URBAN 201 – Lusk District Redevelopment

Laura Potter, Ciara McCarthy, and Sam Ainsworth
Jillian Moroney – URBAN 201
The City of Boise

Introduction

Learning Goals:

Develop a better understanding of urban planning principles through engaging with local community partners and site visitation. Helping students to gain insights into the multistep planning required for urban planning and how to apply it to real world circumstances.

Discover how urban planning and community development is applied to different cities in the Western United States through research, presentations, and site visitation.

Reflection

Laura Potter – Most students in this class– including myself– live or have lived in the Lusk District. This gives us the unique opportunity to act as both planners and stakeholders during the district’s redevelopment process. I’ve enjoyed expanding my own perspective over the course of the semester; as a resident, I’ve taken many of the Lusk District’s features for granted, but through this class I’ve learned to see it through a new lens. I see potential solutions to my day-to-day issues; opportunities for change emerge from things that once seemed inevitable. Knowing more about the intricacies of the planning process gives me a sense of empowerment– I am more aware of the ways that I can contribute to the planning process for the places I love, and can help others to make their voices heard too. 

Ciara McCarthy – This service learning experience has changed the way I view community development projects such as The Lusk District. It was eye opening to see just how many different people and organizations go into revitalizing an area. It was particularly interesting to experience this project since I live in The Lusk District, so I get to see the redevelopment that is happening from a different perspective. This project made me realize how important community engagement is, especially input from the people who live and work in the area daily. It is important to hear the needs of community members so that we are providing changes that benefit everyone. Going forward as I continue to study urban planning and community development, I will advocate for sustainable, and equitable development for all communities. 

Sam Ainsworth – For service learning this semester we visited the Lusk District and it really opened my eyes to the importance of the community development. This was an eye opening moment when I got to see the importance of the planning process and all the different factors that play into the lusk district and many other communities. It was important for me to go see the Lusk District and the process that went behind its development, especially after living there during my sophomore year. This will allow me to look at different community aspects in a different perspective by appreciating everything that went into its process.

Community Partner: City of Boise

Mission Statement:

The City of Boise will create a city for everyone by embracing our community in the decision-making process; innovating and investing to protect our environment; and ensuring a thriving local economy that benefits all.

Project Purpose/Community Identified Need:

The City of Boise and Boise State University are working together to redevelop the Lusk District in order to provide affordable housing options.

Course Concepts

What course concepts have you applied to your service learning experience?
Understanding how the actors, agents, and players in planning relate to each other. Apply understanding of planning and community development to place with consideration of the surrounding physical environment. 

Explain each theory/idea/practice/thought.
Understanding these different dynamics between actors, agents, and players in the planning process is important for collaboration, negotiation, and power dynamics in the pursuit of equitable and sustainable urban development. By understanding the planning process, we can create sustainable, and resilient communities. 

Did your experience support or contradict course concepts?
During our site visitation at the Lusk District, we were able to see how the community developer took into account the shops, restaurants, park, and Greenbelt walkway in the area and applied that to the further develop of the area.

Methods

Site Visit: In January we started out by visiting the Lusk District. We observed the physical setting and specific conditions such as sites, modes of transit, infrastructure (or lack thereof), people present, and activities happening.
Concept Research: We spent time researching the Lusk District Master Plan and connected this to the development we were seeing in real time.
Connecting our Research to other Western Cities: Throughout the semester we have been researching cities in the West and identifying various community development projects. We worked to find ways on how these projects could revitalize the Lusk District.

Results

Our class expanded our research outside the Lusk District to cities across the United States; each student identified urban community projects in separate cities, determining features that could be applied to the development of the Lusk District. We synthesized what we learned in one-page infographics, resulting in a combined body of over thirty different approaches to urban development. These infographics will be given to our community partners, and they will ideally inspire and influence the features that will be included in their design of the Lusk District.