Sprawl of Boise

In NEW’s seven-city study of Northwest cities and sprawl—part of our Cascadia Scorecard project—Boise ranked worst. What’s heartening is that many Boise community leaders, members of the media, and advocates in Idaho are bent on doing something about it.

An Idaho Statesman editorial this weekend—which cited our energy and sprawl research extensively—laments the city’s smart-growth record and notes the strong connection between Idaho’s sprawl and energy habits. (Idaho also consumes the most energy per capita in the Northwest.)

“Our decisions about energy use—and the land-use policies that drive energy use—can prove costly. . . . And it’s a critical message for a state that, for all its growth, still embraces a love of the highway and a general lack of interest in public transportation.”