Quote:
Originally Posted by boisecynic
I think you're missing some local context. In fact I'm sure of it. The most likely place for a streetcar facility in Boise is the west side of downtown. A long ignored part of town yet full of potential. The area has been ignored because it's easy to ignore the poor in the poor part of town, they can't afford lawyers to fight ugly industrial uses. Let's cram all the homeless in that part of town too. The impotent and fractured neighborhood association won't do anything nor could they even if they cared.
Much of the area has been recently been made a Urban Renewal District. The most expensive property has been bought by a tax exempt community college. A few more large properties are available but it's looking more and more like they'll be eaten up by a tax exempt streetcar barn and a tax exempt minor league baseball stadium. Goodbye $millions in tax increment financing for neighborhood improvements.
The very reason the area has suffered from decades of disinvestment was the absentee landlords and their use it, abuse it and take the profits with them while leaving their toxic waste behind modus operandi.
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Yeah, I'm totally guilty of having zero local perspective when it comes to Boise, but you're guilty of thinking local means that your will for the district in question is the will of the "poor". In urban planning language it's usually called "working class." I'm sure the industries that once occupied that area helped a lot of working class people in Idaho get their slice of the American Dream. Remaking a neighborhood into a real diverse community means mixed uses and mixed use doesn't just mean retailing the bejesus out of every ground floor of every new apartment building or warehouse being converted into lofts. It means creating a community that has everything close by and creating a diverse offering of jobs and thus creating a robust local economy that isn't so dependent on commuting.
Using some of these old warehouses for a UPS distribution center or a light rail or bus maintenance facility brings working class jobs to that location. It means that many people without college degrees can get good paying jobs in the city. Now consider that Boise has a University and a White Collar downtown core and I think this helps balance out the city.
Next, really what are these transit structures? They're giant storage facilities, mechanic shops, and detailing facilities. This isn't polluting or heavy industrial. No steel is being made. So lets keep our categories realistic. If you guys get with the program and put in a light rail system people are going to be able to commute downtown with more options and the light rail creates no exhaust.
So here's my prognosis, the "poor" would do well to ignore your NIMBY gentrifer musings. I think Bozeman, Montana would be more your speed. It's super white, skewed toward people with 4 year degrees, and full of granola places and places to hike.
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