About

Analyze the Past — Understand Today — Plan for Tomorrow

Sarah Brown McClain brings more than 20 years of housing policy and planning to every project. She founded Western Spaces to do careful, data-driven research for the rural and resort towns that are hit hardest by housing shortages and least likely to have analysts on staff.

Our clients include local governments, housing authorities, community land trusts, regional councils of government, state agencies, and developers working to expand housing options in places where the market alone isn't meeting needs. We work across Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, and throughout the region.

Every project starts with the data and ends with a clear recommendation. We pair demographic projections, demand models, and supply inventories with what residents, employers, and builders tell us in workshops and interviews. The findings stand up to review and lead to things a town can do.

Before founding Western Spaces, Sarah began her career at RRC Associates conducting some of Colorado's earliest housing needs assessments in the mid-2000s — before HNAs were a required process. She went on to found Balanced Community, a firm focused on community engagement and web-based planning tools, and taught Geodesign and the Web, a CU Boulder graduate course on online tools for public engagement. That background shapes how we work today: alongside traditional analysis, we build interactive dashboards, automated data platforms, and digital engagement tools that give communities ongoing access to their own housing data.

Philosophy

Community is at the heart of everything we do. Housing creates homes, homes establish roots, and roots build communities. When people can afford to live where they work, a community stays whole — diverse, connected, and economically resilient. When they can't, that fabric unravels. Neighbors leave, businesses struggle to staff, and the character of a place begins to hollow out.

That's why this work matters. It's not about units or data points — it's about making sure the places we love remain places where people can build a life. The best answers come from honest conversation across differences: renters and homeowners, year-round residents and second-home owners, employers and local government at the same table.

In practice, that means clear writing, honest data, and recommendations that account for local capacity and resources. Every community is different, and a plan copied from somewhere else misses what matters most. We don't write shelf documents. We design strategies and implementation steps that are realistic, measurable, and built on collaboration and accountability.

Credentials

• Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP), University of Colorado Denver, 2006
• BA Environmental Policy, University of Colorado Boulder, 1999
• American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), certification lapsed
• 20+ years in urban planning, housing policy, and community development
• Rural and resort communities from 800 to 80,000 residents

Affiliations

• American Planning Association
• Housing Colorado

Past Service

• Chaffee Housing Authority — Board of Directors (County Representative)
• Colorado Farm to Table — Board Member
• Summit County Planning Commission — Member
• Ten Mile Planning Commission, Summit County — Member
• Summit Valley Horse Center — Board Member
• Friends of the Dillon Ranger District — Volunteer Ranger
• Peoples League for Action Now (PLAN) Boulder — Co-Chair, 2011–2015
• Telluride Tech Festival — Founding Member and Board of Directors