Discussion on growth issues (Boise, Nampa: for sale, real estate, lofts)

[Anchorless]

Torrie, a few questions:

1.) Do you see growth in this region (Boise, Ada, Canyon, and Valley counties) as a problem? Why or why not?

2) Why do you think the city of McCall went bankrupt?

3) Where do you propose we put all of these new houses and businesses - in the foothills, in between Boise and Nampa, to the south?

4) At what point would you start considering growth to be a significant problem, and what factors would convince you?

Thank you in advance for answering these.

[Torrie]

Anchorless,
This is not a political forum, people come here for information and facts on the area and I'm not going to get into a debate with you. I'm a realtor not an attorney. I work in a legitimate business and have every right to do what I do. I'm not a developer nor do I hold an office within the government or city where they make all the decisions. I'm sorry you hate realtors and you want to blame someone for all the growth, but I'm not going to be you're punching bag.

I come to this forum with a smile on my face and hope to help those seeking information on our area. I've moved a lot myself and know how scary it can be to go somewhere you know nothing about. My hope is by giving good information people will be able to make a decision as to whether they want to move here or not. I'm not the moving police and I'm not here to squash peoples dreams.

There is no doubt that Boise is growing. Idaho was third in the nation for population growth from 2004-2005. And I believe Boise was the 23rd fastest growing city last year. My job is not to plan the infrasturce of the city, that's not my role. If that's what you want to do that's great and I'm sure you will be an assest to the community after you come back from law school and you have the right to do that just as I have the right to sell homes.

I don't know where you get your information from, but I felt some of it is more your opinnion and not fact. I get a lot of info from Idaho Commerce, the Census and Chamber of Commerce because I think people want the facts when considering the area, not to say that opinion doesn't count for something, but there is data out there that does answer some of the questions people might have.

[Sage of Sagle]

I have moved these posts to a new thread, since (Anchorless) you're starting to hijack many threads into a battle over growth (don't do that any more).

However, I feel that you're raising legit issues with the growth concerns, and Torrie as a realtor MAY wish to address some of these issues from her point of view, but I WANT IT CLEAR that Torrie is not on the hot seat on this one. She's doing her job, working her profession, and it's my view that she's very professional about it.

However, as she has taken a position of advocating this area for sales of homes which naturally also means growth impact, I think hearing her views has merit. Should she decline to answer any of the questions (if she objects to being asked to speculate over politics) I do not expect that to be addresses as a problem.

Just so we're all "moderate" here with each other....

[Anchorless]

I appreciate you starting a new thread on this issue, but I'm confused: didn't the title of that other thread ask about growth and development issues that face Eagle? I'm not trying to be difficult, but I really felt that was within the scope of the thread. Apologies if I was wrong with that assumption.

I'm also a bit disturbed that we are here talking about moving into Idaho (and Boise in particular) and we have to be careful about discussing growth issues - this aren't typical political topics, in the sense that they're partisan. Do understand that growth affects us all in real ways every day. People need to be aware of these issues, and they need to do their homework on them (and I'll try to limit these discussions to the proper context within a thread). And obviously that doesn't mean that they have to agree with me at all, but they need to know what's going on, especially with the impending air quality and water shortage crisis we face. I feel this is especially important because, as we can all see, that we in Boise are beginning to face the very things that people are leaving California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington (among other places) because of. I ask everyone one question: do you want that to happen here?

All I ask is that people think about these issues.

And as much as she's here to subtly promote Idaho (and herself as a real estate agent through making contacts, offering to help out those looking at moving to Idaho, etc.), I'll be here trying to raise awareness of growth and development impact and problems that Idaho and Boise face.

Thank you.

[eyetech]

First off, thanks Torrie for giving me specific advice on where I could go to find answers to my "terrain in the Silver Valley" question. Second, I was just thinking about some other countries who've tried to address their own growth issues (housing, pollution, etc.), and it wasn't pretty. Limiting family size to 1 child, for one thing. I do hope we can come up with some better ideas to save our beautiful land, and at the same time preserve our heritage of freedom (to move, speak, change.) I hope this isn't considered political--it's meant to be an encouragement.

[Anchorless]

I agree it's a tough fix. Obviously you can't create laws that cap the number of children a family can have. And when you begin to restrict outward development, housing prices will shoot through the roof.

I do like the idea of planned communities, but I feel the way they are being built right now is absolutely terrible. The biggest problem is that developers tend to want to put these planned communities in exclusive places, which is great for those that live in them, but terrible for everyone else. For an idea of this, go to the website of M3 developers and check out their page for M3Eagle - they promote the community with pictures of open spaces, people riding bike through spacious, empty foothills, having a picnic and riding horses in serene valleys. The catch is that if they have their way, these open lands will become a sea of houses. Also check out the plans for the Hammer Flats (the Cliffs) development. These places also tend to be extremely pricey, so the idea of them being a "live-work community" is an absolute joke.

The idea of a live-work community is a good one, if they're put on land that isn't to the detriment of everyone else (the foothills, miles away from everyone else, in the mountains, etc.), are made affordable, and the people that live there actually work there. Otherwise they're just another form of the gated community.

But at the same time, urban renewal and infill housing has its problems as well. Often times the new projects clash with existing neighborhood character, and tend to gentrify and price out those the life in the neighborhood. That's been happening in the northend for the past 10 years, and I'm scared it may happen to downtown Boise, with the new lofts and condos that are being planned and built.

So yeah, it's hard to figure out what to do. My only guess is to set a tax cap on properties owned for a certain amount of time by the same (local) owner, and to increase property taxes on newly built and bought homes and property. That creates a disincentive to buy into an area, as well as to have to sell your property because you either can't afford the increased property taxes, or to cash out, so to speak. It's not a perfect solution, by any means.

You could also do things with zoning so that the entire community doesn't have to foot the bill to pay for new infrastructure; make the developers and those that live in these newly built suburbs and planned communities foot the bill to pay for the new roads, water, and utilities they need. Why should everyone else have to pay for them?

I'm still looking for the answer...

[eyetech]

Anchorless,
You've raised some solid concerns and backed them up better than I could have done, AND offered suggestions. We should all be so thoughtful about our opinions! While I hate to add even more legislation to our already burdened system, I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of changes, either. One might be to put an incentive on any home purchase if it's the buyer's primary residence. I'd elaborate, but it wouldn't help . I like the idea of living within a certain distance from work too--for many reasons (energy, pollution, traffic safety/sanity). Just wanted to say thanks for the "thought food!"

[Anchorless]

I think besides the obvious (traffic, pollution), WATER is going to be the major crisis in these next 20 years. You WILL see Boise start enforcing the same sort of water regulations that every other major western community has, probably to the point where watering your lawn will not be allowed during the summer months. I'd encourage everyone to look into xeroscaping anyway.

Also, don't be shocked if at some point because of the stress on the city's budget, and water concerns, if some of our gorgeous parks will brown up over the summer unless we start developing some sort of grey/brown water plan.

There are some disturbing facts as to who owns/controls/uses our water. I remember reading something about a Seattle based company owning Lucky Peak dam (I think). There are continuing conflicts between the gov't/farmers/Native Americans/environmentalists over water rights, restoring the aquifer, breaching the dams, diverting water for more subdivisions and planned communities. It's going to start getting ugly quick, I'm sorry to say.

For anyone who hasn't read Cadillac Desert, you really should go do so NOW! It's a book about irrigation and water use in the (mostly arid) West, and how we are essentially bleeding our land dry with our current practices.

[Anchorless]

Also, in response to some of the things I've brought up with Torrie, and in response to those with the typical replies of why people are coming/will keep coming:

Boise Guardian: Stop This Insanity Now!

[Anchorless]

Phoenix and Boise as boomtowns:

Q&A with Grady Gammage Jr. (broken link)


This should be disturbing to many people here.