Ali Rabe

When a housing project comes before a city council or planning and zoning commission, the room often fills with neighbors who oppose it. They passionately testify about how a housing development will worsen traffic or disrupt their neighborhood character. We can all empathize with their concerns. Change is hard, especially when it's happening in the place you call home. But we know that the voices that oppose housing do sometimes cause housing developments to get shut down, and not always...

Notes from the Second Annual Welcoming Neighbors Network Mountain West Regional Gathering Earlier this month, Gem State Housing Alliance had the honor of hosting 60 housing advocates and practitioners from seven states — Utah, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Colorado — in Idaho for the Welcoming Neighbors Network Mountain West regional gathering. I’ve spent most of my career working on the back end of the housing shortage, sitting across from families who were one car...

Growth is painful for all of us who know and love this state. But we can't stop it. The question is: how do we grow? If we don't make intentional choices, we'll lose the very things that make Idaho a great place to live. Right now, Idahoans can't afford to buy a house in the town they grew up in. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, the people who make a community work, are being priced out. We're building for people moving in without building for the people already here. Can we accept that growth...