Boise Development Thread - Part II

[TonyAnderson]

Originally Posted by trails

Agreed! Super rad. Thanks for pointing out the SLC library connection, that place is a sight to behold.

Also cool Orchard project from TVUrban.... bet we'll see more like that along Emerald & Orchard in the coming years!

They also did the Vancouver library (and perhaps more) which looks a bit different than the SLC one on the outside, but almost identical inside.

[grasscom]

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

https://idahobusinessreview.com/2018...d-it-downtown/

Looking for talent? You’ll find it downtown
By: Scott Schoenherr January 25, 2018

Careful about letting other Utah'ns see this quote! They all think we are on par with Denver.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Visualize

Doesn't sound like hyperbole based on quotes directly from library employees. In my opinion, the constant pressure to quell discussion on society's ills exacerbates the problem. Maybe Boise can learn from SLC.

A wise man once said, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it."



http://archive.sltrib.com/article.ph...12&itype=CMSID

I have no problem with discussing homelessness, I just get tired of Salt Lakers shitting on this city...and if you've been over to the SLC thread, you know how our of hand the homeless discussions have gotten over there. It's exhausting. Of course homeless people hang out at the library - it's an easily accessible gathering spot in downtown Salt Lake. But it's not as if it affects the architectural majesty of the building, or the value of having it around.

I just feel that coming in here and making that comment was completely unnecessary and irrelevant, it just felt like an excuse to take a dig at Salt Lake. I've been to the library many times, I never feel like it's "overrun" with homeless...not to mention it really doesn't have any bearing on the library that Boise is going to get.

Also just for the record, that article was quoting people from a different library than the downtown location.

[Visualize]

^^^ Okay.

Originally Posted by TonyAnderson

They also did the Vancouver library (and perhaps more) which looks a bit different than the SLC one on the outside, but almost identical inside.

Looks the Tower of Babel. Seems fitting for a library filled with written language.

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל‬‎, Migdal Bāḇēl) as told in Genesis 11:1-9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.

According to the story, a united humanity in the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar (שִׁנְעָר‬). There they agree to build a city and a tower tall enough to reach heaven. God, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.

[TVurban]

This Boise shopping center will soon get an Asian-themed makeover

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/b...196836569.html

Utah company plans to transform a Spanish Colonial-style strip mall on the West Bench into a slice of exotic Chinatown.

China Town Plaza LLC bought the Library Plaza on the southwest corner of Cole and Ustick roads in December for an undisclosed amount. The company plans a $1 million makeover that will include an Asian-style gate and pagoda-style roofs on the center’s five buildings. It plans to rename the center Idaho Asian Plaza with the feel of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese and other Asian cultures.

“It’s centrally located, and there already are many Asian people and businesses in the area,” said Marcus Tam, an agent with Boise Premiere Real Estate who represents China Town Plaza. “We were looking into Garden City because of its history and connection to the Chinese community, but we couldn’t find any suitable locations.”

[jakor21]

BSU Fine Arts Building will look Fantastic, but other than that architecture on Capitol Blvd is not that good or impressive, and this Statesman article brings up some important issues.

Interesting article that I wish more people in Boise would take seriously. Although I no longer live in Boise, I was born and raised there, 27 years there, and good urban design has always been important to me. I went to a couple of design review hearings to voice concern and I was shocked that it seemed that not many people care, especially the outdated design review.

Read this article and stand up for Boise's future architectural history!

Go to DR meetings and voice your opinions, the city deserves your voice and better planning!

Poor urban design threatens to diminish Capitol Boulevard’s gorgeous approach to Boise

http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinio...196645874.html

[Sawtooth]

Originally Posted by jakor21

BSU Fine Arts Building will look Fantastic, but other than that architecture on Capitol Blvd is not that good or impressive, and this Statesman article brings up some important issues.

Yeah, that article does touch upon a few pressing issues and I agree with the author about the apartments and the new convention center parking garage.

To say the architecture is not that good or impressive is not exactly true because the historic and attractive buildings that span the Boulevard, especially in downtown do offer a grand entrance towards the capitol building.
I'm on this street almost every day and there are a few buildings I wish were built with more careful design consideration.

The new Marriott turned out really nice imo.

Originally Posted by grasscom

Careful about letting other Utah'ns see this quote! They all think we are on par with Denver.

Reality has to win at some point, right?

[Sawtooth]

Freak Alley is getting new flooring

[boisecynic]

Originally Posted by jakor21

... I was shocked that it seemed that not many people care, especially the outdated design review....

Poor urban design threatens to diminish Capitol Boulevard’s gorgeous approach to Boise

http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinio...196645874.html

It's not just the hideous Capitol Blvd facade of the parking garage, they botched the design by taking all the Grove St right of way which should have been preserved for a trolley line.

[Cityneck]

Originally Posted by jakor21

BSU Fine Arts Building will look Fantastic, but other than that architecture on Capitol Blvd is not that good or impressive, and this Statesman article brings up some important issues.

I'll admit the East Façade of the garage is nearly as lackluster as the Grove Hotel next door. And I think the streetscaping efforts over the last 30 years downtown have made a huge difference. But to criticize a building which is not really visible from either the Depot or Capitol building while ignoring the ridiculous number of traffic signals and road signs kind of misses the point.

[Cottonwood]

Originally Posted by Sawtooth

Freak Alley is getting new flooring

Nice photos, thanks for taking your time to post them.

Do you or anyone else know the time frame of this project? I have noticed the past few weeks that 8th between Idaho and Bannock has been closed to traffic, hopefully it remains like that after the alley is finished.

Edit: info http://www.ktvb.com/article/news/loc...lley/472130223


Another Edit: Congrats to our own Sawtooth aka SeanTheBoisean, he has a few photos featured at the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau website. His first photo in Freak Alley post above is also being tagged to feeds on Instagram.

http://www.boise.org/

[TVurban]

See how half of the Treasure Valley’s farmland could disappear by 2100

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/l...197470954.html

When the Census Bureau announced in December that Idaho was the fastest-growing state in the nation, it hardly came as a surprise to the Treasure Valley’s increasingly crowded and cranky residents.

It’s obvious where today’s new arrivals are – filling the streets, spurring Downtown Boise construction, setting up households in new developments where there once was open space. Just think Meridian. The big question, though, is where tomorrow’s newcomers will end up.

A group of Boise State University researchers has some ideas about that, along with a warning or two. In a detailed study and a series of online maps, they lay out possible scenarios for urban growth in this decreasingly agricultural region.

“Our projections demonstrate that urban expansion replaces agriculture, wetlands, forested areas, and sagebrush-steppe, with the largest losses [occurring] in agricultural areas,” says the report, “Projecting Urban Expansion in the Treasure Valley to 2100.”

http://boisestate.maps.arcgis.com/ap...01795d23cdefd1

An article in the paper the other day predicting what growth could look like over the next 80ish years. They looked at three scenarios of varying density and how it could play out:

1. Low Population Growth: 1.25 million people in 2100, 3.78 people/acre
2. Business as Usual (moderate growth): 1.5 million people in 2100, 4.14 people/acre
3. High Population Growth: 1.75 million people in 2100, 5.41 people/acre

Its also interesting to note that 5.41 people/acre was used as "high density" though its not that dense.



(All images and data came from the provided BSU reports)

[Visualize]

Originally Posted by TVurban

See how half of the Treasure Valley’s farmland could disappear by 2100

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/l...197470954.html



http://boisestate.maps.arcgis.com/ap...01795d23cdefd1

An article in the paper the other day predicting what growth could look like over the next 80ish years. They looked at three scenarios of varying density and how it could play out:

1. Low Population Growth: 1.25 million people in 2100, 3.78 people/acre
2. Business as Usual (moderate growth): 1.5 million people in 2100, 4.14 people/acre
3. High Population Growth: 1.75 million people in 2100, 5.41 people/acre

Its also interesting to note that 5.41 people/acre was used as "high density" though its not that dense.



(All images and data came from the provided BSU reports)

These projections appear to be wildly underestimated. From 2000-2010, the Boise MSA grew at 3.264% annually. This studies "High Population Growth" is projecting an annual growth rate of only 1.87%. As the major west coast cities become too large for anyone to realistically commute into them and the prices skyrocket, people will continue to look for better options in Boise, so we may even see the growth rate accelerate. At a 3.2% annual growth rate, the Boise MSA would have 2.5 million by 2100.

Their growth patterns are also suspect. Open farmland along the river by Star, nobody living north of Eagle, and Kuna stops moving west, but according to this people living 20 miles west of Caldwell seems reasonable. I would have thought this was done by an East Coast think tank if Boise State didn't have their name on it. Ladies and gentlemen, Boise's next city planners. I'm sure half of the land area will be dedicated to community gardens to make up for all the soy bean fields that were lost. What will California do without their next generation of soy infused numales?!

[SFTransplant]

I also find it odd they don't project growth southeast of Boise. Isn't there some plan out there to develop thousands of homes heading towards Mayfield and Mtn Home? Some one posted about it not too long ago on here...

[Sawtooth]

Originally Posted by SFTransplant

I also find it odd they don't project growth southeast of Boise. Isn't there some plan out there to develop thousands of homes heading towards Mayfield and Mtn Home? Some one posted about it not too long ago on here...

I remember news of this coming out years ago but probably will not happen, fingers crossed.

[Visualize]

There have been studies and proposals of pumping water from the Snake River to support hundreds of thousands of people that would otherwise just gets flushed into the ocean. I think that would be great. That land is virtually worthless as is, and then we can save all that precious soy. Boise could be very interesting if the east desert only develops after widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles, because the city could essentially be split in half in regards to development styles.

[SFTransplant]

Originally Posted by Sawtooth

I remember news of this coming out years ago but probably will not happen, fingers crossed.

Not sure that desert wasteland is worth trying to conserve. Especially if it meant keeping more development out of the foothills and preserving agricultural land.

[GrandTeton]

Originally Posted by SFTransplant

Not sure that desert wasteland is worth trying to conserve. Especially if it meant keeping more development out of the foothills and preserving agricultural land.

One small problem. The feds own most of that “desert wasteland”. Tragically, sprawl won’t get far to the east.

[GrandTeton]

So are there any actual updates in Boise?

[Visualize]

Originally Posted by GrandTeton

One small problem. The feds own most of that “desert wasteland”. Tragically, sprawl won’t get far to the east.

This is true to some degree. BLM doesn't own much land until south of Kuna Mora Rd. If all non-BLM land was developed it would still double the size of Boise at current densities.


https://www.idl.idaho.gov/maps-land-...ip-03-2016.pdf

It's also not unheard of for the government to sell their land, but developers may not want to have to deal with the red tape in doing so. It was originally controlled because settlers passed over it in the western expansion, but if there was actually a desire to use it, a developer may be able to purchase it.

How the Land is Sold

The BLM has three options for selling land:

• modified competitive bidding where some preferences to adjoining landowners are recognized;
• direct sale to one party where circumstances warrant; and competitive bidding at a public auction.
• The method of sale is determined by the BLM on a case-by-case basis, depending on the circumstances of each particular parcel or sale. By law, the lands are offered for sale at fair market value.

https://www.thoughtco.com/government...c-land-3321690