Can Idaho continue to grow and still keep its character? | Opinion
Whenever I go back to Kuna, I am struck by how much has changed yet how much has stayed the same.
Downtown still hasn’t changed much. The Kuna Grange is still there, Bernie Fisher Park, the Jacksons and Super C. Enrique’s, formerly El Gallo Giro, is as popular as ever. The library is mostly the same. Some of the old barns and hay derricks are still standing, some of the old alfalfa fields are still alfalfa fields.
But as Mark Dee reported last week, Kuna is an Idaho boomtown, a housing hot spot.
This stat blew me away: Since the start of the year, nearly one of every five houses sold in Ada County has been in Kuna, according to data from the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service. When considering just new homes, it’s closer to one in three.
Kuna’s always been fast-growing, but I don’t think it’s ever been quite like this.
When my wife and I bought the local newspaper and moved our family to Kuna in 2006, it was the boom cycle just before the Great Recession, and Kuna had a population of about 12,000 people.
Today, it’s more like 31,000, possibly as many as 38,000, if you believe Compass’ estimates.
As the owner of the local paper, I made it a habit of asking newcomers why they picked Kuna. Many — too many — said that they moved to Idaho to be closer to family (usually kids and grandkids), and Kuna was the cheapest place to buy a house.
Invariably, these newcomers didn’t know about the Farmers Market or the Grange or Community Hall. They didn’t join the Lions Club or Kiwanis. They’d show up for Kuna Days or the Night Light Parade, but they seldom shopped at a downtown business or bid on a tree at the Down Home Country Christmas auction.
But the core, the true character of Kuna, was always there. People like Lavar and Wilma Thornton, Don and Mary Johnson, Gary and Fern Drake and the countless other farmers who picked lava rock from their fields as they watched Kuna grow from a sleepy farm town of 500 people.
The Reynoldses ran the 4-H program for decades. Rich Cardoza, a local insurance agent with an office downtown, became a City Council member in his adopted hometown after his house burned down, and he was blown away by the generosity of the town that helped him in his time of need. Every one of the old-timers seemed to have done a stint on the school board, planning and zoning commission or city council at one time or another.
And, yes, they all showed up for the Christmas and FFA auctions.
But then I think of newcomers like Aldis and Sophie Garsvo, transplants from that dreaded state, California. But rather than try to change Kuna, they embraced Kuna, attending events, joining Scouts. Aldis volunteered untold hours helping to establish and create interpretive signs for the Western Heritage Scenic Byway. They became Idaho. Heck, they raised their son, Eriks, to become the director of the Owyhee County Historical Museum. Talk about embracing Idaho. They didn’t try to ban books or shut down the library.
Back then, Kuna was known as the starter home capital of the Treasure Valley, a reputation that at the time was a pejorative, something city leaders desperately wanted to shed.
Today, that label doesn’t seem like such a bad moniker.
With housing prices going bananas these past few years, so many people have been priced out of the market. But Kuna offers a ray of hope for families.
The median sales price of a Kuna home this year has been $445,000, according to Mark’s story. That’s roughly $94,000 less than the countywide midpoint of $539,990 — about 17% cheaper.
So being the starter home capital today seems more like a flex than a diss.
I still love Kuna and the people, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a new home. But I urge you to become part of the community, shop downtown, go to the community auction, join the Lions Club, get to know the long-timers.
I just hope that as Kuna — and Idaho, for that matter — grows, the more that things change, the more they stay the same.
Scott McIntosh is the communities editor and columnist for the Idaho Statesman. You can email him at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com or call him at 208-377-6202. Sign up for his free weekly email newsletter The Idaho Way.
