Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample. Sample

PART ONE

Boise: History, Planning, and Policy

June 21 to 25, 2010

Part Two

Boise: City, Suburb, and Region

July 6-10, 2009

Professor Todd Shallat, tshalla@boisestate.edu

Professor David Eberle, W_Eberle@msn.com

Classes meet 9 AM to 9 PM, Boise Center on Main, 1020 Main Street, Boise, 83702; 208-761-0485.

Imagine the Treasure Valley with two more cities the size of Boise. Image lethal air and hours of highway gridlock. Imagine trolleys, bike paths, corner stores, and a valleywide network of parks. Boise Part Two images a range of possible futures with an eye on green innovation and respect for historical trends. Topics include roads and highways, drought and flooding, foothills conservation, county-city governmental relations, and smart-growth solutions to sprawl. Bus tours extend the lesson to Nampa, Caldwell, the Snake River Canyon, and Diversion Dam.

Course requirements. Students are expected to complete every written assignment and attend all five days of the class. Grading is based on class participation (10 percent), the field book (40 percent), and a documented research paper (50 percent).

The field book. Comment on the tours, lectures, and readings in the Investigate Boise Field Book (provided on the first day of class). Each field-book entry should be titled and dated. The assignments are listed in the class schedule below. Your first obligation is to show a close understanding of the readings. Good entries cites specific information (names, dates, places) and relate the readings to the ideas presented in class.

The research paper. Using a mix of local sourcesinterviews, zoning maps, government reports, news stories, and historical photosstudents will write a documented research paper. Follow the rules of formal writing as described in the syllabus below. The paper is due at 5 PM, Monday, July 19. Email a Word attachment to tshalla@boisestate.edu. If you do not receive a response within 48 hours, please call 761-0485. Your paper did not arrive.

Be prepared for walking, hiking. Wear comfortable shoes and a hat. Bring water. Bring a sack lunch for long bus rides on Wednesday and Thursday. Bring cameras for Arrowrock and the Snake River canyon. The classroom has fans but, sadly, no air conditioning. There is no coffee in the classroom but coffee shops abound.

Required Readings

William Yardley, Boise Region Grapples With Smog, New York Times, January 22, 2009.

David Goldberg, The Smart-Growth of Rural Towns, On Common Ground (Winter 2005), pp. 4-7.

Jon Van Gleason, Cherry of a Deal (sustainable farming) On Common Ground (Winter 2005), pp. 43-47.

Jerry Adler, Bye, Bye Suburban Dream, and 15 Ways to Fix the Suburbs, Newsweek, May 15, 1995.

Andres Duany, et. al., The Traditional Neighborhood Checklist, from Suburban Nation (NY: North Point, 2000), pp. 245-255.

Ken Avidor, Selections from Roadkill Bill, from Emilly Buchwald, ed. Toward the Livable City (2003), pp. 41-51.

Suggested Readings

Tom Daniels, When City and Country Collide - Managing Growth in the Metropolitan Fringe (1999).

Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism: Learning From European Cities (1999).

William Dodge, Regional Excellence; Governing Together to Compete Globally and Flourish Locally (1996).

Stephen Marglin, The Dismal Science How Thinking Like An Economist Undermines Community (2008).

Doug Porter, Making Smart Growth Work (2002)

Gloria Ohland and Shelley Poticha, eds., Street Smart, Streetcars And Cities In The Twenty First Century (2006).

Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose (1972).

J. Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town (1997).

Heike Meyer and Paul Knox, Small Town Sustainability (2009).

Daily class schedule

Monday, July 5

9:00

Discussion: pictures from our exhibition

Shallat PPT: Infrastructure

10:30

Eberle: walk to 8th St. and BoDo

1:30

Professor Stephanie Witt, Boise State University

PPT: New Urban West

3:00

Eblerle: cars and gridlock (with traffic map examples).

6:00

Beth Baird, City of Boise

Treasure Valley Air Quality

Field book assignment: Read Yardley Boise grapples with smog. What is the connection between bad air and economic development? How might pollution undermine growth?

Tuesday, July 6

9:30 to 4:30

Shallat bus tour

Nampa, Walters Ferry, Snake River Byway, Caldwell

7:30

Mark Rivers, BoDo developer

Innovations and development as a response to growth

Field book assignment: Read Goldbergs The Smart-Growth of Rural Towns and Gleasons Cherry of a Deal. How does sprawl hurt rural towns, according to Goldberg? And what is the connection between preserving open space and sustainable growth?

Wednesday, July 7

9:00

Eating Local breakfast with David Krick of The Red Feather Lounge

Class at 246 N. 8th Street

11:00

Susan Mason, Boise State University

Growth issues in the Treasure Valley

2:00

Deana Smith of Idaho Smart Growth

Working lands and sustainable agriculture

6:00

Cake-cutting for Boises Birthday and open house at the Center on Main

Public tour of 100 year-old buildings: Owyhee, Idaho, Pioneer Tent, and Statesman.

Field book assignment: Read Adlers essay on the American suburban dream. What went wrong, according to Adler? How might the suburbs really be fixed?

Thursday, July 8

10:00

Jonathan Oppenheimer, Idaho Conservation League

Cities, wildlife, and public lands

2:00:

Eberle: recession

4:00 CeCe Gasner, City of Boise

Jobs, economic development, and the Boise Valley

7:30

Jeff Fereday, Givens Pursley

The politics of water in the Treasure Valley

Field book assignment: How traditional is your neighborhood or subdivision? How livable? How sustainable in a nation wanting to break its dependence on oil? Use The Traditional Neighborhood Checklist to score your neighborhood. Determine the geographical boundaries. Does your neighbood have a name? An identity? Out of 87 points possible, what is its score?

Friday, July 9

10:00

Liisa Itkonen, Compass

Mass transit and the Treasure Valley

1:00

Eberle bus tour to Avimor, Hidden Springs

6:00

Research roundtable

Final clips

Field book assignment. What is the cartoonist Ken Roadkill Bill Avidor telling us about the future of the automobile. Do you accept his argument? Explain.

The Research Assignments

Each class (Boise parts one and two) requires a 3,000 words paper. Students in each class will write about 12 double-spaced pages their choice of the research topics below. Papers for Boise Part I are due on Monday, July 5. Papers for Boise Part II are due on Monday, July 19.

Email a word attachment to Professor Shallat at tshalla@boisestate.edu. If you do not hear back in 48 hours, your paper did not arrive. Call Todd for any reason at 761-0485. Students in Boise Part II must finish the research paper before the first day of the second class.

Research Topics

1. Stack Rock and the Boise Foothill Levy. In 2009 an anonymous gift allowed the City of Boise to purchase Stack Rock in the Boise Foothills. Tell the story of the Stack Rock purchase as a window to the larger history of the foothills tax levy. When, why, and how did the city enact the levy? How does the preservation of Stack Rockand preservation of the foothills, generallyrelated to issues of sustainable development and metropolitan growth? Research the paper in periodicals such as High Country News and the Idaho Statesman (online). Annual reports from the foothills committees are posted on the City of Boise website at www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Parks/Foothills/Conservation. Also you might consult Ada Countys Open Space Task Force at www.lttv.org. The public library on Capitol Boulevard has clipping files and reports. Consult a reference librarian.

2. Crescent Rim and the South Depot Bench. In 2005 a proposed 98-unit Crescent Rim condo development sparked loud opposition from neighbors on the South Depot Bench. Tell the story of the Crescent Rim project as a hook into the larger issue of infill, density, and the smart growth principles of the New Urbanism. Who supported the project? Who opposed it? What was the nature of the debate in Boise City Council? What does the project say about the future of smart-growth attempts to promote transit friendly high density housing? Research the story in periodicals such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Business Review. Planning documents are online on the City of Boises website. For an overview , contact professor Chris Blanchard at cblanch@boisestate.edu.

3. Bown Crossing and the New Urbanism. Bown Crossing in southeast Boise has been called a model of the New Urbanism. When, why, and how did the development begin? What role did the City of Boise play in promoting the project? How well does the development fit the New Urbanists smart-growth criteria for transit-friendly mixed-use neighborhoods? How does the development differ from other neighborhood centers? Is the architecture appropriate? What role does the branch library play? Research the story in the Idaho Statesman and city planning documents. Feel free to talk to merchants, shoppers, and