INSPIRING AND ENABLING progress
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”
― Edward Abbey
― Edward Abbey
A Telluride native, Sarah Brown McClain founded Western Spaces to advance housing strategy across rural and mountain communities in the West. Housing is infrastructure—the foundation that determines whether communities can sustain their workforce, character, and economic viability. When housing is truly affordable and available, communities stabilize and thrive; everything else becomes possible. Western Spaces is dedicated to rigorous analysis and authentic community engagement that make this possible.
With two decades of experience in rural and mountain resort communities throughout Colorado and the Western Slope, Sarah brings a genuine understanding of the region’s housing challenges: limited buildable land, seasonal economies, competing development pressures, and workforce displacement. She works extensively with CAST communities, state agencies such as DOLA and CHFA, and private developers on housing policy, implementation, and compliance.
At Western Spaces, we develop actionable housing solutions grounded in evidence and local insight. We conduct comprehensive housing needs assessments that establish the baseline for all downstream planning and policy, undertake market demand studies that validate development opportunities, and craft housing action plans that guide implementation. Our approach combines rigorous economic analysis with genuine community understanding.
Sarah is a certified planner with a BA in Environmental Policy and a Master’s in Urban Planning. She has devoted her career to understanding how housing strategy shapes community outcomes.
Resume and Firm Information SheetI'm a storyteller who works with data. I ask questions about the world around me—about communities, about needs, about what's possible—because I genuinely want to understand. Data doesn't give me answers; it helps me tell better stories about what's really happening.
I believe we learn through collaboration. The best work happens when I'm listening as much as I'm contributing, when local knowledge and lived experience shape what the data actually means. That's why I show up for projects beyond paid contracts—not as a saviour, but as someone who wants to be part of solving problems that matter.
If you're working on something that deserves closer attention—a question you need to understand differently, a story your community needs told—I'd welcome the chance to work alongside you. I take on projects that serve a clear need, regardless of funding.
Let's figure this out together.
