At the small city’s only emergency shelter, demand is higher and the work is harder than ever.
Housing
Posted inApril 2025: A Monumental Reckoning
How a crucial homeless shelter in Boise was obstructed by neighbors
The Veterans Park Neighborhood Association sued to halt a shelter’s plans.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s unprecedented attack on America
We need an army of Raúl Grijalvas to stem the flood of ‘bullshit’ emanating out of the White House.
Posted inArticles
The indomitable Butte, Montana
The misunderstood, often-maligned mining town helps itself.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
The rise of the recreation economy
Public-lands tourism outpaces mining and drilling in much of the West.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
‘I was determined to solve this problem’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Posted inArticles
Many renters are struggling after fleeing LA County wildfires
For many in the county, recovery requires a new lease, a new landlord, new schools and possibly a new state.
Posted inArticles
With so many displaced by fires, Los Angeles County can’t accurately measure homelessness
The county was supposed to conduct an annual tally of people experiencing homelessness this month. Then disaster struck.
Posted inArticles
How the Park City ski patrol won concessions from Vail
As patrollers and management reach an agreement, other ski patrols are learning from Park City’s example.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories
Unhoused people pay a disproportionate price for the West’s deadly roads
People experiencing homelessness are more likely to die from transportation-related injuries than the general population.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations
Can land repair the nation’s racist past?
California’s approach to Black reparations shifts toward land access, ownership and stewardship.
Posted inArticles
The California Forever debate moves underground
A billionaire-backed company will continue sowing support, while residents weigh their options.
Posted inArticles
How carbon removal can help curb wildfires and build houses
Local governments in the Four Corners back homegrown carbon-removal projects.
Posted inArticles
As cities enact camping bans, where will California’s unhoused population go?
The number of people experiencing homelessness vastly exceeds the number of available shelter beds in the state.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
A silicon revival in the West
Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?
Posted inArticles
Grabbing public land in the name of housing
Have politicians finally found a way to take public land out of the public’s hands?
Posted inArticles
Supreme Court gives cities and towns power to criminalize homelessness
The Oregon case has been closely watched by Western cities and states.
Posted inArticles
When a landslide blocks your commute
The Teton Pass collapse highlights the importance — and growing vulnerability — of mountain roads.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
California’s homelessness and climate crises leave unhoused communities vulnerable to floods
Seeking shelter, people are living in flood control channels and other flood-prone places.
Posted inArticles
Denver’s new immigration plan, explained
The new program caps shelter stays for all new immigrants but expands services for 800 asylum seekers.