Idaho and the US have a storied history of charging one group to benefit another group. Heck we are looking at using a tobacco tax to pay for univ. tuition. As a bicycle commuter, I pay my fair share of Northend property taxes to subsidize lots of peoples drives to work in Downtown Boise or Meridian. Not sure that you can change that or if it matters.

Not sure that I have seen a parking study come out about who is using these high demand spots. I know other cities have found out there are some abuses that can be solved. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/11/cities-ending-free-parking-for-drivers-with-handicapped-tags-critics-cry-foul.html

Boise is such a nice town but it gives us less and less a reason to go there. BoDo had promise and could have been what the Village at Meridian is. But of course the Village out-imagined, out-developed, and out-free-parked Bodo.

So raise Boise’s parking costs, restrict traffic, bring in refugees, and continue to make it into what Idaho is not and then celebrate governing a declining city. It’s right there for the losing.

They really need a computer system downtown that raises meter fees enough that there are always 25% of the parking spaces available. It would be nice to just be able to find street parking without having to circle the block 10 times.

The personal automobile is heading for the junkyard of bad ideas sooner than most folks think. The price of oil, where an energy company can turn a profit, is currently over $75 per barrel, but demand has drooped off a cliff due to the Depression we are in. (Formally known as Obamas New, Strong Economy) Oil companies are in trouble, but thanks to welfare for corporations, they were just given “too big to fail” status. I see gas rationing and much higher prices not too far down the road. Keep those bicycles handy.

Pinch me! Did I just read someone staying that ACHD actually listens to the people? Why, yes I did. Thanks for noticing. You must have attended some hearings this past year. Your positive comment is very much appreciated. Whoever the author of this article is, I’d like to buy you lunch and chat.

Bikeboy, you stated things pretty much exactly the way things are, again much appreciated.

Downtown (mostly talking retail) is dependent upon people commuting to downtown. There was a committee put together that reviewed a report on vibrant downtowns, and one of the key factors was the ratio between the number of workers downtown and the number of housing units downtown. Boise had a dramatic shortage of downtown housing units per this ratio, creating both a housing shortage and the need for the downtown to import customers.

For the time being I think the parking and transportation strategy for downtown should focus on welcoming people to the downtown, by whatever mode they choose. I am concerned higher parking rates and more parking meters on currently free street parking will further hamper the success of downtown.

As an aside, the consultant’s report for downtown cited too many government agencies, too many fees, high parking costs and lack of available parking as barriers to new housing downtown. In my own discussions with developers many cite the high impact and development costs as the reason they avoid housing projects, to recoup all these fees and added costs they have to focus on the more profitable office and retail developments.

The report itself, despite calling for more downtown housing projects, cited in Exhibit 33 that a mixed use retail/residential development with parking does not generate a positive return.

Link to report:

http://www.ccdcboise.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/BoiseDowntownStrategy-FINAL.pdf

Some folks mistakenly believe that cars = retail business. In Guadalajara Mexico, I visited a huge shopping district that allowed no cars. The whole area was a pedestrian and bicycle paradise, with fountains, trees, flowers and park benches where we have asphalt, noise, and danger from cars racing about in every direction. There were huge crowds of people enjoying the area, and the stores and restaurants were packed. Removing cars from public spaces can make them destinations for exploring and hanging out, not just supremely convenient for hit-and-run shoppers.

Good and interesting comments – I almost always enjoy the Guardian posts, AND the comments they elicit. (Some astute readership here. Thanks!)

We visited Boston a number of years ago, and my perspective was totally shaken! We parked for 4 or 5 hours in a huge public parking garage building while we visited the Aquarium… 32 bucks! (Of course the Aquarium was $250 or so for the group, and an “appetizer” type treat at a nearby restaurant was just under $100 for the six of us.) We loved the visit, but pulling out the wallet was always painful.

I s’pose the reality is, if li’l ol’ Boise is trying to be a big, cosmopolitan city like Portland or San Francisco or Boston, it’ll cost some Dough-re-mi.

Some of us would get out of our cars on onto to the sidewalks if it were not for the hazard of whizzing bikes on the sideWALKS.

Please, get the bikers off the walkways. They are frightening when they shout, “on your left” and there they are forcing a walker off the cement.

Guardian, maybe we could be a little more like Europe. A bottle of wine on the way home…. c’mon, what is not to like about that?

While I agree with your NOTE, “Idaho is not urban”… Boise is becomeing more and more urban-like. It’s all about the current trends.
Globalization. Urbanization. Opa!

Huge parking rate hikes. Pandering to the social engineers under the guise of “ACHD listening to the public”. High pitched squalling from bike riders asked to pay their fair-share. Imagine that. Who could have predicted that?

Editor: While also not passing judgement on pro bike, pro car, I would agree with you that the Boise city politicos are trying to force their own agenda – the same politicos mostly re-elected just a few months ago. Is their own ‘agenda’ that different from what the people want? It would very much seem that way. It’s a distinction with no difference.

As for the cultural differences, I don’t think they’re as big as they’re made out to be. You’re right, not many people want to spend $400,000 on the Aspen lofts, but a lot of people will pay top dollar to live close to downtown – just take a look at the house you could get in Nampa for the price of a 2br in the Boise northend or eastend. Demand is driving that price, and I believe a very large part of that demand is that you can actually do things without getting in your car when you’re that close to downtown.

Mitchell Jaurena, the public has noticed that the only ‘social engineering’ going on is the kind that is supporting and heavily subsidizing car-only transportation. ‘Alternate’ transportation (or as I like to call it, ‘transportation’) is only occasionally getting a bone thrown at it. Luckily, citizens and public officials are starting to realize this lopsidedness is a poor investment, and leads to a lot of undesirable outcomes.

EDITOR NOTE–Perhaps with a bit of envy, we concede that it is nice to live in the north end and be able to walk or bike to the nearby downtown…actually quite european. All that takes on an air of hypocrisy when the city fathers and mothers keep expanding their reach with vast urban sprawl into the SW and E deserts. Water, sewer, roads, schools are needed to facilitate all the growth while downtown gets all the sweetheart urban renewal deals and is difficult to navigate by auto.

Speaking of traffic lanes downtown, and ignoring for now those closed for construction at Grove Plaza (that will be a nightmare when all employees and customers descend upon new buildings), why does the lane on east side of Grove Hotel, northbound, always have people parked at curb, with red cones protecting them?

Why these special privileges? Who enforces: BPD, ACHD, CCDC (lord of all)?

EDITOR NOTE–Last time we checked the hotel got a permanent (perhaps annual) permit from ACHD to block the street. Just wait till the buses start running the wrong way on Capital in that lane from Main!! We have the same concerns on 9th where trucks for just about any event block the street. Currently 9th seems blocked (choked) between Front and River with construction closures. We are told it will only be getting worse.