Front Step Community Land Trust launches renter survey, helps place 21 affordable homes in Missoula

Missoula — Front Step Community Land Trust is conducting a door‑to‑door survey of renters across Missoula’s working‑class neighborhoods, has hired canvassers for the project, and is working with the city and a private developer to place 21 community land trust homes in a new Scott Street development, the organization’s executive director said on Missoula Community Access Television.

Brittney Palmer, executive director of Front Step Community Land Trust, said the survey — funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant — will combine in‑person interviews and a written questionnaire to “learn from renters what their needs are” and to help Front Step design services and organizing efforts. “We’re hoping that the information we glean from those two things will … point us to directions for what can actually be supportive for residents in Missoula who are renting,” Palmer said.

The canvass effort targets multifamily buildings in neighborhoods identified through the Invest Health initiative — Northside, Westside, Franklin/’The Fort’ and River Road — and Front Step expects canvassers and volunteers to work over the coming months to reach those buildings. Palmer said the project aims to “knock every door” of multifamily properties in those neighborhoods to gather data and to recruit people who may be interested in housing co‑ops or CLT units.

Palmer described the community land trust model and how Front Step uses it in Missoula. “We basically say we’re removing assets from the speculative market and holding it in trust on behalf of the community to keep it affordable for generations,” she said, explaining that the nonprofit holds the land and limits homeowner equity at resale so homes remain available at reduced cost to subsequent buyers.

Palmer also discussed a long‑running partnership with the city and the Scott Street (Rivara) developer. “About 21 homes in this first phase are community land trusts affordable to about 120% of the area median income,” she said, noting eligibility depends on household size. She pointed viewers to frontstepclt.org for an area‑median‑income calculator that lets people check eligibility online.

Front Step also offers other services mentioned on the program, including tax‑filing assistance for program participants and neighborhood events such as an outdoor cinema that Front Step has staged in the North Side, Franklin/’The Fort’ and River Road neighborhoods. Palmer encouraged homeowners to get involved through a coalition called Pro Housing Missoula, which she described as “unlikely allies” organizing for zoning that supports urban infill; she added the city recently passed a unified development code.

The organization’s immediate work includes the canvass and the Rivara development outreach; Palmer said Front Step will share dates for neighborhood events and a volunteer sign‑up on its website. For more information, she said, visit frontstepclt.org or sign up for the newsletter.

The interview aired on Missoula Community Access Television’s Your Missoula program and closed with the host thanking viewers for watching.