In the early 2000s, a developer bought the land we now call Story Mill Park and the Bridger View neighborhood, and evicted the hundreds of mobile home park residents who lived there. The developer then went bankrupt in the 2008 financial crisis, leaving the land vacant and blighted as the senseless displacement of the former residents rippled throughout the Gallatin Valley.

Years later, the Trust for Public Land, with support from the Kendeda Fund, purchased the land out of bankruptcy. They had a vision to turn what had become a embodiment of speculation and displacement into a community hub: a public park, a nature preserve, and a neighborhood of homes that supported permanence, stability, and opportunity for generations to come. 

Before breaking ground on the homes in 2021, the project team worked with the City of Bozeman on a housing needs assessment and found a glaring gap the traditional market couldn’t fill: attainable homeownership opportunities for the middle-income households who are a vital part of the Gallatin Valley workforce. 

Headwaters Community Housing Trust was incorporated as a nonprofit Community Land Trust to build what would become the Bridger View neighborhood and steward its 33 permanently affordable homes for generations to come. 

While Bridger View represented a meaningful step forward, the need for attainable home ownership is ongoing and requires more creative solutions. We believe Community Land Trusts are a key part of that equation. In the coming years, Headwaters is focused on expanding creating more permanently affordable homes across the Gallatin Valley for the working people who make this place worth living in.