Using Creative Community Engagement to Plan a Health-Oriented Development

To cultivate a more connected, vibrant and livable community, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is creating a 260-acre urban renewal district anchored by prominent regional hospital and economic engine, Kootenai Health. ignite cda, Coeur d’Alene’s Urban Renewal Agency, selected HDR to develop a health corridor master plan and economic feasibility study.  

Bringing together interactive community engagement with data-driven design, we defined a roadmap for future development that stimulates growth and cohesively connects the medical campus to its context. Just as a transit corridor becomes a catalyst for compact development in a transit-oriented development, we approached the project as an opportunity to enable development and community vitality within the immediate hospital district and the greater region to create a health-oriented development.   

Elements of the process came together to create a dynamic master plan for the district anchored in health:    

• A design charrette facilitated by our experts in urban design, transportation, planning and economics enabled stakeholders to work together and holistically address challenges involving connectivity, neighbourhood stabilization, open space and economic viability.  
• Community engagement using both high-touch and high-tech tools including pop-up meetings, door-to-door outreach, web communication and inclusion of community stakeholders in the charrette process influenced the priorities and direction of the master plan.  
• Development concepts including new land uses, roadway alignment, building programming, infrastructure, open space, and bike and pedestrian connectivity are designed to create a health-oriented development.  
• Financial and land use modelling evaluated the viability of each development scenario, and highlighted potential trade-offs between development and community objectives.  

A transparent, innovative and fast-track approach enabled ignite cda to present a preferred plan for redevelopment within five months.