School of Public Service Impact Challenge

Housing for All

Housing is personal. Lack of housing can exacerbates social inequalities and affects the overall well-being of the community in a multitude of ways. Housing is also the key to our economy and ability to reduce financial burden, stimulate economic growth, and provide stable living conditions enabling the community to focus on work or education. As part of the theme “Housing for All,” teams of students mentored by faculty members will research, investigate and analyze a different challenge for each group representing all SPS programs.

Challenge Statement: How might Boise State best utilize its residential real estate portfolio for a mix of faculty/staff ownership and rental offerings, while also maximizing the land’s zoning potential?

Things to consider:

• Deed restriction strategies

• Zoning

• Neighborhood planning

• Institutional policy

Organizational Contacts:

• Drew Alexander- Boise State University

Challenge Statement: How might we lower the net cost of living for households that include one or more members with a disability.

Things to consider: 

2022 State of Idaho Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice

Fair Housing Act Prohibitions “To refuse to sell or rent…or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of—or otherwise make unavailable or deny—a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, disability, sex, familial status, or national origin.” (Note. HUD includes zoning or other local/state policies).

Visitability (Idaho Access Project)

Organizational Contact:

Erik Kingston – Idaho Housing and Finance Association

Challenge Statement: How can we make NeighborWorks Boise housing programs more accessible to refugees and new Americans?

Things to Consider:

Some refugees and new Americans face barriers to finding safe, secure, and affordable housing. Some barriers include language, employment, rental history, and income. NeighborWorks Boise has housing programs to assist including financial coaching, pre-purchase coaching, homebuyer education classes, affordable rentals, and homeownership opportunities. What are ways we could bridge the gap to help make housing more accessible and attainable for new Americans?

Organizational Contact:

Inga Hadder – NeighborWorks

Challenge Statement: How can NeighborWorks Boise effectively promote its HomeShare Hub as a beneficial housing option that provides security and affordability?

Things to Consider:

Housing affordability is a growing concern in the Treasure Valley with purchase and rental prices often exceeding household income. NeighborWorks is in the middle of a pilot homeshare program. We connect homeowners who have extra space in their home with renters who are looking for a more affordable or flexible rental situation. This can be a mutually beneficial arrangement. The program is very intentional with the safety and security of participants in mind. We’d like this program to grow and for more people to consider it as a housing solution.

Organizational Contact:

Kodianne Burnett – NeighborWorks

Challenge Statement: In both urban and rural Idaho, the cost of housing has been rising steadily upward, locking some Idahoans out of housing and other Idahoans into housing that no longer suits their needs. How might we identify efforts Idaho can make to address the housing shortfall and ways to join the effort to improve availability?

Things to consider:

• Cost, projects in the housing pipeline, speeding up the pipeline, identifying additional resources.
• City of Boise Housing Dashboard

Organizational Contact:

Brian Dale – Idaho – Housing and Urban Development

Challenge Statement: How might we equip LEAP and its rural stakeholders to quickly, remotely collaborate to identify potential affordable housing projects by identifying suitable land, funding sources and community support.

Things to consider:

Rural Idaho contains traditional “rural” communities as well as “resort” communities. The availability of affordable housing in these areas is low. Compounding factors include a low- volume of skilled tradespeople to actually build as well as the “AirBnB” effect where wealthier citizens across the US might buy an existing home as a 2nd home, pushing locals to the fringes or out altogether. Additional challenges are novel in the modern era where economic development officers, for example, are now not charged with bringing in small businesses, but with figuring out how to develop housing. One cannot court new businesses if there are no new decent housing options. The learning curve is extremely steep, though, for folks who do not have a background in funding programs or actual construction.

Organizational Contacts:

• Brian Woodward LEAP housing