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Many unions do work as they should; you don't hear about them much. There will always be some bad apples. The rise of unions largely created the middle class. Busting them across the board is a bad idea, unless you're rich.
They might have lower wages but you can also buy a 3 br house for $150,00! it kinda works it self out. People don't understand that wage and cost of living go hand-in-hand. you want to get more an hour? then guess what? your grocery, utilities, rent are going to go up to match. You can get a lot more pay in california.... of course it costs $300,000 for a house too...
I know I've whined about the summer heat and bad air--and rampant growth and sprawl--here in Boise, but one thing I do love: and that is Fall in The City of Trees. It is almost upon us and I cannot wait. No place I'd rather be in autumn than here. And it's especially beautiful in the North End where I live. SOme days I just drive around withmy windows open and look for the most vibrant leaf colors; just like all those leaf peepers up in New England!
Now....if this summer would just end. Near record heat forecast for the next couple days. (sorry, I couldn't resist. LOL)
Just have been reading all posts about Boise and I just wanted to say to all who live there, and want to live there, that you need to consider all things and count your blessings. I lived in Boise for 14 years. I have been a military wife and a flight attendant. I have been to cities big and small all over the US and Boise is by far the most wonderful, clean, friendly, low crime, family oriented, outdoorsy, accepting, fun places to live. They have had their growing pains, but traffic??? Maybe if you grew up in a very small town. Gangs, please! High crime? Look at the sister city of Spokane-- there is crime in Spokane and the police don't even care your car gets broke into every night they will just take a report over the phone and call it good. Boise has very low crime check statistics of major crimes or how about sexual assaults and murders. It is an up and coming contemporary city with lots to do and a great community atmosphere. The schools are overcrowded, but good and trying to be better. The university has grown to be top notch and a great experience for college age students. Housing, so reasonable. Safe and pristine cleanliness-- there is no place in the whole US that even compares. Metro type transportation, don't need it--still can ride your bike, walk or drive, even car pool--people are happy to help their neighbor out.
Please be realistic for the amount of growth Boise has had since 1990. They still have it going for jobs, housing, families, outdoor fun, music, socialization, education and need I mention no crazy ghetto, rundown, unsafe, crazy, desperate people running a muck on the streets, so those who want to be out and enjoy the night life can feel safe and free to do so. A city the size of Boise with all the qualities of life doesn't exist anywhere else in the US so please enjoy and be thankful and if its not for you, don't spoil it for all those who know what to be thankful for and that BOISE is the only place still left where people care about people and their quality of life instead of ruining around with a nose in the air about what they have that you don't.
Improvements can always be made to a structure, but as a city you can't improve a city of rotten, depressed, angry people which Boise as a community sure doesn't have much of. Boiseans are alive and well and they are willing to accept those who reciprocate. Most of all the community is just that a great community full of great people who want to enjoy whatever they love about their life.
Brain drain was a major issue in Boise 20 years ago too. It's a difficult-to-resolve but very important problem. Of half a dozen friends I can think of off the top of my head, only 1 returned to Boise. Which is a shame, because it's a great place to live in many ways. The solution is not just better higher education; no matter how good that is, people are going to leave if they can't find a commensurate wage for their education. Among the first two things Idahoans should do is raise the state's minimum wage and repeal the right-to-work law that busts the unions. (Unions doing illegal stuff is bad; collective bargaining is good.) Both of these would eventually raise the average wage, which would in turn attract talented workers to Boise. Given the way the majority in Idaho usually votes though, it's a lost cause for the foreseeable future. Idaho voters basically vehemently demand low wages whether or not they realize that.
The kind of thinking in your post is what we have in California. The working and middle class can not live decently here at all. You should read all the posts in the California threads about how exensive/difficult it is to raise kids in CA.
I work in in the unionized public sector in California. I admit I get fat wages and benefits. But, with our chronic deficits (both state and national) I wonder if that pension I'm supposed to get when I turn 55 is really going to pay out. And we have over 12% unemployment, plus a high cost of living.
If you want higher wages, you have to create or bring in new businesses or industries to pay them. Simply raising the minimum wage and unionizing the work force will not do it. That thinking is outdated by at least 50 years.
From my standpoint, what's legal for the unions to do here in California is the real crime. They buy off the state legistlators to write all these laws that favor unions. But all it's doing is helping to bankrupt the state, which has the lowest credit rating of all 50 states.
They might have lower wages but you can also buy a 3 br house for $150,00! it kinda works it self out. People don't understand that wage and cost of living go hand-in-hand. you want to get more an hour? then guess what? your grocery, utilities, rent are going to go up to match. You can get a lot more pay in california.... of course it costs $300,000 for a house too...
Actually, $300,000 is too low for most parts of California that are anywhere near the coast.
You will read in the California threads all the time that the wages are higher there, but the higher pay does not make up for the higher cost of living. And that's the truth.
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