Quote:
Originally Posted by boisecynic
Additionally, this very forum which is arguably pro-development was split 50/50 when I polled in May 2007--- "Is Fairview/Main blighted?"
Link: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=131406
So, I'm thinking, we the people and our legislature need to better define blight. Or at least we the people who support URAs and TIF.
I'm totally unfamiliar with Pocatello/Chubbuck and the Pine Ridge Mall. Can you give me a quick synopsis of what's wrong with that area? And is Chubbuck Pocatello's Garden City? I've never been to Pocatello and only driven through Idaho Falls once on the way to Yellowstone. Are there any pics of Pine Ridge Mall and its surrounding area?
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Thanks for moving this discussion here, boisecynic. Hopefully those from around the state can give more info. I was surprised at how many Urban Renewal Districts there are in Idaho! In the NID area, my understanding is C'dA, Sandpoint and Post Falls all have separate URD. C'dA received a letter about theirs approximately a month ago. I'll search for it later.
In eastern Idaho the Idaho Falls RDA is probably the oldest. It has been involved in many projects and the most recent one is to acquire downtown properties to be converted to 500 downtown apartments. More clearly stated, the one empty, coveted, and extremely over-priced area (which isn't quite an acre) is on a busy corner of downtown directly across from the river and greenbelt. The other property is a former five or six story hotel which will have to be *-gutted* and rebuilt. These two properties are to seed the way for other private development to come in and build the remainder of the 500 initial apartments. Downtown IF is going to get Urbanized.
Ammon seems to be forming a UR. Ammon literally begins on the east side of 25th East, across the street from Idaho Falls. It is ~ 15K and has the fastest growing school district in the state.
Blackfoot probably has one, Rexburg (home to the ever-growing BYU-Idaho) has one. I believe the Rexburg one might have been involved in a lawsuit at one time. I'll try to search for that as well.
Pocatello is 50 miles south of Idaho Falls and the home to Idaho State University. It has a city to the north that is contiguous on Yellowstone. It'-s hard to know when driving Yellowstone if one is in Poky or Chubbuck. Poky has had a lot of bigger employers leave. It is an *old town* in many ways. It was a railroad town. It has about 54K residents, with an increase in residents for the first time for about six or more years. Bonneville County (home to I.F. at 60 K and Ammon at 15K) has 25,000 more residents. Fifteen years ago the census in Bannock and the census of Bonneville Counties would have been within 1-3K of each other.
Chubbuck use to be the cheaper alternative to living in Poky. A new resident to that area pointed out how many trailer parks were in both cities. I'm not knocking mobile homes, rather, I'm saying these areas, except for two, are in terrible shape and need major updates. Chubbuck is kind of rebuilding itself from the inside out. The problems include: no attention to truly blighted or areas that really need help, a very ambitious mayor, IMO, and a population of ~ 14K that doesn'-t function as a city alone. Some services come from Poky and some from Bannock and Power Counties.
I think you are very correct that the Legislature needs to define terms including blight. Somehow the RDA in I.F. and their Boise-based attorney know something is coming up for a vote in the Legislature. RDA has been extremely active getting a wonderful greenbelt, new hotels and the 420 acre, Snake River Landing all launched with using UR districts. This is a link to SRL, though it's outdated
http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/sn...%3DMBDPSB#2816
I include that as I.F. has been working with Redevelopment for decades, since the 70s. However, whatever is going on with the Legislature, they check on updates monthly, are lining up developers and politicians to testify and are essentially planning on being *out of business* by the end of 2018. I don't know what has been said, threatened by the Legislature etc. for them to plan on nothing past 2018. It concerns me!
I'll post this now then write separately about Chubbuck as this is long.