Comments on: We Hear You Knocking, But You Can’t Come In

By: HH

HH — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:49:44 +0000

This is actually so sad…. when I was a kid we would go to the Boise Depot and play there as if it were just another Boise park. We could play hide and seek on the land, leave pennies on the tracks to get smashed by the trains and play inside – or even use the huge rest rooms. No matter how often we were inside we were always in awe of the place. Wow the ceilings were so high and the noise echoed so there was a natural desire within us to be more quiet (not wanting to attract the attention of adults, I suppose).

My kids could do the same thing. But my grandkids can only play on the grounds. They love this, but unlike the other parks in Boise, there is not a public restroom – for the public to use. Is this legal? I am sure that it is, or it would not be done……
Is it legal to have a Boise Park without restrooms?

ED NOTE–The areas aroung the grotto and the bushes might smell better if they had public restrooms.

By: Tam

Tam — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 01:55:11 +0000

Jon, Nothing duplicitous about Guardian “freewheeling” with 75k. If we did away with some of the unnecessary layers of insulating management in the Parks area, it wouldn’t take long to come up with 75k in base money for this purpose. The depot is already purchased, it was already promised, if costs 75k, then lets get on it with. Let the cartoons begin.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 23:06:20 +0000

Max- Just pointing out that Mr. Frazier’s comment of “if it costs $75,000…so be it” is awful free wheeling with our money considering his other opinions. I didn’t say anything about the appropriateness of the city’s actions and in fact would agree the public needs better access to this treasure.

If Mr. Frazier is a self appointed guardian of the public trust, then I assume he doesn’t mind when someone points out gaps in his logic or duplicitous reasoning. After all, who is watching the watchers?

By: Max

Max — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 22:13:25 +0000

Jon – the double standard is the Mayor and Council who cannot keep their word. Promise something and not deliver…..That’s “convenient”.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 18:38:24 +0000

$75,000….gee Guardian, that is a lot of money. Maybe we should hold a bond election to approve that expenditure. Nice double standard. Convenient.

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:52:55 +0000

We Hear You Knocking, But You Can’t Come In,
We Hear You Knocking, Go Back Where You Been…

Boise Parks Department is not for common Boise residents and taxpayers who own the parks and pay their wages. When are you/us commoners going to realize your/our place?

Promises from Parks are cheap. A lawsuit against them would win but we would end up paying the tab but let’s do it!

Caterers and “preferred vendors” probably can be from anywhere as long as use of the depot is for profit.

I don’t know why us citizens can’t use it any time we want to. Some of us work different hours and days than most of the people.

I like the idea of the Depot being the “welcome center” for residents and visitors. There are some cool contraptions that run on railroad tracks, even if the tracks go to nowhere. I have never had the opportunity to climb or take the elevator to the top of the bell tower and view the City of Trees. I would even pay to do it, plus pay my taxes to have it taken care of and protected.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter is an elitist. Forget about him becoming a realist. They beat that out of people in law school.

By: T.J.

T.J. — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 03:57:49 +0000

With a little study the government can determine peak traffic. For valley intercity traffic there can be minibuses to take people from the depot to downtown at peak times. There could be other stops and other minivan pickups across the valley – probably not very many. I doubt this would require train traffic every 30 minutes. Business could certainly adjust their opening and closing times to accomodate public transit.

As for interstate rail I expect twice a day would be sufficient for some time – one going east and the other west. This doesn’t need to be the be-all end-all but would just give citizens another choice in traveling. There is no reason the government can’t at least try this system but not by trying to subvert it from the start.

If a train service were to start in the valley again I would be first in line go anywhere, wouldn’t even care where.

By: Inside

Inside — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:22:47 +0000

Even though city officials talk about “rail” they know it falls into the same subsidized program bucket as busses.

The fact is that they know that it will nieiher pay for itself or significantly reduce traffic. Even if there was a train it would need to go downtown – NOT to the Depot. If the train goes to the depot you would have to condem homes around it to provide parking or bus access and you would have to have busses to take riders from there to downtown – this is VERY ineffecient and city officals know it.

Note- How do you think all those multi-millionaires who buy condos on Crescent Rim will feel about trains every 30 minutes 35 feet from their doors. Going to be hard to sell condos next to the tracks. Doubt we see that fact in the glossy sales lit from Mr. Clark.

To pay for a train the city would also have to raise taxes significantly. Then there is the “power” issue of who “controls the infrastructure and the MONEY”.

Their current approach is to create as much traffic congestion as possible in hope to get voters to agree to try rail – whatever the cost. Both approaches will fail and are deeply flawed.

By: T.J.

T.J. — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 03:18:36 +0000

Guardian: When was the last time the government “tried” rail travel? The gov’t has been supporting the interstate highway system and the airlines for years. I haven’t heard of any reason why there can’t be at least a trial run to see how many people would like to avoid the nonsense at the airport and avoid sitting in a box like sardines for several hours at a time. One of the great things about trains is that you can’t drive them into buildings. But you can walk around and get something to eat.

Because airlines revolve around “hubs” when you get to the hub you still have to figure out how to actually get to the town you want to go to. For example, I have a daughter in western Kentucky. To visit her I have to fly to Nashville, Tennessee. There used to be a shuttle bus to Fort Campbell, Ky, but it went away. I don’t feel comfortable driving on unfamiliar highways so my daughter has to drive 75 miles each way to get me. Consequently I have quit going. There are zillions of trains running around. None of them take passengers. That’s just dumb, in my opinion. This is not nostalgia for me – I would just like to travel point to point without having to rent an automobile.

I used to enjoy flying but the thrill is gone…now it is just a chore.

By: john

john — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:58:23 +0000

Folks, when gas hits $5.00/gallon trains will again become popular. The car companies will not make super energy efficient cars fast enough. Micron will scream because its Canyon County employees won’t be able to afford to drive their Tahoes to work. Give it time. The Depot will be busy again in the near future. You can talk about it when gas hits $3.00/gal this summer.