Statesman readers share their concerns about growth

We’ve received some great feedback from readers in the past week in response to the “Our Changing Valley” series headed up by Statesman reporter Kate Talerico.

Last week, she wrote an in-depth piece looking at the history of fragmented leadership and mostly unsuccessful efforts at regional planning in the Treasure Valley.

We asked readers to weigh in with their thoughts about growth, how to manage it, the challenges and what they’d like to see elected officials do moving forward.

Randal Hetz wrote in to say that Boise needs a bypass.

“Much of the traffic problems could be solved by building a bypass on the south side of town allowing transient traffic to go around the city, not to mention growth that will happen to the south, and this would help relieve traffic due to future growth,” he wrote.

I remember this proposal from 10-12 years ago, and at the time, it had some serious momentum. The idea would be to get semitrailer traffic off Interstate 84. These would be trucks going from, say, Salt Lake to Portland to deliver and pick up goods. The bypass would, in theory, free up “local” traffic between Nampa and Boise. The idea was batted around before the Great Recession, and even then, it was “years away” and dependent on growth. I wonder whether that idea will gain steam again in the near future.

This meshes with other readers’ complaints about traffic and infrastructure, in general.

“We need to stop letting new developments that have no infrastructure for them,” one reader wrote. “This is ruining our way of life, my children and their children are also in complete agreement.”

Cindy Edmonds wrote, “You must build the infrastructure first, and to keep it from being outdated, it must be well beyond the immediate needs.”

Edmonds added, “There should be a moratorium on new projects, (with) an accurate density study with a 50- to 100-year growth rate being built into every road and building.”

Some readers, as I’ve heard many times before, placed blame on developers, arguing that they place profits over the needs and desires of the community.

Edmonds provided a list of ideas for development proposals, including solar and gray-water systems on every house, mandatory bike and running paths, and affordable housing for college students and seniors.

“If developers do not want to play by our rules, they can build somewhere else,” Edmonds wrote. “It’s very simple. We need to put our state and communities before their profits. They will still want to build here, we are a hot market. But we want developers who share our vision of Idaho and the vision we have for our children.”

She added that she’d like to see more contractors and developers who are local and not from out of state.

Escalating property taxes, as we’ve been writing about in recent weeks, also was a topic that our readers want to address.

One reader said she and her husband are both Boise natives, are retired and have lived in the Vista area for 43 years.

“Our property taxes keep climbing because the demand for housing,” she wrote. “I think the burden should be paid by new developments not the people who have been here for generations. Quit letting modest living people, especially those of us that are retired, be priced out of our homes.”

Affordable housing also continues to be an issue. For Elisa Barney, that’s not just talking about those who are experiencing homelessness.

“There has been slight mention of young people buying their first home,” she wrote. “Again bias exists against the single people or couples who choose not to marry at 18 and start a big traditional family where they need a mega mansion which doesn’t encourage change.”

She also expressed concern about seniors who want to downsize, citing a neighbor who wants to move and can sell her house for a good price, but can’t buy another house because of high prices and difficulty finding something that’s not a mega-mansion. Her neighbor does not want to move into an apartment and is not ready for a nursing home, so she’s stuck where she is.

Edmonds also expressed concern for natural resources, including water availability and air quality, and preserving green spaces.

Keep the letters and opinions coming, and thanks for weighing in.

This story was originally published September 1, 2019 at 5:00 AM.

Scott McIntosh

Opinion Contributor,

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6202

Scott McIntosh is the Idaho Statesman opinion editor. A graduate of Syracuse University, he joined the Statesman in August 2019. He previously was editor of the Idaho Press and the Argus Observer and was the owner and editor of the Kuna Melba News. He has been honored for his editorials and columns as well as his education, business and local government watchdog reporting by the Idaho Press Club and the National Newspaper Association. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, The Idaho Way. Support my work with a digital subscription