Comments on: Share BAD BOISE With Friends

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:30:23 +0000

Check out CNN Money Magazine’s listing of great cities which includes Boise ranked at No. 8. There is a comment section that is full of positive comments thus far except one, “Reality Check” – let loose folks! Share with the world the growing reality in Boise, Idaho.

By: Daveg

Daveg — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:51:18 +0000

Daveg, as a retirement location, why not?

Well, curious, that’s a good question. Traffic isn’t that big of an issue if I don’t really have to be anywhere at any given moment. Schools wouldn’t be a big issue, although I don’t know how they’re funded in Boise. They’re funded by property taxes here, which is a very large burden for our fixed-income retired folks to bear.

I’m still planning on a visit sometime in the next couple of years or so to see what Boise’s all about. Chances are, though, that I’d be looking outside of Boise itself, probably in the Caldwell area, due to the location of the highly recommended airport. I need someplace to store for my best toy! (http://n466pg.blogspot.com in case you’re curious)

By: BoiseBob

BoiseBob — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:49:04 +0000

Sounds like we’ll be getting $5 million worth of $7-$8.00 per hour jobs again.

By: curious

curious — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:10:51 +0000

Daveg, as a retirement location, why not? If you have school age kids, forget about it. I would love to come back to Idaho, but not until all of my kids are out of high school where we are now. By the way, over the years (decades) we bought three existing houses in Idaho, paid our fair share of taxes, made numerous and consistent charitable and nonprofit contributions, were cognizant of and deferential to the environment, and volunteered in a number of capacities. I spent more than a few hours preparing for and attending City Council and Ada County Planning Commission meetings. I spoke my mind, as many did. Eventually, all of the people who asked these bodies for things I thought imprudent got their way. They just had to wait it out, but they ultimately won. That’s how it’s worked in Boise for decades, but what people don’t realize is that now the effects are totally cumulative. With the kind of growth you have experienced, that is asking for so much trouble it is staggering.

By: kmarko

kmarko — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:43:53 +0000

I think we should highlight our wonderful traffic situation and the woefully inadequate road network we have to support it. The traffic cams show near gridlock on I-84 from Nampa (Garrity) to the Wye every morning while Eagle road has become a sequence of stoplights occasionally punctuated by forward movement. In West Boise (nearly completely developed now) we have a 4-mile stretch (Cole to Eagle) where the main north-south arterials are two-lane roads.

30 years ago you could go point-to-point anywhere in Boise in 5-10 minutes, now it can take you that long to get through a major intersection. This is not progress. If you like California-style traffic jams, with added frictionless fun during the winter months, by all means come to Boise. We may not have the quantity of gridlocked roadways, but our jam quality is to Golden State standards.

By: Daveg

Daveg — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:57:07 +0000

Ah, I see where you’re coming from now. You have a Vegas (nearly unconstrained growth) problem, and that is something I can sympathize with.

That (and a ridiculous tax burden) would be what I’m trying to get away from here in Ohio: miles and miles of shoebox houses crammed together on what used to be attarctive rural land, no prior planning for the ensuing traffic burdens, schools bankrupted by influx of dense-pack housing, developers raking in profits but not contributing to the resultant infrastructure issues, etc.

I guess that’s going to be harder to get away from than I had realized.

Daveg–You paint a familiar picture!
–Editor

By: Daveg

Daveg — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:19:47 +0000

Well, drat. I just bookmarked this site because I’ve been considering someplace out west as a retirement location. But hey, I know when I’m not wanted.

I wonder if Montana is still accepting new residents…

Daveg–Buy an existing house, pay your fair share of taxes, don’t pollute, and we would love to have you. Montana still has virgin land just waiting to be raped as well.–EDITOR

By: Joe Moran

Joe Moran — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:22:10 +0000

Boise has a lack of violent crime compared to most cities. We have a great park system and we still have that rural style that we all love. Costs for the basics of life are relatively low and one can, at least, talk about and put in the media major problems. BUT….
1- A one-party system of economic elitists control’s Idaho’s state legislature and judicial sytem and Boise’s local government. Idaho( Boise) was the only state in the recent elections that remained solidly a one party system.
2- Land speculators control state and Local govts. so that our beautiful rural atmsphere is fast becoming polluted with hugh traffic jams on roads built for the 1950’s. Uncontrolled building projects by the same speculators rake in millions for them but infect our downtown and residential areas with urban blight complete with giant holes in the ground and vast ,brand new, buildings that remain vacant for years.
3- Minimum wage jobs, with no benefits are a large part of Boise’s financial picture while Unions, that is organizations that will better the working American’s lot, are taboo, thanks to the afore mentioned politicians.
4- A large percentage of Idaho’s and Boise’s citizens are unable to get the basic medical care they need because of the outrageous prices hospital’s and doctors charge along with the lack of affordable insurance .

There you have it, folks, ” The good, the bad, and the ugly.” The fact is we can do a lot about the negative things if we want. We need an effective two-party system and people need to get involved in what their local and state government is not doing for the good of the community.We are only going to get the government and communities that we worked for!

By: A Team 88

A Team 88 — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 13:12:51 +0000

Can’t we just go back to the days of the skin heads up north and the bunny bashes down south. A little press about either should help your cause.

By: Inside City Hall

Inside City Hall — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 00:58:51 +0000

FACT – the CCDC had VERY little to do with most of what is seen in the Boise skyline at the top of the page.

If we are looking for the actual results of the CCDC then the picture should show an unfinished empty hole, parking spaces too small to get a Yugo into and list of companies that get fire and police protection and don’t pay for it.