Small cities and towns outside of significant natural amenities such as national parks, public lands, ski areas, and scenic rivers throughout the western United States are becoming increasingly popular places to visit and live. As a result, many of these gateway and natural amenity region (GNAR) communities — such as Jackson, WY, and Moab, UT — grapple with “big city” issues, including severe congestion, lack of affordable workforce housing, and concerns about sprawl. Other GNAR communities are just beginning to, or may soon, experience significant growth and tourism pressures.
The GNAR Initiative exists to help western GNAR communities – and the public lands around them – thrive and preserve the things that make them special. Effective and proactive planning is critical for helping GNAR communities preserve and enhance the qualities that make them such desirable places to live and visit. We strive to help provide communities with resources and education to help them work toward this goal.
The GNAR Initiative provides education and learning resources to GNAR communities through our webinar series and other efforts aimed at building awareness and understanding of the unique experiences and concerns of western GNAR communities. Our core team also trains graduate and undergraduate students to understand and work in the unique contexts of GNAR communities.
Planners, public officials, consultants, and others working with western GNAR communities are seeking tools, information, and resources to assist in addressing challenges. We strive to provide a range of capacity building and planning support for GNAR communities and the people working in them. Check out our GNAR Network or Toolkit Pages for more info.
The GNAR Initiative serves as a hub to foster and support multi-university and trans-disciplinary research aimed at better documenting and understanding opportunities and challenges in GNAR communities. It also develops, supports, and studies evidence-based strategies for helping western GNAR communities thrive amid change. To learn more about our research projects and findings, see our Research page.
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