Idaho Smart Growth

Recommended Reading

Idaho Smart Growth Publications

Quality Infill: Recommendations and Tools

This study recommends ten priorities to ensure that new construction in existing neighborhoods wins the support of neighbors and contributes to a healthier, more functional community.

Idaho Smart Growth and the Urban Land Institute convened a diverse committee to complete an extensive literature review, hold a series of public workshops, and developing a list of recommendations to encourage quality infill projects that complement existing neighborhoods and are successful developments.  By comparing the experiences of other places with the experiences in Idaho, the committee that was convened identified key steps that Idaho communities can take to encourage infill that will reduce infrastructure demands and revitalize existing neighborhoods while avoiding the negative impacts so often feared.

Download Quality Infill

Download Quality Infill Presentation

The Consequences of Residential Infill Development on Existing Neighborhoods in the Treasure Valley.

In 2004, the Urban Land Institute awarded a community action grant to the newly formed Idaho District Council in partnership with Idaho Smart Growth. The purpose of the grant was to examine in-fill projects to determine if the feared consequences voiced by neighborhoods during the approval process could be substantiated. The study was conducted over a three year period with assistance from Boise State University, the Ada County Assessor's Office, the Ada County Highway District, the Cities of Meridian and Boise, builders and developers, and neighborhood association leaders. Twelve infill projects were analyzed.
Download Infill Report PDF
Download Infill Report Presentation PDF

Code Reform Library

Idaho Smart Growth is committed to supporting Idaho citizens and lawmakers as they work to make Idaho a better, smarter place to live. Code Reform Help and the Smart Growth Best Practices contain useful resources for those working through the process of updating local ordinances to reflect Smart Growth principles.

Open Space in Ada County

In 2008, Idaho Smart Growth helped write and edit the Ada County Open Space Task Force Report which resulted in the designation of $500,000 towards open space protection.  Idaho Smart Growth, the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley, and Idaho Conservation League partnered to ask communities about their priorities for open space in our Heart of Our Valley project.

Other publications:

Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes

EPA's Smart Growth Program convened a panel of national smart growth code experts to identify the topics in local zoning codes that are essential to creating the building blocks of smart growth. This document, Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes, presents the panel's initial work. It is an evolving document, one that will be regularly revised, added to, and updated, and is intended to spark a larger conversation about the tools and information local governments need to revise their land development regulations.

 

Growing Cooler - Report Links Vehicle Miles Traveled/Land Use: Less Auto-Dependent Development Key to Mitigating Climate Change
The report, released in Idaho in 200xby Idaho Smart Growth, the Idaho Chapter of the American Planning Association, and the Idaho District Council of the Urban Land Institute, warns that if sprawling development continues to fuel growth in driving, the projected 59 percent increase in the total miles driven between 2005 and 2030 will overwhelm expected gains from vehicle efficiency and low-carbon fuels.

Download executive summary
 
Idaho Food in Farm Country

Have you ever wondered how much of the food we grow in Idaho stays in Idaho?  Or how much money we send out of the region for food from other states?

The Treasure Valley Food Coalition recently commissioned a report to look at questions like these.  The study, completed by Ken Meter of Crossroads Research Center, includes lots of great information.  For example, did you know that if families in the Treasure Valley purchased 15% of their food locally, that would produce $165 million of new farm income?