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Commentary
Boise State sees urban future
In 2003 the Boise-Nampa Metropolitan Statistical Area passed a population milestone by crossing over the half-million mark. Planners expect that the five-county region will house a million people before the year 2030. Phenomenal growth will ripple throughout the state. Although we Idahoans mostly believe our communities are rural (SSPA public policy survey, 2004), our state is now mostly urban. Increasingly that urbanization will change what we think about the issues that impact our quality of life.
Boise State University is uniquely poised to shape the urban future. Our location in the seat of Idaho’s government and population center, our state mandate to teach public policy, our College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs (SSPA) with its research and service mission, our world-class faculty, outstanding students, and dedicated alumni—these factors and others ensure our university’s prominent role. We envision a metropolitan research university of distinction. Vital to that vision is graduate education in community and regional planning.
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What does good growth look like? See a smart-growth slide show from the Urban Land Institute's Lecture Series. |
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Currently, no Idaho university offers academic degrees in community and regional planning. Our college has submitted a plan. We are asking the State Board of Education to let us begin with a graduate certificate program that will lure new faculty and make efficient use of existing expertise. Pending approval, the certificate program in community and regional planning will accept its first students this fall. Our strategic plan calls for the eventual creation of a nationally certified graduate degree in community and regional planning. Meanwhile, the state board has already approved the creation of a SSPA Institute of Urban and Regional Planning. The institute will partner with local and state agencies and Idaho’s business community. In April it will deliver a state of the region report at the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce’s annual leadership conference. Comparing the Boise-Nampa region with others, the report will use performance indicators to measure quality of life. Our report will help other regions understand long-term trends.
We look to five principles of responsible planning to guide the institute’s work. First is neutrality: the impartial ground where a university can mediate and encourage an open discussion on a broad range of ideas. Second is holistic thinking: a broad approach that balances and interconnects transportation, air quality, affordable housing, recreation, and other essential components of growth. Third is long-term perspective: a plan that looks well beyond immediate needs and the politics of the next election. Fourth is regionalism: the idea that we cities of the Treasure Valley have common land and water resources and common stake in good management. Fifth is information: the premise that good management requires good measurement, that easy access to reliable data will foster intelligent decision making.
The College of Social Science and Public Affairs is moving quickly to build the home-grown professional expertise our budding metropolis needs. We invite you to watch our progress. Please visit our SSPA web site, learn about our programs, join our public forums, and help us nurture responsible growth.
Your views on these issues are welcome. Please address comments to kcraven@boisestate.edu. Be sure Idaho Issues Online appears in the subject line.
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