We can legalize the kind of people-scaled homes we need in Boise.
Everyone needs a home.
If you care about the way our city grows, you should know that Boise’s Modern Zoning Code…
…promotes walkable, people-friendly streets close to amenities.
…protects our open spaces, farmland, and air quality.
…fixes an outdated, unfair, exclusionary code from the 1960s.
….legalizes the kind of missing middle homes we need for all kinds of Boiseans, all kinds of workers, and all stages of life.
Top Five Reasons to Support Boise’s Zoning Code
1. More Choices for All Kinds of People
More housing choices throughout Boise’s most desirable neighborhoods close to jobs, schools, and recreation is good for everyone. We need valuable, flexible housing options and we need both short-term and long-term solutions to bring back a state of abundant housing for everyone in our city.
2. Complete, Walkable Neighborhoods = Happy, Thriving Neighborhoods
Neighborhood coffee shops, small businesses, parks and transit stops within walking distance of every home is an achievable goal with sensible zoning. Complete cities are accessible, useful, and vibrant places to live and our new code directs mixed-use development in strategic places that will support walkability, transit, and local economic opportunities.
3. Getting Serious About Affordability
Boise (and our entire region) is behind on the number of homes for the essential people who make our community run: people who teach our kids, power our service industry, keep us well, and keep us safe. Removing unnecessary regulation, red tape, and administrative process will help us catch up on badly-needed housing inventory, steering us back towards affordability and out of crisis.
4. Sustainable and Responsible Growth
As Boise grows, our homes and local businesses need to connect existing city infrastructure that supports the health and economic vitality for the whole city. Our new zoning code incentivizes efficient and sustainable growth, right where we need it - near existing streets and pathways and future transit. Sprawl is expensive, and drives up property taxes for existing residents.
5. A New Code for a New Boise
Boise’s existing zoning code is 60 years old and was designed specifically to prohibit small, multi-family housing types within single family zones. That meant restricting access for many people to find affordable and accessible housing. These tools of segregation are still present in our current code, and have contributed to the present affordability crisis. We are long overdue for a fair and sustainable code to direct a modern Boise into the 21st Century.