As soon as Meridian builds a “convention center” and starts taking the hotel tax for themselves Boise is going to be relegated to just the bars and pubs it is today.

If you count the number of hotel rooms outside Boise there are more outside downtown than there are downtown. Why have a meeting there when you can do everything you can elsewhere.

Problem is those Boise taxpayers are going to end up footing the bill to maintain the Team Dave failed vision.

Not far-fetched. Meridian is the family-friendly place to be. The momentum has indeed shifted away from the North End. And Boise’s leadership is uninspiring. Go West, Young Man.

Nay.
Downtown is Downtown. It has the excitement of Downtown. Lunch time, evening time, night time.
Meridian is park, walk. Drive, park, walk, drive. Boring.

Maybe in 30 years- but that will just be 30 more years of traffic built up on Eagle Rd.

Look at the # of acres of farmland WITHIN the Meridian City Limits.

Well as an employee of VRT, I hope the bus system continues to operate.

Ugh, I avoid Eagle and Fairview like the plague it is. The traffic is absurd–I don’t expect the old, two-lane Eagle Road with easy 45mph traffic anymore, but all the extra lanes and traffic lights have turned it in to road rage central.

I’ll take downtown and the mall area any day over Meridian.

Easterner, Ask a young kid:’Want to take a bike ride on the Greenbelt?” Or, “Lets go to the zoo!” Or, “How about we hike along the River?” THEN ask, “Want to go to Big Al’s?” “Eat at Ling and Louies’?” Meridian will win out 7 out of 10 times…along with: “I want a Kids Meal at Micky Dee’s!” Its called marketing and Meridian is REALLY good at it. Trust me, I have bailed on family outings because it involved the drive to and from Meridian, the traffic, the atmosphere, etc. Give me a hike in the Foothills any day/time. Just wish there was a little more draw for downtown…Having 4 boys all playing sports…I cringe when I have to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods…and I have to go lots.

love downtown, avoid Meridian like the plague, terrible traffic by Idaho standards.

There’s work, there’s home and the challenge is to figure out where the “other place” is for people to spend time and money. The choices for the “other place” are plentiful in this valley and where people spend their time and discretionary money is the challenge. This year’s hot item is next years dud.

The number one reason no one goes downtown. Parking and if you can get it for free in the “next town over” the so-be-it. Let’s also not forget Jack’s Urban Mega Palace paid for by the taxpayers.

EDITOR NOTE–To our knowledge the Simplot JUMP project doesn’t have any public money at all. It is being build with money J.R. left for that specific purpose as part of a foundation, according to company sources. Taxes will go to CCDC, but that’s just because of the location.

I’m always late, so no one will see this. But…

Downtown Boise has the grid and the tree lined streets with detached sidewalks. You cannot duplicate that in Meridian. A downtown grid is the very opposite of suburbia.

Yet, the downtown grid is slowly disappearing into super blocks. Historic preservationists focus their efforts on single entity buildings without looking at the big picture that’s the historic grid which ties together those old buildings with easy walkability.

Preservationists always lament the loss of old Boise old buildings, but what about the loss of the grid at The Grove? Now St Lukes, having already confiscated Bannock, wants to do the same with Jefferson. JUMP will forever disconnect North 10th from South 10th and make Broad St. a dead end before it needs to be.

Bodo is the last time streets were opened instead of closed. Bodo has been successful, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

Guardian, you want a quainter downtown? Demand that the street grid be preserved and closed streets reopened. Don’t let Gardner forever ruin the Grove St. corridor with a building. When people come to their senses, they’ll want a continuous Grove St back.

Is this a story? Eagle Rd & Fairview are a traffic nightmare and there is nothing to do out there except drive, park, walk, eat, drive, park, shop. Meridian, by design, is the suburbs with strip malls. Dave, your complaining about all things Boise are tiresome.

EDITOR NOTE–Agree Eagle and Fairview is busiest intersection in the state. Also in past 40 years I have watched downtown Boise become a great attraction for “adult entertainment,” (expensive food and lots of booze joints) while legacy retailers have fled to the burbs. Meanwhile Meridian has grown from about 2,000 residents to 64,000!
You see complaining, I see reality.

Clancy, downtown Boise is clean thanks to ACHD – ACHD sweeps the streets in downtown Boise far more often than anywhere else. I still won’t go there – parking is a pain and expensive and the parking garages are nasty.
Katherine, I agree with you. sure miss The Mode. I might put up with the parking issues and go downtown if Team Dave brings back The Mode and Macy’s and maybe add a Nordstroms

I am old enough to remember when you went “downtown” it meant putting on your finest clothes, lunch at Woolworth’s, or a nice cafeteria, shopping was done at Sears, Penny’s, or other retailer. It was an all day deal but a fun trip none the less. Then the shopping mall concept came in with one stop shopping and free parking. The malls were open air and the next generation was “inside” and out of the elements. Now we are back to stores that are back outside and we no longer walk store to store but drive right up to the front door.

Sear’s and Penny’s closed downtown stores that were very profitable in favor of the Mall Concept. Now we do a lot of shopping online and can save both time and money. The brick and mortar stores are in a struggle to meet this new competition model and shoppers are armed with prices down to the penny when they actually do go to real stores.

Same goes for Movie Theatres, online streaming and big screen TV’s make for a nice evening to nowhere right at home in a big recliner and a bowl of popcorn.

I wish the new mall owners well but for me it will be a trip to take a look but as for shopping, time will tell. The older I get the less I like crowds of people, incompetent sales people who have no knowledge of the products or in the case of a sale… we just sold the last one. Online puts the buyer in charge and comparison shopping is a snap. The product is shipped to your front door in a couple of days and if you don’t like it you get free returns in the case of Amazon and other like minded cyber-stores.

I went to that California monstrosity last week…. the turf farm was a much better use of the land…. IMHO