Treasure Valley Futures

Detailed Site Plan

Smart Growth Themes

Treasure Valley Futures

This innovative federally funded project studied the links between transportation and land use. Idaho Smart Growth played a pivotal leadership role increasing the projects vision, diverse reach, and public awareness with our involvement, and building strong relationships with area communities, policymakers, and leaders. We were a major player in the portion of the project that documented, projected, and visually represented current growth and transportation trends in the region. ISG will continue to work with TVF partners and consultants to complete the evaluation of the transportation and growth trends that have been uncovered, and to report on recommendations.

The Barriers Forum

A forum on barriers to smart growth, From Neighborhood to Region: Overcoming Barriers to Building Better Communities, was spearheaded by Idaho Smart Growth as part of TVF. One hundred community leaders representing 12 interest areas identified barriers that make it difficult to build smart growth communities. ISG is working with regional partners to implement ten action steps recommended to remedy the barriers identified.

The Toolkit

The final product of the TVF, which Idaho Smart Growth compiled, edited, and designed, is the Toolkit of Alternative Choices. The toolkit defines sustainable and livable community patterns and identifies specific tools that communities can use to transform the physical pattern of growth to minimize its negative impacts. It includes strategies to address the barriers to smart growth and uses case studies to illustrate the tools. Because of our leadership role in the TVF project, we are now being regularly asked to help leaders and community groups to implement the toolkit and other policy recommendations of the project. (For more information on TVF, see www.tvfutures.org.)

Toolkit Presentations

Idaho Smart Growth is beginning a series of presentations that will introduce the Treasure Valley Futures project’s Toolkit of Alternative Choices to a wider audience. ISG presented the Toolkit at the Idaho Planning association Conference in September. Presentations have been planned for a BSU economics class, a Comprehensive Plan Committee in Caldwell. Presentations to Planning & Zoning commissions across the valley will be scheduled in the winter.