Formerly Known as the Mullan Neighborhood Master Plan, the Sx͏ʷtpqyen Neighborhoods Master Plan involved visioning and coding for a roughly 2,000-acre area six miles west of Downtown Missoula. The area was home to emerging neighborhoods, hayfields, and a channelized Grant Creek. The master plan provided a chance to create a holistic, consensus vision, and put into place regulations that were in alignment with the community’s values.

A Virtual Design Charrette brought residents and stakeholders together in remote participation to work intensively with the design team during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Called “the first virtual charrette” by Bill Lennertz, author of "The Charrette Handbook" (2015), the Mullan Neighborhoods Virtual Charrette had remarkable total public involvement including:

• 280 + Virtual studio visitors and meeting attendees

• 2,400 + Views of the YouTube films

• 900 + Digital communications, survey participants,  interactive tools, social media likes & followers

• 18,000 + Website views

• 32,000 + Trackable media impressions

There were multiple opportunities to engage with the team throughout this process and provide feedback through online platforms. As a result, the illustrative plan and a series of renderings were created. The illustrative plan provides a picture of the overall structure of how the ideas, strategies, and designs for the Mullan area can come together to create a great new place for Missoula. It shows the extent of the neighborhoods and depicts the natural areas, agriculture, lakes, and existing development that make up the area. The illustrative plan incorporates the conversations had over the remote charrette week, including a range of housing types and prices, optimization of B.U.I.L.D. Grant funding, creek restoration, safe streets, historic and agricultural preservation, economic development, parks and open space, trails, and existing and planned developments. By visualizing how everything can work together, individual projects and efforts can build upon one another while not foreclosing on longer-range possibilities and objectives.