Designing Our City

The City Planning and Design group is responsible for elevating the practice and understanding of long-range planning and city design within the City of Boise. Alongside the community, the team leads the development and execution of plans and projects at all scales - from the entire city, to districts, neighborhoods, blocks, streets and buildings. These plans inform better policies and practices to guide the physical and economic development of our city.

These efforts thoughtfully and creatively consider how best to leverage infrastructure improvements to achieve desired patterns and densities of development, support new types and levels for diverse affordable housing options, and create opportunities for parks and other public spaces that reinforce the city's physical identity.

Approach to City Planning and Design:

We use a four-step approach to designing our city: establishing the design concept that serves as the framework for long-term growth, refining that concept through additional planning efforts, and then applying recommendations at a site-specific level to ultimately create our desired city.

The Planning and Design Division uses the following touchstones to focus the long-range planning of the city.