Workshop in Coeur d'Alene explores how community partnerships drive change

Daron Babcock led a Coeur d’Alene workshop Friday afternoon at 418 E. Lakeside Ave., putting a Dallas neighborhood turnaround story in front of a county where housing costs, growth and public safety are tightening the pressure on local leaders. The session, titled “What Good Looks Like: A Build Cities Workshop with Daron Babcock,” ran from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Babcock, the founder of Bonton Farms and managing director of Community Transformation at the Stand Together Foundation, has built his reputation on work in Bonton, where the numbers once pointed to deep distress. Stand Together says the neighborhood’s median household income was about $19,000 when Babcock arrived, roughly 39% of residents lived below the poverty line and nearly 40% of young men went to prison before age 25. The foundation says median household income later grew by 106% and the graduation rate reached 76.7%.

The pitch behind that work was straightforward: durable change comes from proximity to the problem, practical solutions, and a willingness to measure what is working and stop what is not. That message lands in Kootenai County at a moment when local housing and growth data show the scale of the challenge. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the county’s population at 191,864 in 2025, up 12.0% from the 171,362 people counted in the 2020 census. County records put the 2024 residential population at 188,323, up 14% in five years.

Housing pressure is visible in the prices. The Census Bureau reports Kootenai County’s median value of owner-occupied homes at $518,700 and median gross rent at $1,492, while median household income stands at $81,861. In Coeur d’Alene, Zillow put the average home value at $607,842 as of May 31, 2026, with a median list price of $735,000.

Local officials have already tied those trends to bigger policy fights. In March, Councilor Kiki Miller said attainable housing remains urgent in Kootenai County. In May, commissioner candidate Bruce Mattare said responsible growth must be paired with funding for law enforcement, prosecutors and the district court. Mayor Dan Gookin has argued that growth policy should support high-paying jobs rather than subsidize homes people who work locally cannot afford.

The workshop fit into a wider local network already focused on the same questions. The Coeur d’Alene Area Economic Development Corporation describes itself as a private-public nonprofit that helps businesses relocate or expand in North Idaho, and the Housing Solutions Partnership has been holding annual housing and growth workshops centered on worker housing affordability.