Comments on: Leaving Town

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:20:12 +0000

Julie’s comments regarding a student’s commute IN to her daughter’s school stand out to me… open enrollment has allowed 7 families in our immediate area to rob our neighborhood school of time, energy, talent…We believe if our neighborhood is good enough to live in.. it should be good enough to go to school here, too. It’s uphill both ways at our Bench school…

By: Lisa in Ada County

Lisa in Ada County — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 02:22:23 +0000

Why has no one discussed “infill” of the less populated Boise schools with students from the overburdened Meridian district? Better yet, what about merging the two districts to create opportunities between the communities for geographical, economical,and heaven forbid, superior educational possibilities? My kids attend school in the Meridian district where they have spent time in portables with teachers hired the week before school starts (because enrollment exceeded expectations), and without textbooks for their classes. It is appalling to hold spaghetti feeds to finance textbooks and have parents furnish and paint the inside of portable classrooms while the district next door is clamoring for more students.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:16:34 +0000

In my community we had the same problem. We solved it at the high school level by making the old downtown high school a performing arts magnet school. Now people from all over town who have kids that are into music theatre etc. put their kids in that school and the secondary effect is that the school's performance goes up attracting kids who aren't just interested in the arts. Other schools in the area do the same thing with engineering etc. http://www.nationaltrust.org/issues/schools/success/santa_rosa_ca.html

By: Tam

Tam — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 22:52:19 +0000

I believe the Guardian’s post that it is more desirable to live in a less dense, better planned, and more sub-urban location was actually borne out by the research of the article to which he refers. Surely there are those urban dwellers who prefer to “reach out and touch” their neighbors, literally, but for the most part, folks like some space. Nothing against the bench neighborhood, but if many could sell their homes and move to Middleton or Star and have a 4 bedroom home overlooking Dry Creek with quail and pheasants feeding in their yards, they would prefer it. The problem for those of us who live in the country is 300 home developments being approved out our front doors, which will eventually house families who don’t know how to live in the country. They don’t want to listen to the balers running through the night or have the crop dusters fly too low over their homes. They hate the smell of the dairy up the road and they want their children to run like wild creatures with a new found freedom. But they will, nevertheless, move here and then set out to change US to suit THEM. (with no impact fees):(

By: Julie in Boise

Julie in Boise — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 20:54:23 +0000

This is an interesting post, but you seem to believe that life in a working-class urban neighborhood is necessarily less desirable than life in the suburbs. I need to beg to differ.

I live right on the border of the Vista neighbood you describe above and the Depot Bench neighborhood to the north. While I recognize our neighborhood has problems, I see many signs of vitality as well. Best of all is our location: We’re just a few minutes via car or bus from downtown, and literally walking distance to BSU.

Hawthorne School, which serves much of the Vista area, is an excellent elementary school, despite its proximity to the substandard housing you mention. School started today, and my daughter’s sixth-grade class includes one girl from Meridian whose parents didn’t want her to spend sixth grade in one of that suburb’s overcrowded middle schools.

The Vista Avenue business district is seeing major facelifts at Vista Village. Our neighborhood has a classy new pub and a new upscale eatery, with a new pizzeria coming soon. There are a few commercial properties (the NE corner of Vista and Overland comes immediately to mind, as does the former Elks Lodge) that remain inexplicably vacant, but overall, there’s a solid sense of a working-class neighborhood here on the Central Bench that has more advantages than disadvantages.

Our houses may be small and funky, but our yards are big, shaded by towering trees planted decades ago. Yes, there’s some bad infill and shabby commercial sites, but there are also many homeowners and businesses who are working to make our streetscapes more attractive. Not everyone can afford the North End, but that doesn’t mean our only alternative is life in the suburbs.