October 2022 Updates

Aisha Kayed, Lantz McGinnis-Brown, Benjamin Larsen, Matthew May

IPI recently completed its final report on Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) programs for the Canyon County Development Services Department. The project team looked at existing TDR programs across the country to examine the ways they are structured, how well they accomplish programmatic goals, and how other programs incentivize their usage. Key findings include that TDR programs can be an effective method of preserving agricultural lands if part of a larger toolbox of planning and zoning measures; criteria for successful TDR programs including establishing clear and specific preservation goals in concert with an understanding of local real estate markets; successful TDR programs include a mix of market-based and regulatory approaches; and intergovernmental TDR agreements are a potential tool to enhance regional collaboration on land-use efforts.

HUD Eviction Protection Grant Program

Ben Larsen, Lantz McGinnis-Brown, McAllister Hall, Vanessa Fry

IPI does data management for the HUD Eviction Protection Grant Program in partnership with Idaho Legal Aid Services and other partners across Idaho, Montana, and Utah. The program provides low-income households with free eviction legal services and representation. This month the team collected third-quarter client data from all program partners, cleaned the data to fit HUD reporting specifications, and synthesized data from all partners into a single dataset. By the end of quarter three, so far the grant has been able to help 529 households receive assistance with eviction cases across the three states.

Needs Assessment for Survivors of Sexual Assault/Violence in Idaho

Laura King, Lantz McGinnis-Brown, Aisha Kayed, Jacqueline Lee, Lane Gillespie, Lisa Bostaph

IPI is partnering with a team of Boise State criminal justice professors to conduct a needs assessment for Idaho Legal Aid Services to determine the legal and non-legal needs of rural sexual assault survivors in Idaho. The research team will be reaching out to service providers across the state to better understand this question. We are looking forward to this opportunity to build and strengthen relationships within SPS and throughout the state.

Idaho Commission on the Arts Creative District Project

Gabe Osterhout, Cheong Kim, KaraLeigh Troyer

IPI is concluding research on best practices in establishing and running a state creative district program. By reviewing literature, collecting materials from each state with an active program, and conducting interviews with arts leaders across the country, the project team produced findings related to the certification process, district governance, state agency roles, and evaluation metrics. The team’s research follows up on a previous project for the Commission in which IPI assisted with the implementation of a creative district pilot in the West Central Mountains

This month the Grand Challenge program has been moving forward. The interns have increased their workload and served in critical roles in the progress of the project.

“I have been working with the benchmarking team weekly to synthesize their raw data and conjure a report focused on the recommendations found. My favorite part was the all-hands-on team meeting with everyone to develop our next steps.” – Taylor Oxley

Kara Troyer has also been working as an intern with IPI through the Grand Challenge. She has worked to find common themes on sustainable work among community members and individuals in the academic community and what is needed to effectively bring them together in creating successful interdisciplinary sustainable projects. She has also worked to find any gaps in the team’s research to find areas that may have been overlooked and could be useful in supporting a research nexus for sustainability

IPI Open House

IPI hosted an open house for faculty, staff, and students across campus to visit IPI’s space in the Environmental Research Building and learn more about our work. It was an afternoon filled with great conversation about our research topics and methodologies, student engagement, and opportunities for collaboration. IPI enjoyed the opportunity to welcome our friends from across campus and build relationships with new and existing campus partners.

AUBER Conference

Director Vanessa Fry and Research Associate Gabe Osterhout attended the annual Association for University Business and Economic Research conference in Pensacola, Florida. Fry chaired a panel on center operation strategies and Osterhout presented the results of the annual membership survey.

Cheong Kim co-authors paper published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

An article, “Zoning to enhance local sustainability: why local governments choose to use sustainability-focused land use tools,” co-authored by Cheong Kim, IPI Research Scholar, has been published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. This article examines why some cities use these sustainability-focused land use regulations and others do not with the analysis of data from multiple sources including ICMA’s (International City/County Management Association) Local Government Sustainability Practices survey.

IPI in the News

“This Election Day, Millions of Americans Won’t Be Voting in English”, Voice of America, November 4, 2022

Other

Aisha Kayed went backpacking and camping for the first time ever in the Sawtooth Mountains to Alice Lake with Boise State’s Outdoor Program.