Looking to slow down the influx of new residents to Idaho? Here are a few ideas

Years ago, Oregon discovered too many people were moving into the state and it became famous for discouraging non-residents from considering a permanent move to Oregon. Then-Gov. Tom McCall put the icing on the cake when he made national news inviting tourists to visit Oregon, but then quipped, “but for heaven’s sake don’t stay.” That generated national media coverage and created the “ungreeting” card from Oregon that read, “Governor Tom Lawson McCall, on behalf of the Great State of Oregon, cordially invites you to visit Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada or Afghanistan.”

That mention in Gov. McCall’s invitation of Idaho as one of the places to visit got me thinking about our current mess in Idaho. That’s right, mess, which is what it looks like to me. Way too many folks moving into Idaho, but not enough emphasis on slowing down growth. It occurred to me that perhaps state and local officials need some help along the lines McCall offered years ago in his attempt to slow things down in Oregon.

So here’s my list of reasons state and local officials could give as to why Idaho is not the place for emigrants to land.

First the obvious one. It’s hotter than hell in the summer with more days reaching into the triple digits that my dog won’t even tolerate on a brief walk. Idaho’s summers may not be the Arizona special where Phoenix broke a record last year with 144 days over 100 degrees, but who knows where this climate change will take Idaho. Similar to Gov. McCall’s effort, Idaho Gov. Brad Little could pinpoint those areas in the upper Midwest and Northeast where climate change is predicted to do the least harm and recommend to Idaho visitors that they try greener and slightly wetter pastures.

Then there’s the price of buying or renting a home in Boise. Off the charts is the only way to describe the prices, and the only folks doing well in this regard are Realtors who keep luxury car dealers in business. Even the North End where housing costs allowed our Boise State faculty to buy a home and settle down for a career in the university classroom is now beyond the reach of all but those Californians who cashed out of their overpriced homes and, together with Realtors, spike the cost of homes for Boiseans.

Have I mentioned the new Boise skyline yet? Bigger and taller is better in Boise these days and there seems no end to how tall buildings get as they edge each other out blocking the view of our beautiful foothills. Often planned with too little parking for an already small and congested downtown area, the high-rises seem to escape control by government officials.

In one case, the Boise Mayor Lauren McLean broke a tie vote in favor of a high-rise that neighbors claimed violated “the character and scale of adjacent buildings.” Testimony claimed the new high-rise will bring 7,000 traffic visits per day. Both the developer, Tommy Ahlquist, and the mayor claimed the housing shortage requires developments like this, but the jury is still out on just who is served by these developments and whether those mostly in need of affordable housing will be served by tall buildings downtown. I doubt it.

The partner to tall buildings that bring more cars into the central business district is traffic congestion and you don’t have to be a veteran bus driver in the city to see the increase in traffic in southwestern Idaho. Whatever newcomers think they are escaping when it comes to traffic where they came from, they are redesigning new traffic congestion patterns as their numbers grow and their cars line up on Idaho streets and highways.

If we haven’t scared them away yet, here’s one that’s sure to run them off in search of a new town. There’s a serious gun shortage in Idaho and that should keep those gun-totin’ westerners from other states moving right along. OK, I made that one up. I really don’t know if there is a gun shortage, but if Trump Republicans in Idaho can believe in the fairy tale fiction that Trump actually won the 2020 election, then I’m sure their compatriots from other states will fall for a gun shortage and go packin’ somewhere else.

If the heat, traffic congestion, increased housing shortages and phony news about gun shortages don’t do the trick, maybe we can scare off the newcomers with Idaho’s pandemic experience that has already claimed over 2,000 Idaho lives. For emigrants infatuated with Idaho who believe that a vaccination actually prevents an individual from contracting the coronavirus, they should know that they are much more likely to get sick from the virus here than in 43 other states whose vaccination rates are better. With Idaho among the bottom 10 of states with low vaccination rates and a new variant heading our way, emigrants have lots of states to choose from where residents actually understand the role of a vaccine in a pandemic.

In case you haven’t noticed, my list does not include certain members of the Idaho state legislature and state officials such as Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, now running for governor, who proved this year that governing is hardly the goal of Idaho’s right-wing public servants. Instead, it’s all about creating controversy out of whole cloth and intimidating and threatening teachers across the state with phony charges and hearings reminiscent of the McCarthy era.

Whatever you do, this last one is nothing to talk about around town. I have a suspicion that Idaho is attracting out-of-state wingnuts who buy into conspiracy theories and right-wing agendas to bring down government. Let’s not encourage them. Idaho has enough of those already so keep this last item to yourself.