous, Black, LGBTQ+, and have low incomes experience higher rates of displacement, eviction, housing discrimination, and poor housing quality caused partly by tenant-landlord power imbalances and historic disinvestment in their housing stock and neighborhoods. These poor housing conditions contribute to residents’ negative physical and mental health and to overall instability.
To address displacement and housing conditions in four neighborhoods—Franklin to the Fort, Northside, Westside, and River Road—Front Step Community Land Trust engaged residents through canvassing and surveys to gather data and develop policy solutions. Front Step partnered with the Missoula Tenants Union to draft the survey and canvassing scripts and to hire and train resident surveyors. Surveyors collected more than 1,000 responses from current and recent renters on a survey that include questions about resident housing conditions and accessibility, experiences with mobility and displacement pressures, and tenant support needs. Although survey data are still being analyzed, preliminary findings show that renters need support finding and keeping stable housing, including legal and financial hardship support and more accessible pathways to ownership.
When data analysis is complete, Front Step Community Land Trust will publish findings with action and policy recommendations. The trust plans to share results at community meetings, present to policymakers, and support the Missoula Tenants Union in advocating for policy reforms that can improve tenant protections, expand resident-owned housing cooperatives, and sustain affordable and inclusive neighborhoods. Survey data are also expected to inform and strengthen other local and statewide housing policy reforms, including adoption of community and tenant opportunity-to-purchase policies and other measures that lower structural barriers to stable, dignified, and accessible housing.
Beyond this project, Front Step will further engage renters to enhance storytelling and tenant engagement in city development processes and to learn more from small landlords and property owners about their perspectives on affordability, maintenance challenges, and supporting stability for renters in Missoula.