Comprehensive planning determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The result is called a comprehensive plan and both expresses and regulates public policies on transportation, utilities, land use, recreation, and housing.

The City of Idaho Falls Comprehensive Plan provides a roadmap for city and community leaders to address growth and its impacts to quality of life issues; and it provides guidance for sustainable development. The Comprehensive Plan contains a Future Land Use Map that is a vision of community land use into the future. The implementation of the principles and guidelines in the Comprehensive Plan is realized through the establishment of action items that are supported by goals, objectives and strategies. These action items are intended to provide measurable outcomes that can result in changes or additions to codes, policies, procedures, staffing and other outcomes.