Boise Finding Infill Solutions

"Infill is popular at City Hall in large part because it fits the broader mission of reducing people's reliance on cars," writes Sven Borg. "Boise's comprehensive plan identifies dozens of intersections throughout the city that planners deemed 'activity center nodes,' or places where a variety of housing types and commercial uses are easy to get to."

Borg's coverage includes details on a few specific infill projects of recent years to describe some of the challenges facing the city's infill goals. One challenge is the opposition of neighbors and, sometimes, preservationists. The other challenge is a lack of expertise on the part of local developers: "Most of Boise's developers have little or no experience mixing commercial and residential space in a cohesive, dense design. They'd rather focus on Downtown office buildings or put together suburban housing subdivisions."

Despite the challenges, the article portrays Boise as a welcoming environment for development, especially as compared to cities in California.