Quote:
Originally Posted by isangpogi
I know I say this quite a bit but legislatively, Idaho is in a very tough spot. Here's why: The Boise metro area is about 600,000. Idaho's population is 1,500,000. The size of Boise makes it the major player but not quite a majority of the state. Furthermore, Idaho is essentially three zones. The Southwest is anchored by Boise. The Southeast is anchored by Salt Lake City and the North is anchored by Spokane. It's difficult to convince legislators whose constituents may only come to Boise a couple times in their lives to send money to maintain and improve infrastructure here.
I remember living in extremely fiscally conservative East Idaho when GARVEE was announced. People were very reluctant to go into debt to finance projects which were mostly in Boise. Gov Kempthorne had to toss in improvements in Sandpoint and Lava Hot Springs area to appease those in the far reaches of Idaho.
Compare this to states like Oregon, Washington and Utah whose largest cities truly are the hubs of activity for the entire state. It's much easier to drum up funding for a new freeway in SLC since even Utahns from St. George travel there often. Those states have a much stronger spirit of unity than Idaho has.
To me this is the biggest obstacle to progress in Idaho... Any thoughts?
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I completely agree with this. Someday, Boise will grow big enough that it becomes what Seattle, Portland, and SLC are to WA, OR, and UT....