Growth
Developers Spell Canyon Crop Failure
May 22, 2006 
Developers have eaten up much of Ada County’s open spaces, plan to eat more and now have a craving to devour Canyon County.
Because Ada County has tougher zoning for “planned communities” than our neighbors to the west, the guys with the big appetites to make big bucks want to build along the Snake River near Homedale and– if you can believe talk radio–near Notus. Crop failure will take on new meaning in the once proud agricultural county.
For many years Idahoans–mostly politicians, but local businessmen as well–were proud that “we are booming.” Politicians could point to increased sales tax collections, lots of new businesses and lots of jobs.
Today one cannot pick up a newspaper or turn on a newscast that doesn’t have a story about growth. Planned growth, proposed growth, Blueprint for Growth, Good Growth, and just plain gorging.
We have people fearing floods, drive by shootings, and meeting after meeting trying to solve growth related issues concerning streets, sewers, water, schools, and air pollution.
So why do people want to come to Idaho?
Businesses always gushed about the honest work force that was highly productive. NOT! They came because wages were low and governments offered them deals–”Job training grants,” for instance. Then the legislature passed anti union “right to work” laws.
Do you think Tamarack PAID for the ski runs on public land? Do you think the 18 square mile federal land trade in the works is REALLY to benefit education?
Do you think the California dairymen come here for expensive hay and restrictive environmental standards aimed at protecting rivers from stinky runoff? Perhaps they come to pay hefty taxes.
Do you think the Arizona and California developers come here to work with wise politicians who charge huge development impact fees and require all sorts of infrastructure before the first dwelling unit is constructed?
Do Californians come here because they want to have a smaller house that costs more than the one they just sold? No, these people whose entire net worth is in an inflated home sale are looking for someplace that is cheap by comparison.
As long as we GIVE AWAY THE FARM , we can expect the quality of life in this fine state will continue to erode.
Residents of Star with a 158% increase in population in the past year are “mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore.” They are circulating a recall petition against the mayor and most of the council.
An interesting exchange of comments at GROWTHOPHOBIA OUTBREAK IN STAR
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
May 22, 2006, 1:17 am
OK, you’ve got it figured out. Now how can we get our idiot politicians to understand that getting a few more bucks in the sales tax doesn’t make up for the loss of our state?
And, as property taxes skyrocket because of jacked-up assessments, the politicians still keep trying to tell us that’ll save us money — at least that’s what I think they are saying. Hard to understand some of them when they’re talking out of both sides of their mouths.
Meanwhile, they’re pushing to increase the sales tax once again.
But, they say, this increase would go for schools. Yeah, right; that’s how they conned the people into approving the current sales tax in the first place (after they’d thrown out an earlier one many years ago) by saying it would go for schools. And then they placated the antigambling folks by saying the lottery would provide lots of money for schools.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Well, they’ve fooled us lots more times that that — so shame on all of us.
By the way, Guardian? What office are you going to run for?
Whatever it is, you’ve got my vote.
May 23, 2006, 10:57 pm
The real estate market in the rest of the country is dieing. This is going to put a nice stop to Idaho migration.
May 24, 2006, 8:43 pm
Now several years ago did not the slogan start: BUY IDAHO.
Well, that is what out of state people have been doing. They have listened to the message and are buying as much of Idaho as they can get their dirty little mitts onto. Then selling it off to other people who want to BUY IDAHO, only at higher prices than the Idaho common working person can afford. That’s ok, someone has to rent.