Why Not Garden City?

[grmi66]

I remember talking to a local cop when I was thinking about moving to Boise. Asked him a theoretical question and said if it's 2:00 AM and your wife's car breaks down, is there any neighborhood that would make you nervous until you got there to pick her up? He had to think about it for a minute or two and said that there was maybe a block or two around GC and another block or two out in Nampa that can get a little sketchy at night. But said he would feel safe walking around any neighborhood in the Boise area at any time of day.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

I wonder if we're talking about completely different parts of Garden City?

I was looking at houses to rent in Garden City and some of the locals were telling me how dangerous the area was. After living in some of the worst areas of Portland and even living for short time in Southern California, I still was scratching my head as to what was so dangerous about it. They are like, there are tweakers, trailer parks and barbed wired fences around. I'm like, even in some nice neighborhoods where I live we have that. In fact, I live in a fairly decent neighborhood in the Snoqualmie Valley right now and the car thieves broke into my car and several other people's cars and took over $500 stuff out of there. And, I thought this was suppose to be a safe neighborhood where I lived?

After looking at enough houses in Garden City, that were considerably lower in rent than Boise proper, I will say that Garden City is a perfectly decent and nice place to live. Sorry, that is just my opinion, as wrong and foreign as it may be. If the OP is from Pocatello, please disregard everything I am writing here.

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

I've spent a decent amount of time in Seattle and Portland; best friend lives in Burien, another friends lives in West Seattle, and my SO's cousins live in oh-so-trendy Ballard. Likewise, in Portland, I have friends in St. John's, Aloha, Gladstone, and Montaville. So I know how different these places are than Boise; I also know the comparative quality of neighborhoods between each place.

THose are all fairly nice neighborhoods, although things have gotten nicer in many of these places. I use to live right near Aloha, which was a little dodgy, but nothing too bad. St. John's is beautiful area, but in the 90s , the part of North Portland near St. Johns was very bad and dangerous. I am not sure when you visited there last. Portland and Seattle have transformed considerably since the 90s. Growing up in SE Portland in the 90s was a totally different experience. This was back when we had segregated neighborhoods, prostitution was open in the streets and gangbangers were rolling up and down the streets and engaging in open gun battles with each other. The gun battles happened mostly in Northeast Portland, which was even worse than my neighborhood. Most of this activity has been abolished in both Seattle and Portland, which both are considerably safer cities than they were in the 80s and 90s.

In the late 90s, I lived in Felony Flats neighborhood of Portland. Hookers were within whistling distance as well as their flashy dressed pimps walking up and down 82nd Ave. You had a lot of those cheap motels, many offering hourly rates (Gee, wonder why ). Another thing that struck me was the garbage all over the place. Boise, even the so-called poor areas is so sparkling clean. I mean when I was walking down the street in the Flats neighborhood of Portland, you would see litter and filth everywhere. One time I opened my door and put my foot on the ground at Fred Meyer parking lot and I heard a crack sound. Then I looked under my shoe and saw I stepped on a syringe. The plastic part of it, thankfully. Also, there was intense high speed car chases every few nights. Literally, you see 15 cop cars at 2AM zooming up 82nd ave and then helicopters pursuing sometimes hovering over your house. Oh yes, I also had the luxury of having my car stolen from me. The crooked cop who I reported the incident threaten to "Make me Sorry", if I decided to make a case out of how he failed to report my car stolen properly. After talking to supervisor, he called me back to apologize frantically, thinking his threats would stop me and that I would sue him.

Now, to me, this is an undesirable neighborhood. Ironically, even Felony Flats in the 90s was hardly ghetto compared to some of the horrible hoods in other parts of the country. But, this is a neighborhood I would tell people to AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. Garden City, would and still should be considered a decent place to live, not an ideal or wonderful place to live by Portland standards.

BTW, Felony Flats today has been transformed, cleaned up and looking much nicer. The area is becoming very Asian and turning literally into Chinatown East, with Asian restaurants and supermarkets replacing all the porn shops, strip clubs and hourly dive motels that use to litter the 82nd Ave strip.

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

As I said, you're comparing apples to oranges. Boise is a much smaller place. There simply isn't the degree of poverty here, nor the crime. So it's not like I think living among the trailer parks in Garden City is comparable to living in the worst parts of PDX or SEA.

Or maybe Apples to Mangoes

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

At the same time, these just aren't desirable places to be. Not for anyone that can help it. For people who think they're shrewdly buying up property for the next "hot spot," well, good luck with that. You'll lose money. People have been eyeballing those areas of GC for years, and nothing comes of it.

I don't know, somebody who has to commute to downtown Boise every day, may enjoy a little cheaper rent and not have to live all the way out in Nampa or Caldwell. Caldwell, actually, has a much higher crime rate than any other town I have seen in the Treasure Valley. Being a "hot spot" with fancy boutiques, upscale coffee houses, bistros and fine dining establishments in walking distance is not necessarily a requirement for a neighborhood to be a decent enough place to live.

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

So I think you're completely wrong that you'll find the majority of Garden City "ideal" simply because you're coming from what happens to be one of the nicest and most desirable regions to live in the US, no matter the blight or roughness of the neighborhoods you're driving by. If you happen to live in these ghetto neighborhoods, maybe you have an argument... but I doubt you do.

I never said it was ideal, I just said it's a decent enough place to live. No, nobody wants to live near barbed wire fences, used car dealerships and industrial complexes, but you can live in the nicest neighborhood of any city and if you are surrounded by trailer parks and industrial complexes, that particular spot will suck, regardless of where you are. Yes, Garden City has a lot of undesirable places to live, but there are plenty of desirable places too. Trailer parks and busy roads suck everywhere, I don't care what area they are in.

[Syringaloid]

Garden City is changing, for example one trailer park was done away with for new apartments. Gentrification is the name of the game in GC anymore. It will take time for the entire burg of GC to change but it has already started with new development, galleries, live theatre, breweries, wine production facilites, etc. There are the less attractive industrial areas and high end neighborhoods.

Here is an example. This was in the news earlier this week.

Shipping container subdivision is planned for Garden City | Idaho Business Review

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

Garden City is changing, for example one trailer park was done away with for new apartments. Gentrification is the name of the game in GC anymore. It will take time for the entire burg of GC to change but it has already started with new development, galleries, live theatre, breweries, wine production facilites, etc. There are the less attractive industrial areas and high end neighborhoods.

Here is an example. This was in the news earlier this week.

Shipping container subdivision is planned for Garden City | Idaho Business Review

If Portland's crime and gang ridden Industrial Warehouse District ajoining Burnside St could turn itself into the luxurious, upscale Pearl District (Portland's Capitol Hill), then I think Garden City can have just as much, if not more potential.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

If Portland's crime and gang ridden Industrial Warehouse District ajoining Burnside Blvd could turn itself into the luxury, upscale Pearl District (Portland's Capitol Hill), then I think Garden City can have just as much, if not more potential.

Maybe. Or maybe not. Idahoans always go their own way, and do things their own way. Especially in Boise.

I lived in the area for almost 5 years, 40 years ago, and the last time I went to Boise was about 16 months ago. I hadn't visited for some time before then, so I drove around, just to see all the changes in Boise, Eagle, Meridian, etc.
Of them all, Garden City was the only place that still looked a lot like it did 40 years ago. About the only thing I noticed was a few of the oldest buildings were gone and there was a LOT more traffic than back then.

Trying to predict what will happen or not in Boise reminds me of a question once asked to Lighnin' Hopkins, the Texas blues guitar player about when he changed chords on his guitar. His chord changes were eccentric.

He said "Lightnin' change when Lightnin' wants to change."

That's how Boise is. And the way Garden City is especially.

[black Jack]

GC is a little cramped for the people living there. The bridge is fine; biking and jumping in the river, and walking your dog are all fine. I would have some concern about the explosion of new construction in Eagle, and the attitude of the neighbors. Flood planes are not flooded. They are regulated by the dam. Flood planes require you to pay significant insurance to FEMA. FEMA sends your money to coastal towns in other states. It's a federal rip-off and the amount you're ripped off changes annually. The HOAs can be petty. New construction displaces demand if you decide to move. There are many opportunities for seeing nature. In retrospect I think the geese might create a mess that is not quite hygienic. The public water supply was not good when we lived there, but maybe it has changed now. Chinden is sadly not changing.

[lesharona]

I live in Garden City by the library, post office and greenbelt. I love this area! I am walking distance to the greenbelt, and walk it all the time. I am close to downtown, shopping and restaurants. And this area is very safe. There are parts of Boise I would consider inferior to this location. Good luck with your move!