Regardless of how much furniture you stuff into a small house–it is still a small house. Crowded, but still small with less open space. Same is true for our downtown…no matter how many buildings are erected the streets remain narrow, the sidewalks skimpy. We need to start thinking smaller when it comes to development.

When it was constructed at the at the early part of the last century, Capitol Boulevard was a statement of grandeur. The State Capitol sat at the base of the mountains on the north end and the new Union Pacific Depot dominated the southern vista. Well designed and well laid out–not cramped or pinched. Those early planners would die all over again if they could see what we have done to ourselves.

Our “small town” was smaller, but just as impressive by scale when compared with the grand boulevards of Mexico City, Paris, Washington, D.C., and Buenos Aires. The beginning of the end in Boise came with the old Bank of Idaho building at Capitol and Idaho. It was the tallest building in the state and began the “march to obscurity” for our beloved Statehouse. Even the bank (Key Bank) is dwarfed by today’s skyline.

Oldtimers–visitors and residents alike–recall what a “nice little town” Boise used to be. There were tree-lined streets, a vibrant downtown with hardware, drug, “dime,” department, and shoe stores, parks along the river, and neat residential areas.

Today we have shoehorned an ugly oversized hotel into a small area. The Grove Hotel protrudes into public open space on one side, the sidewalk on both Capitol and Front. They also routinely block our public street. The Hampton Inn is no better.

The CCDC gave away the sidewalk AND parking spots across from City Hall on Idaho street to accommodate a new restaurant. The only scenic views found in Boise’s downtown today are from atop tall buildings. Common sense and a “sense of place” should prevail in future downtown construction.

The event has been touted as a “profit center” for Idaho and that doesn’t sit well with the GUARDIAN. If memory serves us, promoters claim the cost of the games for people with special needs would cost about $28 million, but they forecast it would bring in $40 million to the local economy.

We seriously doubt those figures. Regardless of the numbers, the reason for anyone to host such an event should be because you have the ability to do it–in terms of finances, facilities, and dedication. We seriously doubt the Special Olympics dumps much cash into local economies. Hosting the games should be a humanitarian gesture–not a financial incentive to profit from handicapped athletes.

Places like Lake Placid, Salt Lake and other former Olympic Winter Games venues would make a lot more sense. They have existing facilities and experience dealing with events, crowds, and transportation.

The real proof will come if the games ultimately end up in another location. If local supporters continue their financial assistance–regardless of the venue– they will bring as much honor to our city and state as they would holding the games here.

Our taxes were used–in part–to pay the estimated $700,000 to publish the puff piece which was orchestrated by the local Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber will get a $30,000 payback when Team Dave performs his annual “live aid state of the city speech” for businessmen Thursday.

Last year when the Daily Paper dared accurately report the downside of the mayor’s “accomplishments,” editors and staff got nasty calls from Team Dave. Look for a more tempered story this year, probably with less prominent display.

Team Dave, the Chamber nor anyone else has acted on a year old GUARDIAN idea that needs some immediate attention–tourist related signs. We have included samples from Cleveland and Columbus.

There are just a few official highway directional signs aiming motorists to key points like the airport, but nothing telling them they are headed the right direction along the way.

It makes no sense to spend more than half a million dollars to attract people to the city, but leave them to roam aimlessly around with no signs to guide them. Says a lot for the mentality of those who strive to attract visitors.

We need signs throughout the city at every major intersection to make our City of Trees “user friendly.”

The Visitors Bureau is the logical agency to occupy the Depot and keep it open, provide decent signs around the city and generally promote the travel industry–without building a convention center. Better to invest the money from Team Dave’s Chamber gig in signs instead of for the special interest lobbying efforts of business.

Visitors and residents alike would benefit from signs directing motorists to attractions like the Historical Museum, Art Gallery, Zoo, Old Pen and Botanical Gardens, Golf Courses, The Depot, The Grove and Qwest Arena, Fairgrounds, Airport, Birds of Prey Center, Fish & Game M-K Nature Center, Lucky Peak, Hyde Park, BSU, Capitol Building,Table Rock (more on that later) and the list goes on.

With intermittent streets, the natural obstacles of the bench and the river, Boise is a tough place to navigate if you are a stranger. Good signs would go a long way toward stress reduction and increased visitor satisfaction.

United Airlines in-flight magazine publisher, Pace Communications, stands to take about $700,000 from Treasure Valley businesses if they sell 36 pages of puff for the reported $20,000 per page rate. There will not be 36 pages about Boise unless someone PAYS for 36 pages.

It is all part of a promotion–funded in part with taxes– to attract more bodies to our already polluted air and crowded streets. The Chamber folks say they want to attract high paying jobs, not more population. Are robots gonna do the work?

Any given day you will see news stories about growth in the mainstream media, yet no one objects to having cities and counties pay the Chamber of Commerce to promote increased population in the name of progress.

In the interest of fairness and objectivity, the GUARDIAN sent the publishers of UAL’s Hemispheres magazine a little note to make sure they cover Boise well in the 36 pages.

Here are some points we thought worthy of mentioning in the seat back magazine:
–As many as 12 neighborhood associations in several counties are banding together to oppose growth in the pristine foothills. Developers are planning tens of thousands of homes in this once wild area.
–Special state highway funds (GARVEE bonds) are inadequate to pay for new roads demanded by unbridled growth.
–There is a daily commute along I-84 that transforms the freeway into a parking lot often as not.
–Eagle Road is a nightmare of traffic. You need some telephoto lens shots to illustrate the mass of cars there.
–Boise has recently recorded same day air quality indexes TWICE as dirty as Los Angeles. DEQ will verify this.
–Ground water consumed by MICRON and others has caused the need to take water from the Boise river and inject it into the aquifer.
–The downtown building boom pays no taxes to the city on improvements–it all goes to the urban renewal agency to create more growth.
–Meridian can’t keep up with the demand for schools created by all the newcomers with children.
–Idaho Power Company has announced plans to hike rates due to high demand and low water.

If any of you have more ideas, drop an e-mail to Kelley.Bradley@paceco.com

The GUARDIAN previously wrote about the cozy relationship between the Chamber and local government in TAXES FUND CHAMBER .

On the following page you can read the Chamber letter to members which makes it clear this ain’t free, but mentions no rates.

Dear Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce business partners and supporters:
We are excited to announce that the Boise Valley will be featured in the September 2007 issue of Hemispheres, the award-winning inflight magazine of United Airlines. This 36-page editorial section, Insight: Boise, will reach readers traveling to over 210 destinations in 26 countries and will showcase Boise as a great place to live, work, and visit. In addition to the September feature, Insight: Boise will be available for one year on the United Hemispheres’ website (www.hemispheresmagazine.com).
Hemispheres selected the Boise Valley as a place to profile because we have an amazing story to tell – one that we want to share with the world. Just consider a few of our recent recognitions: the Boise area ranked #10 in best U.S. cities to live according to Frommer’s Cities Ranked and Rated, 2nd Edition; #4 City in the Nation for Business and Careers, Forbes magazine; Top Ten Great American Towns, Money magazine; Best Places to Live, Money magazine; Top 50 Smartest Places to Live, Kiplinger’s; and Top 31 Best Places to Live and Play, National Geographic – Adventure magazine.
Now is the time to build on the Boise Valley’s visibility. Insight: Boise in United Airlines’ Hemispheres magazine is an opportunity to do just that. The Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce is pleased to support this unique opportunity to share our story with the rest of the world. Over the next 10 weeks, the Hemispheres editorial and marketing teams will be in Boise to investigate the economic drivers and other factors that shape our growing community. We encourage your involvement in this project by welcoming these teams. They will seek substantive input to help tell our story as well as provide a dynamic marketing vehicle for private and public organizations that want outstanding advertising exposure linked to the Boise Valley feature.
We believe this is an unprecedented chance to share our story on a national and international scale. Please contact Kelley Bradley at Pace Communications at Kelley.Bradley@paceco.com or 336-633-9227, or Linda Alden with the Boise Valley Economic Partnership (BVEP) at lalden@bvep.org or 208-472-5244 for more information about this project.
We look forward to your interest and involvement in helping to tell about the Boise Valley’s outstanding success.
Regards,

Nancy Vannorsdel George Iliff
President & CEO Chairman
Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce

A year ago the GUARDIAN posted a plea for some local agency to provide directional signs for tourists to make our town a “tourist friendly” destination.

We showed examples from Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio. With few exceptions, motorists venturing off the traffic mess on Interstate-84 enter a twilight zone when it comes to getting to and from our local attractions.

At major intersections we need signs like the one in our recent photo from Washington, D.C. The secret is to have distinctive uniform information signs.

Folks could easily visit BSU, the Old Pen Museum, City Hall, Capitol Building, Fair Grounds (or Expo Idaho), Garden City, Eagle, Downtown, and the Airport with some well placed directional signs.

Once again the GUARDIAN asks the Visitors and Convention Bureau or the G-BAD (Greater Boise Auditorium District), the ACHD, Boise City, or the Chamber of Commerce to pony up some funds for signs.

Unfortunately all those politicos are too busy creating and then dealing with GROWTH. We know there are plenty of people in city hall reading this, how about some action?

After visiting the favelas of Rio we can clearly see the benefits of “in fill” development advocated by some members of Boise’s city council. You can certainly create a demand for mass transit and eliminate automobile travel. Also no zoning, plat approval, or variances to consider.

City Hall in Rio is probably a bit much for our Idaho tastes and conservative voters here would never approve a bond to finance it. However, councilors may come up with some creative financing deals with CCDC and do it without voter approval.

We have been unable to stimulate any support for a viewpoint atop Table Rock–other than fond memories of illicit drinking. We do think the similar view in Rio might prompt some to visit our city for something other than a peek at the blue turf.

Finally, wouldn’t it be neat to have a cable car that runs off Warm Springs Ave.–perhaps near the East Park Center Bridge–up to Table Rock? The city could get a grant to study extending it all the way to Bogus Basin. That probably wouldn’t work because folks in the East End wouldn’t want increased traffic, but North Enders would have less traffic.

Just some random thoughts from south of the equator.

A recent trip to Ohio prompted the GUARDIAN to share an idea that needs some immediate attention–tourist related signs. We have included samples from Cleveland and Columbus.

There are just a few official highway directional signs aiming motorists to key points like the airport, but nothing telling them they are headed the right direction along the way.

We need signs throughout the city at every major intersection to make our City of Trees “user friendly.” Our original thought is that G-BAD should be dissolved and the functions transferred to the Visitor and Convention Bureau–first cousins to G-BAD, but not married.

The Visitors Bureau is the logical agency to occupy the Depot and keep it open, provide decent signs around the city and generally promote the travel industry–without building a convention center.

Visitors and residents alike would benefit from signs directing motorists to attractions like the Historical Museum, Art Gallery, Zoo, Old Pen and Botanical Gardens, Golf Courses, The Depot, The Grove and Qwest Arena, Fairgrounds, Airport, Birds of Prey Center, Fish & Game M-K Nature Center, Lucky Peak, Hyde Park, BSU, Capitol Building,Table Rock (more on that later) and the list goes on.

With intermittent streets, the natural obstacles of the bench and the river, Boise is a tough place to navigate if you are a stranger. Good signs would go a long way toward stress reduction and increased visitor satisfaction.