Emmett/Gem County Community Review Report Summary

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• Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character, by Randall Arendt, APA Planners Press, 1994. • Crossroads, Hamlet, Village, Town, by Randall Arendt, 1999, American Planning Association. • Best Development Practices, by Reid Ewing, American Planning Association, 1996. • Community Rules: A New England Guide to Smart Growth Strategies, by Beth Humstone, Conservation Law Foundation, www.clf.org/pubs/community_rules.htm. • How Superstore Sprawl Can Harm Communities: and What Citizens Can Do About It, Constance Beaumont, Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1994. • True West: Authentic Development Patterns for Small Towns and Rural Areas, by Christopher Duerkson and James van Hamert, APA Planners Press, 2003, 312-786- 6344 • The Rural Town: Designing for Growth and Sustainability, edited by Wendy McClure, Center for Business Development and Research, University of Idaho, 1997. • American Planning Association, www.planning.org, (312) 431-9100 (visit website or call to learn about “Growing Smart” program). • Local Government Commission, www.lgc.org, (916) 448-1198. Two excellent resources of note available from Local Government Commission: “Street Design Guidelines for Healthy Neighborhoods” and “Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide”. • Sonoran Institute, www.sonoran.org, (406) 587-7331 • Idaho Smart Growth, isg@idahosmartgrowth.org, www.idahosmartgrowth.org, 208-333-8066. • American Farmland Trust, www.farmland.org, (253) 446-9384 • Congress for the New Urbanism, www.cnu.org, (415) 495-2255 • National Trust for Historic Preservation, www.nthp.org, 202-588-6296 • Municipal Research Services Center, www.mrsc.org, (206) 625-1300 • Western Rural Development Center, http://extension.usu.edu/WRDC/, (435) 797- 9732. Based at Utah State University, theWRDC publishes excellent “Western by Design Resource Toolkit. • University of Idaho Urban Research and Design Center, Sherry McKibben, Director, 208-343-7851, mckc@rmci.net. Coordination and Communication Coordination and communication among local government, civic groups and other community segments are essential in any strategic approach to community and economic development. The productivity and effectiveness of any community initiative depend on cooperative partnerships that pursue common goals. Entities involved with this review, from start to finish, exhibited varying degrees of commitment and investment, and communication (or lack thereof) featured prominently as a key issue. 56
General community comments and concerns Feelings on this issue were almost universal among community members we spoke with. Many residents questioned the motives of city officials and felt their lack of involvement was due largely to turf conflicts and personalities. Others pointed to historic variability in the working relationships among civic groups, economic development organizations and city and county government. More than one person talked about how various organizations in the community don’t combine efforts and work together because they resisted working on a project if it was not their idea. Paradoxically, the organizations want the credit for accomplishing good things for the community, but few organizations have the clout and energy to accomplish a project entirely on their own. Visiting Team observations Some Visiting Team members were struck by the lack of city government involvement throughout much of the process. Emmett’s Mayor, City Council and Planning Department were conspicuously unavailable during the pre-visit phase of the review as well as during the community tours on Day One. This was troubling to those investing time and energy in this process, and greatly limited our ability to assess conditions and challenges from the City’s perspective. As these concerns were brought to the City’s attention, changes were made to the Day Two schedule to include time with the Mayor, some City Councilmembers, and the City Planner and Public Works representative. Final Thoughts Responding to the survey completed as part of this community review, Gem County residents spoke fondly of the “small, quiet, rural nature of the community”. These same qualities will continue to draw new residents to Emmett so long as jobs are available in Ada and Canyon Counties. Even if economic development efforts result in more jobs being created within Gem County, as is clearly desired, a substantial number of people will continue commuting over the hill to work in the Treasure Valley – Emmett is too close to Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell to expect otherwise. How can the people of Gem County guide the inevitable growth so that they do not lose the “small, quiet, rural, nature of the community” The Visiting Team suggests this is the central question that all economic development, community service, and government organizations could rally around. If the community does not take the opportunity to answer this question now, before experiencing significant growth, the region will constantly be reacting to outside interests and external forces who do not reside in the community. This is the experience of one Western town after another, including many in the Treasure Valley. Emmett can still learn this lesson from them. Take the responsibility to imagine an alternative and preferred future. Embarking on a community visioning process that identifies what citizens would like Gem County to be like as a place to live 10, 15, 20 years from now would be an appropriate place to start. This visioning process can ideally be jointly led by the City and the County. The comprehensive plan could then be updated to reflect and implement this vision. 57
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Emmett/Gem County Community Review
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Preface............................
Page 5 and 6: News Articles .....................
Page 7 and 8: Part Three, Community Surveys & Int
Page 9 and 10: through increased collaboration and
Page 11 and 12: Steering Committee Name Title Organ
Page 13 and 14: unique design suggestions are compl
Page 15 and 16: made it possible for more rapid exp
Page 17 and 18: Executive Summary The Emmett/Gem Co
Page 19 and 20: opportunities. The civic life team
Page 21 and 22: Strategic Thoughts & Themes Valley
Page 23 and 24: city officials and other organizati
Page 25 and 26: • Core Governing Values • Work
Page 27 and 28: community discussion to achieve thi
Page 29 and 30: developed and re-invigorate the sen
Page 31 and 32: anch out and empower groups who mig
Page 33 and 34: The link directs the user to a map
Page 35 and 36: o Developing a mindset of downtown
Page 37 and 38: Infrastructure Overall and in compa
Page 39 and 40: spend $12,022 per mile for total di
Page 41 and 42: communities in the region. The Land
Page 43 and 44: voice connectivity to Boise or othe
Page 45 and 46: “over the hill”) claimed they w
Page 47 and 48: Resources (4) Redevelop/re-use idle
Page 49 and 50: police and fire service, schools, t
Page 51 and 52: • Have programs been initiated to
Page 53 and 54: Comprehensive plan policies related
Page 55: (9) Other/Miscellaneous. The follow
Page 59 and 60: Civic Life and Community Involvemen
Page 61 and 62: The Cherry Festival The Cherry Fest
Page 63 and 64: • The historic Frontier Theatre i
Page 65 and 66: • Conduct research on how other d
Page 67 and 68: understand this might be a challeng
Page 69 and 70: least, underestimated in terms of t
Page 71 and 72: Program (RSVP), or a mentoring prog
Page 73 and 74: Asset-Based Community Development I
Page 75 and 76: eported being African-American/Blac
Page 77 and 78: “longer-term residents” and res
Page 79 and 80: Item Table 1: Overall Mean Quality
Page 81 and 82: Rank Table 1a: Ranked Overall Mean
Page 83 and 84: Table 2: Mean Quality Ratings of Co
Page 89 and 90: Item Table 5: Mean Quality Ratings
Page 91 and 92: Table 7: Short-Term Challenges Faci
Page 93 and 94: Emmett Development, Retention, & Qu
Page 95 and 96: 14) Cost of Public Services: Arts &
Page 97 and 98: Appendix Advice, Assistance, & Avai
Page 99 and 100: 99 • National Civilian Community
Page 101 and 102: COMMUNITY MATRIX DIVERSIFICATION ST
Page 103 and 104: engineering or sales, but not all t
Page 105 and 106: Community Review Visiting Team Memb
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Administrator and has served in tha
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projects, and fundraising. Delta ha
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News Articles Community Assessment
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Brian Dale, of the US Dept. of Hous
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GEDA to Hold Joint Community Meetin
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Community Review Agenda May 20, 200
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Emmett/Gem County Community Review Report Summary

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