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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2008, 1:44 PM
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Boise: West Downtown Urban Renewal Thread


Thursday, February 28th, 2008

To regular and long time readers of the Mountain West SSP sub-section:

This neighborhood is prime urban-renewal real estate. In the last year, or so, most of the area has been the subject of an expensive and exhaustive urban planning study conducted by the HDR consulting firm in conjunction with the City of Boise and the Ada County Highway District.

Here are two relevant links;

HDR can be found at:
http://www.hdrinc.com/3/default.aspx

City of Boise's 30th Street Specific Area Master Plan;
http://www.cityofboise.org/Departmen...page14010.aspx

edit Sep 2013, renaming thread to more accurately describe the geographic area

Last edited by boisecynic; Sep 18, 2013 at 3:39 PM.
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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2008, 1:56 PM
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Just for fun, here's some traffic trivia:
27th Street: Busiest residential street in Ada County!

Daily traffic counts: Random samples which I thought were interesting and relevant.
27th Street          north of Main St     16,218   (not a typo) 
23rd Street north of Main St 3,318
36th Street north of State 10,381
36th Street north of Taft 6,491
Americana east of Shoreline 15,427
Apple St south of ParkCenter 13,493
Capitol Blvd north of Front 15,113
Cloverdale north of Fairview 15,437
Curtis Rd north of Emerald 23,439 (St Al's district)
Harrison Blvd north of Alturas 14,169
Hill Road west of Harrison 12,220
Main ST west of 23rd 13,639
Maple Grove north of Franklin 20,277 (currently being widened)
Parkcenter Bridge 23,586
Pleasanton west of State 507
Pleasanton east of 29th 1,188 (July 2006)
River Street east of 13th 15,211
State St east of 33rd 31,521
State St west of 23rd 25,624
Warm Springs Ave east of Broadway 15,736

Much maligned Warm Springs has less traffic than 27th! $18 million is being spent on the East Parkcenter bridge to help out Warm Springs Ave. Yet we can't get $6 million to build the 30th Street Extension to help out 27th?

Source:http://www.achd.ada.id.us/Department...ficCounts.aspx

Yes, I read through all 25 pages of ACHD's traffic count report.

Edit: 3/28/08; added 36th street data

Last edited by boisecynic; Mar 30, 2008 at 3:00 PM.
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2008, 4:24 PM
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What are the boundaries of the Veterans neighborhood? Is it 27th down to Veterans Memorial Parkway?
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Old Posted Feb 28, 2008, 4:38 PM
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A picture is worth a thousand words and it would take nearly a thousand words to describe the boundaries. VPNA includes what should be called the West End as well as the IDOT area and even past Veteran's Parkway, i.e., the Wymosa, Alamosa and Wylie streets area and even a small section north of State.

Why? Everyone has asked that question including me. It goes back to the 70s when VPNA was formed, iirc, there was no Veteran's Parkway then. It also relates to census tract data. VPNA is the only association that is actually one entire census tract, according to a former neighborhood association president.

VPNA is #7.

Interesting tidbit; notice how the area north of Americana and south of Main is orphaned, even though there are now quite a few residents.

Last edited by boisecynic; Feb 1, 2011 at 5:11 PM.
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2008, 1:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boisecynic View Post
Harrison Boulevard, #8, has their own neighborhood association within the boundaries of the Northend neighborhood association.
I guess they are pretty important since they live on the most fabulous street in the state but it's too bad that the Boulevard has become a connection from Hill Road to downtown, but at least it has narrow lanes with massive landscaping to buffer traffic. Number 5 is small.
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Old Posted Feb 29, 2008, 1:44 AM
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Thanks for the comment Sawtooth. I'm trying to recruit more people to this forum, so I'm going to keep this thread active for a while. If nobody from VPNA joins, then this thread will just die. It's too bad, though, because, like I've stated, I know of no other forum that's as useful to address the issues of our great little city.

#5 is called West Downtown, and is the smallest of all the neighborhood associations. I can't remember the details of how that got formed. It's too bad they took the name West Downtown, imo, West Downtown should apply to the area all the way over to the proposed 30th Street Extension.
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Old Posted Feb 29, 2008, 4:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sawtooth View Post
...it's too bad that the Boulevard (Harrison) has become a connection from Hill Road to downtown, but at least it has narrow lanes with massive landscaping to buffer traffic. Number 5 is small.
I'd like to add to this. ACHD has done a little work to mitigate traffic on Harrison. The dog-legging of the intersection at Gary Lane and Hill Rd was meant to "encourage" drivers to use Gary Lane and State St and avoid using Hill Road to travel all the way downtown via Harrison.

The 36th and Hill intersection was also slated to be dog-legged, until the Collister Neighborhood association got involved. I think the consensus was that the dog-legging of Hill at 36th was very unpopular. Thus the reconsideration to build a roundabout.

Conversely, as far as I know, nothing has ever been done to mitigate traffic on 27th. In fact, 10 years ago or so, the right lane on inbound State St at 27th was changed from a through lane to a right turn only, thus encouraging eastbound traffic on State to turn right on 27th. Before that, some traffic continued through to turn right on 23rd to make their approach to downtown. Of course, I don't really have any hard evidence of that, but I've long suspected it.

Also a factor, was the construction of the Broadway Chinden connector which eliminated the 23rd St connection to River ST. I'm sure this did a great deal to increase traffic on 27th.

Also keep in mind, the setbacks on Harrison are huge compared to the setbacks on 27th.

Last edited by boisecynic; Mar 3, 2008 at 5:56 PM.
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  #8  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2008, 2:00 AM
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Sunday, I spent a couple of hours in Esther Simplot and Veteran's Parks. Here's the tour and some background info.

Parks and Rec is slowly doing work on Esther Simplot Park. Part of the plan is to dig a canal to connect the lower pond with the two no-name middle ponds, so one can paddle from one to the other. I think this is the most insanely great part of the proposal and something that no other city has to the best of my knowledge. The first pic shows a well that has been dug to monitor the ground water level. If the level is too low, then the canal project is off. Keep your fingers crossed everybody.

Parks and Rec also said another 18,000 yards of topsoil will be hauled in next month from something going on at the Willow Lane complex. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Pictures 4, 5 and 6 are the new foot bridges in the wooded area of Veteran's Park.

Here's my route, I started and ended at Idaho River Sports at 31st and Pleasanton.



4: Southern bridge, Farmer's Union Canal return channel, Veteran's Park


5: Northern bridges, Farmer's Union Canal return channel, Veteran's Park


6: A different angle.


7: Never noticed this view before. Sawtooth, you should get this shot with your telephoto, before leaf out. Downtown Boise is a little over a mile away as the crow flies.


8: Due to the sun angle, my shadow prevented me from getting the text on this sign.


9: WaterFront District again.


10: The rapids at the head of the Farmer's Union Canal that will be terraformed into one of the whitewater park features

^Note: the rubble makes any kind of floating, wading, fishing extremely unsafe at any flow level
The rubble is from a dam that washed out in the big flood of 1910, or so, more on this later. Stay tuned!

11: Different angle


12:Same location, Farmer's Union Canal head waters.

Last edited by boisecynic; Nov 12, 2013 at 3:56 PM.
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  #9  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2008, 4:50 PM
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Wow I like the new bridges, those are nice looking. The waterfront district is also pretty neat, but you have to drive through a couple blocks of grossness to get there which I assume will be a hinderance on its growth.
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Old Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:04 PM
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Actually that new Waterfront District is set to change that area of Garden City in a big way. The less than attractive entrance from Chinden will change soon and the story is that the new development is becoming a hinderance to the people who have lived there in their trailers for years. Property values are up, trailers are being sold, and a lot of cleaning up is taking place in that area north of Chinden to the river. I personly think this development is the catalyst for major change in Garden City from the connector to Veterans Parkway.
Great pics Boisecynic.
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Old Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:27 PM
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Thanks guys. But what about the monitoring wells? That's a big deal, it means BP&R is actively pursuing construction of ES Park. No doubt, this is a complex project and will be years in the making. But if the wells determine ground water is sufficient to NOT have to excavate too deeply, then the canal is a reality and Boise will have something no other city in the world has, to the best of my knowledge.
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Old Posted Mar 3, 2008, 9:52 PM
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Boise is blessed with a lot of water and water features. I can't think of another city in the mountain western region (and other regions) which is near as large of a river drainage as we are.
Is there a website with renderings/ideas about what the city wants in the new park? It is going to be huge, Boise could be nicknamed the City of Parks.
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Old Posted Mar 4, 2008, 3:41 PM
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Also underway, the new Visual Arts Collective/Audio Lab Music Studios will open in 2-3 months just a few blocks west of said sketchy entrance (just behind the Women Of Steel Gallery on Chinden). VAC relocated from the Linen District and renovated a beautiful new space from the ground up, and will host mid-sized (300-800 peeps) music, theater, social and cultural events, as well as playing permanent host to visual and recording artists. You ready to bike to Garden City for everything from underground theater to corporate parties? You will.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Cottonwood View Post
Actually that new Waterfront District is set to change that area of Garden City in a big way. The less than attractive entrance from Chinden will change soon and the story is that the new development is becoming a hinderance to the people who have lived there in their trailers for years. Property values are up, trailers are being sold, and a lot of cleaning up is taking place in that area north of Chinden to the river. I personly think this development is the catalyst for major change in Garden City from the connector to Veterans Parkway.
Great pics Boisecynic.
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Old Posted Mar 4, 2008, 5:12 PM
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When they build the footbridge to connect Esther's Park with the WaterFront District, it will be very easy to get to the VAC, for me at least and for North Enders.

There's a great short cut to Pleasanton St from the north end. Alturas St ends at 23rd near State, 23rd has a ped and bike crossing aided by the stop light at State St. From there it's only 2 blocks to Pleasanton and then it's only about 10 blocks to the Boise River.

Last edited by boisecynic; Mar 9, 2008 at 4:32 PM.
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  #15  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2008, 6:35 PM
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Originally Posted by rudimentalist View Post
Also underway, the new Visual Arts Collective/Audio Lab Music Studios will open in 2-3 months just a few blocks west of said sketchy entrance (just behind the Women Of Steel Gallery on Chinden). VAC relocated from the Linen District and renovated a beautiful new space from the ground up, and will host mid-sized (300-800 peeps) music, theater, social and cultural events, as well as playing permanent host to visual and recording artists. You ready to bike to Garden City for everything from underground theater to corporate parties? You will.
I have seen that renovated building and have gotten coffee at Veritas a few times...a great coffee shop. The possibilites are pretty exciting for the Veterans Neighborhood and accross the river in Garden City. The GC side being along the river needs to be attractive, upscale, arty, not the state it is currently in.

Does anybody know why there are some small un-upgraded areas of Vetarans State Park? The state ran out of $$ to complete it back in the day?
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Old Posted Mar 4, 2008, 9:39 PM
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Oh wow I wasn't aware that the Waterfront District was having that effect on its immediate surroundings. I hoped, but not very optimistically. That is fantastic news, I would love that whole area to become a nice low rise residential area.

Makes me somewhat sad to be leaving Boise.
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  #17  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2008, 9:41 PM
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Where are you off to nobody?
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  #18  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2008, 1:49 AM
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Originally Posted by boisecynic View Post
When they build the footbridge to connect Esther's Park with the WaterFront District, it will be very easy indeed, for me at least and for North Enders.
There's a great short cut to Pleasanton St from the north end. Alturas St ends at 23rd near State, 23rd has a ped and bike crossing aided by the stop light at State St. From there it's only 2 blocks to Pleasanton and then it's only about 10 blocks to the Boise River.
A footbridge there will be so nice.
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  #19  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2008, 2:04 AM
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Where are you off to nobody?
Either Portland or Chicago depending on what my employer wants me to do, will be this summer one way or another.
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Old Posted Mar 6, 2008, 2:22 PM
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Either Portland or Chicago depending on what my employer wants me to do, will be this summer one way or another.
Hopefully Portland, it's really nice there. Sorry you have to leave, though!
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