Idaho Falls should focus on annexing land and encouraging smart development north and south along the Snake River. The reason for this obviously builds on our success with the beautiful greenbelt.
Expanding along the river would afford opportunities to create more water activity zones, such as more man-made falls, rapids channels for kayak races, paddle boat areas, and perhaps a man-made island or two.
Our river is clean and beautiful, so planning growth north and south alongside it makes sense aesthetically and economically. Residents and tourists are attracted to it, so imagine all the hotels, restaurants, shopping, high-priced homes, and recreational opportunities that would appear in short time.
I discovered another reason on a forum linked by one of our members, where opinions were offered that Idaho Falls should grow along the interstate (I-15) so as to build more exits and make the town appear larger.
The greater Idaho Falls area has been growing elliptically to the east lately, and many visitors do not see that so our town is seen as smaller than it really is. Since the river closely parallels the interstate, growing north and south in the described manner would logically encourage more exit ramps in Idaho Falls which would arrive at several points along our expanded greenbelt.
I believe if Idaho Falls grew north and south along the river, developed those areas, and garnered six exit ramps on I-15, serious attention would finally be given to creating a belt loop around our city. A freeway belt loop around Idaho Falls would cement our growth planning, as it would free up a lot of the current congestion. A belt loop would be a key to long-term growth, as anyone who’s used Boise’s downtown ‘connector’ realizes how vital that road is to their growth.
Finally, our downtown has a strong core, and the projected growth at Taylor Crossing, Monroc, and the University Place campus is exciting.
I still feel strongly about four high-rise towers being constructed on the east side of the river just south of the library. These blocks currently have older homes that are not in the best shape, and new development would tie in all the other new projects.
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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Why is growth the superb form of flattery among locations? Do you not see the beauty of a city being perceived as smaller than it is? More, more, more – money, money, money – faster, faster, faster – greed, greed, greed. Less is more!
I’ve thought of that, do we really need growth is it better?
However, we have growth, going out in vanilla subdivisions towards Ammon and Rigby. Growth is innevitable, so we best plan for it smartly, or we’ll end up with more of what we’ve been getting.
Smart growth does not have to equal greed (but smart growth does not happen by accident, either.)
I kind of agree, altough the most prime locations on the greenbelt are already developed or in the process of doing so. If you go any further on either side of the greenbelt, you hit the road the leads to the freeway or you start getting into the University Place / Old Hiway area. So maybe we shouldn’t expand so much as nourish what is already there. I know of a handful of storefronts available downtown. Maybe we should focus our efforts on making those more desirable to businesses.
I guess I’ve been thinking of the area by the old dog pound. If you drive up Lindsey blvd past the overpass, keep driving past the old Rocking Horse, in about 2 minutes you’ll see nice river stretches and undeveloped banks.
Imagine the possibilities there if the city annexed all that!
I think Idaho Falls needs to concentrate on improving downtown, as well as continued growth. Other cities have had to re-establish their downtowns and it has led to economic growth.
Yeah, look at Pocatello. They’re concentrating all of their efforts to develope (err … build) their greebelt, and it’s led to even more decay of the town area (if that’s possible).
When I lived in Pokey, downtown was a drug-infested, decreped sesspool of crime and grim. We should concentrate on keeping our downtown from going down the same path before expanding.
Good points!
I agree with the angle the tread has taken in that maintainence of it’s current infrastructure is important. Taylor’s is a big enough change for a while in a town that can’t even afford to build it’s own new roads, (Talking about Sunnyside) or replace it’s own decrepid bridges like the one on Pancheri. I’d like to see the community come together and raise the money to build a nice bridge with pedestrian and bike lanes there. Plus, I think that it would help to make it distinctive like some of the ones in other communities (thinking of Arvada, CO). I think that it would be nice to put up faux waterfalls on both sides to help advertise the town.
I read in a trustworthy source this morning that there will be a 5 line business loop, now that Sunnyside is open. Details were vague, but I’m guessing that means somewhere after one exists east on Sunnyside, he/she will be able turn north and drive down this business loop. It will end up at Pancheri and Utah. Whether or not it turns left for Wal-Mart and potentially other stores to be developed there, or goes through Taylor’s Crossing, I don’t know.
I have never heard about this business loop before, and I’m wondering if anyone else has? If someone knows more specifics than I do, would you please share them with us?
I can see how easily the car dealerships planning on opening new dealerships off of Sunnyside, may use this road as an entrance to their businesses. But, I can also think of all sorts of possibilities from more hotels and restaurants along the west bank of the river, to additional commercial or mixed use. Maybe along this business loop we’ll even find Costco. I don’t know who is developing the area the road will
I don’t know what businesses, if any, are will be accessible via this road. I’m simply making a comment that I find it interesting and something I hadn’t known about previously.
Every business loop I’ve ever seen rapidly builds new commercial, and maybe some mixed use buildings. It should be an exciting time to see this new five land business loop connect at least Sunnyside traffic to Pancheri and perhaps farther.
Yep. This business loop will indeed be a 5 lane road from Sunnyside through the heart of the Ball Ventures Development, and end up at Pancheri. It is needed as I see no other road access in that area. You can actually see the proposed route if you go to TCs website and click under profile, then location, then click on the map it shows it quite clearly, and says it will be open Nov. of 06.
I see this as a way for Ball Ventures to rapidly develop their property. Knowing that they are sandwiched between TC and Sunnyside there is a need due to the amount of traffic that will be using that area. The Ball Ventures development is large, that is for sure. If anyone knows of their plans or has access to the site plans, if you can let inquiring minds in on it, it would be much appreciated.
For once, someone was planning before, not after things needed done.
Not sure where to place this —- but the Idaho State Journal reported today Costco is going to pitch their plans to build a store on Feb 21 – location on Yellowstone next to the new Chili’s in Pocatello. Darn, I guess that means a Costco in Idaho Falls is out? We’ll stick with Sam’s Club anyway, it seems to be a toss up on which store is better.
Here is the related blog for comment.
http://www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/ian.php?id=4002
That’s where they’ve been planning the location for some time now. It was never being planned for Idaho Falls.
The ISJ is just a tad bit behind in their reporting that’s all.
I posted the press release because we have been hearing rumors of a Costco in both towns for some time now. I believe, but wouldn’t swear on it, they own land in IF too. This article finally gave specific dates and events regarding a Pocatello store. Less rumor and more fact now. I agree, I read both papers and the PR often reports stories a day ahead of the Journal.
A couple of weeks ago the P-R’s “Shoptalk” guy posed the question, “What’s the diff between Sam’s and COSTCO?” I spent a LOT of time reflecting on that question ever since he asked it. We’ve shopped Costco for years and Sam’s for years. I even went into Sam’s and bought a slice of pizza and sat there and pondered the question. Finally, I decided that there is no difference. They are both virtually identical, except for one of them is owned by the Wally World people in Arkansas. Actually, I like Sam’s pizza better than Costco’s and, generally, their samples are more generous and diverse.
I’d probably take Costco’s tire dept. over Sam’s but, hey, we’re getting down to real nit-picky irrelevant details. The only reason we drive to Pokey is for the Harbor Freight store. It’s a tool Head Disneyland! I guess now, we will go visit Costco once in awhile, too.
John Elway is a Sam’s Club fan and that is good enough for me.
Wow….you really don’t have much of a life if you specifically went to Sams Club just to sit there and ponder the differences between Costco & Sams! That’s pretty scary!
Good luck with all that….
lol
Looks like Costco dropped off their site building plans to Pocatello officials yesterday. The Pocatello mayor was on the news last night and said some interesting quotes.
KPVI – Mayor Roger Chase, City of Pocatello: “The retail base that we’ve been building in Pocatello the last four to five years really depends on a regional drawl. There’s not enough people in Pocatello to support the stores we have. We have to bring in shoppers from Idaho Falls to Soda Springs from American Falls, and Costco has that name recognition that will make people want to come and shop in Pocatello.”
So, if there aren’t enough people in Pocatello now to support current stores, and outside support is needed to keep them running, and a huge Costco is built – won’t that take away from the present stores needing as much business as possible? Competition can be a good thing, but I worry about the local business owners a little. The situation might be different here because we seem to have a much larger shopping base.
I don’t know of anyone from IF who takes their shopping to Pocatello, but I guess some do. We have better stores and more selection IMO.
Personally I think the two Super Wal-Marts & Sams Club in this town has driven out the small Mom & Pop businesses and that’s ashame. Although I’m glad they decided to build in Pocatello, I don’t see why people from IF would drive an hour to shop at a Cosco when we’ve got a Sams Club here. Afterall, they are basically the same price wise and with the merchandise they carry.
I used to have a membership at Sam’s Club years ago. I started to have a growing resentment for the Walton family empire many years ago when a close friend of mine was forced to close his local business. I also realized that Sam’s Club really doesn’t have much better deals than you can get on the sale items at other stores. They do have a few products that you can’t find elsewhere but I decided that for myself the savings were not worth the membership price.
I’m glad to hear CR67 echo my personal feelings toward WalMart & Sam’s Club. In addition to being a big reason that some local stores are closing, they are also a big contributor to losses of U.S. jobs, outsourcing, and our trade deficits (especially with China).
I don’t have an opinion on Costco but if they do come to town I will definitely research their company before I shop there. Bigger is not always better, in fact usually to me it is worse. I would rather shop where the employees have product knowledge and great service rather than just feeling like they are nothing but warehouse workers.
it just amazes me that a town this small has TWO Wal-Marts. And not just regular Wal_Marts, but Super Wal-Marts AND a Sams Club. This is the reason this town no longer has a “downtown shopping district”. One is certainly enough for this size town. It would be one thing if Blackfoot didnt have a Super Wal-Mart and many of those folks drove to IF to shop at ours, but even a tiny town like Blackfoot has a Super Wal-Mart. It’s definately out of control.
I’m all for businesses expanding and making money, but not at the cost of putting so many other small businesses out of business in the process.
I believe when Sam Walton died, his family completely ruined the WalMart name with their greed and corruption within this company.
The reason we don’t have a “downtown shopping district” is not becuase of Wal(China)-mart. It’s obvious to anyone who tries to shop downtown, and can’t find a parking place. You have to circle around the one-way streets hoping someone left in order to find a place to park. I will only go downtown as a last resort. It will never revive as long as the parking situation remains as it is.
That’s certainly a good point guest. I think if they tore down one of the smaller blocks that had the worst off and most decrepit buildings and put up like a 4 story parking garage, that would completely revitalize downtown. Get rid of the stupid one way roads and make everything easier to get around, our downtown could really be an awesome place. We’ve got such a beautiful greenbelt, yet nothing to do and nowhere to really go once you leave the greenbelt. I really wish a developer would come in and make some drastic changes to our downtown area. It really could be so incredible, but instead its just wasting away.
Well I’ve yet to have a problem parking downtown. Of course, I don’t mind parking behind Catmull’s and walking 5 to 6 blocks. Between Fred Meyer and Downtown I get all my shopping done, and when the food co-op opens hopefully I can cut out Fred Meyer, too!
That said, downtown is in poor shape and needs a little money put into it. I don’t think the solution is 2 way roads or parking garages (which are hideous unless well-hidden), but I do think that a simple cleanup and a middle-class residential section could go a long way.
Oh, and why is our best riverfront property (I’m talking about Memorial drive) in the hands of the police department, gym, some attorneys, and a crack house (apologies to anyone who lives there that doesn’t do illegal drugs)? That’s the nicest greenbelt section, and an outdoor cafe, ice cream shop, and a few interesting stores would really draw attention.
I don’t buy the “there’s no parking” issue. I can always find parking within a block of where I need to go, which is about the distance you get at Wal-Mart to their front entrance. Plus, downtown is a much nicer and pedestrian friendly environment to walk along than through the Wal-Mart parking lot.
If we changed the one way streets into two-way, there would be less parking than there is now.
A parking garage sounds like the perfect solution to every parking crunch, until you hear they cost about $10 million. There’s a lot of reinforced concrete and structural engineering that go into them. The only places you see parking garages are where parking is congested to the point that people will pay $10-$20 to park in a garage. Who wants to pay $10 to park in downtown, only so you can still walk five blocks to where you want to go? It’s not going to happen anytime in the next ten or twenty years.
I also wish a developer would knock over some of those decrepit old buildings. Some are okay but from about D-street northwards until about F-street the whole zone should be wiped out and rebuilt. But with land prices so cheap around here, it’s hard to convince someone to do this. Again, maybe in ten or twenty years we will be congested enough and land prices will be high enough to make a downtown remodel more attractive.
One suggestion I have is whenever they need to replace downtown streets, replace the asphalt with cobblestone. It’ll give it a nice quality texture like small European villages.
Another idea is to close off Memorial to traffic from Broadway to the post office, turn that section of Memorial into park. Add cobblestone paths and “gathering areas” throughout. Create a few vendor huts in that area for the city to lease each summer. Now wouldn’t that be neat?
Oh, cool idea for a park! And the cobblestone sounds nice, too. Is it expensive to maintain, compared to asphalt?
What I would like to see is employees of certain buildings downtown, say on Shoup street for instance, park a little farther away and walk to their buildings instead of parking in the 2-hour time slots every day of the week. So, every two hours, employees come out and do a little musical cars and “poof” goes any chalk marking they might have.
It makes it impossible for those of us who want to shop and frequent other businesses in the area if we have people like that hogging the limited time parking. I’ll give up and drive to Fred Meyer or wherever because of it.
Hope the parking lady is reading this! I can’t believe Shoup is the only place it happens.
BTW, expansion and the right businesses can really make downtown fly, but only if there is ample parking all along the Snake River and people play fair.
Cobblestones would work if we lived in a more tempered climate, with our frost heaves the stones would turn into ankle busters in no time at all. And driving over them would look like the cars in the circus with the offset wheels! The ciy would have to spent lots of $$$$ resetting them every spring/sumer, the roads would always be closed for repairs.
I think downtown has such potential but for the time being it is an eyesore. I don’t like parking garages either, but parking is a problem and will only get worse if nothing is done about it.
I’ve been downtown quite a few times and had difficulty trying to park. Imagine if we actually had some nice stores and restaraunts down there? There really wouldn’t be any parking whatsoever.
As for parking in a garage costing 10-20 dollars…..I don’t know where you’ve parked before, but the parking garages I’ve been in have only cost between 5-7 dollars and that’s for the whole day. You don’t even pay 10-20 dollars a day to park at the airport. I believe it would be a great investment. Ft.Lauderdale had the exact same situation years ago. Their downtown was rundown and nobody went down there for anything other than to visit the courthouse or a few office buildings. They built a 7 story parking garage and put in an outdoor mall called Riverwalk on whats called the New River which is on the intercoastal waterway. Within a couple of years shops, restaraunts, night clubs and a movie theatre opened up all around Riverwalk and the downtown area and it’s been thriving ever since. All because there was now somewhere for people to park.
So like others have pointed out…there may be parking right now (at certain times throughout the day), but that’s only because not that many people frequent the downtown area. A parking garage would make all the difference in the world.
I don’t think the parking downtown is as bad as the perception. As Joe pointed out you can usually find a parking spot as close to your destination as you would at the mall or discount stores. You could park a block or two away from a downtown store and still be closer than you would be if you can find a parking spot at the mall. There are also parking lots along the tracks south of B street, behind Idaho Mountain Trading, behind Chesbro’s, and I think there is a lot behind the Colonial Theater too. Plus all of the on-street parking.
I have a pedometer. Maybe one of these days I will do an experiment and park a few blocks away from a downtown store. Then go to the mall and find a spot and compare how many steps it takes me to get to the store. I don’t think you would have to walk any more steps to shop downtown than any other shopping location.
If we did have to walk a few more steps it probably would be a good thing for those of us who are able.
Regarding parking, you don’t think that’s the point he is trying to make? Who is the “he” you are talking about? This thread started discussing parking on post #21. That person said they had to keep circling the blocks to find a place to park. I don’t ever recall having to park more than a couple of blocks from my destination.
Regardless of what point somebody else is trying to make, here is the point I was trying to make. Parking close to a destination is as much perception as reality. Try parking on the outer edges of the mall or Walmart parking lot and I wouldn’t be surprised if you are further than 2 downtown blocks from the store. It only feels closer because you are in the parking lot of your chosen store.
Some people say downtown is dead and others say you can’t find a spot to park. Which is it?
I don’t think that’s the point he was trying to make. If you take all the cars that usually park at the mall and put them downtown, there would be no parking. The issue here isn’t “walking”, it’s finding somewhere to park. It’s actually have some nice shops and restaraunts to visit when you go downtown. (of which they are few and far between right now) A parking garage would revitalize the downtown area and bring more people down there. The reason there IS parking down there right now, is because not many people frequent the downtown area, so of course there sill be parking.
I’ve been to alot of different cities around the country as well, and the downtown area’s that really thrive, have multi-level parking garages. Every single town. So it’s not an issue of walking, nobody mentioned they didn’t want to walk. The issue is having enough spaces for people to park IF there were actually things to do downtown. The more stores and restaraunts that open, the more parking you’re going to need. That’s just common sense.
One of my favorite downtown areas to visit is Philadelphia. They’ve got an awesome downtown and everyone goes down there to hangout and spend the weekends and evenings shopping and enjoying all the restaraunts etc. And once again, they’ve got a couple of awesome multi-level parking garages. (which happen to fill up pretty quickly, especially on the weekends)
Personally, I think it would be a good idea and would help bring our downtown back to life. Seems people want our city to grow and prosper, but they don’t want any changes to be made. Or they don’t want any more taxes to make these changes possible.
I don’t think resolving future or perceived parking issues will grow downtown. Fear of limited parking is not the reason there are few stores now. However, if we do fix the few problems prohibiting growth downtown, then you will start to see parking issues. It will all have to be incorporated into the growth plan.
Parking is not the problem downtown.
The problem is a lack of stores worth going too.
Furthermore the overall scuzz problem of downtown keeps many like me away except when I have to be there and my job frequently takes me there. There are several fleabag hotels / apartment complexes downtown that mostly cater to a very undesirable class of people – near transients, alcoholics, etc. One is right above Fords bar, one is upstairs across the street from city hall, one is the Bonneville at the corner of Constitution and Park. There perhaps are some good but down on their luck people living there but most don’t fit that category. In the summer especially a lot of these drunks come out and pass out on the sidewalks. I remember one in particular from last summer – he looked to be about fifty, scuzzy beard, very smelly, dirty pink shirt, and longjohns and this is what he wore every single day. He’d wander the downtown area every day, sometimes lay on the sidewalk, and often have imaginary arguments with invisible people. I’ve talked to a police officer about the guy and they know him well but its not illegal to be mentally ill, dirty, scuzzy, etc. The officer in fact told me they suspected he was the “phantom pooper” that made news last year but never caught him in the act. They can only do something about him if he breaks the law or becomes violent / suicidal. I’d say the solution would be for the city to do whatever it takes to zone the scuzz hotels out of the area. It would just move the undesirables elsewhere but its the only way to reclaim downtown from them.
There are a few threads here I could post this on, so I’ll take a stab at this one. I just read where Lava Hot Springs will have free wifi up and down Main Street for tourists. They are funding it through a 1% hotel tax enacted last year. Soak in the pools and surf the net, stop for ice cream further up the road and check your email – I like the idea! I would love to see more summer outdoor seating in areas around Idaho Falls, especially downtown and around the Snake River, including Taylor’s Crossing wherever possible. Now, combine this with the availability for residents and tourists to bring their laptops and enjoy a bite to eat or coffee.
I may be a bit behind the times, does anyone know where there is currently outdoor free wifi access in Idaho Falls? What are your favorite indoor spots?
I’m unaware of any outdoor places for wifi, but it does give me an opening for something else ; )
As we were walking around downtown a month or so ago, we were talking about how some cities simply close off roads to the center of their down town and make it more of an outdoor mall. They have events there, things like our “alive at 5″, just a lot more often.
I’m curious what the people here think of that, what would be the pro’s and con’s.
I agree Alice and think that would be a great idea for our downtown area. The only problem would be parking. Present parking spots would fill up quick along the river and over off Yellowstone. Which goes back to building a parking garage as was discussed in a previous post from last year. I think a 4-5 story parking garage would be an asset for the downtown area.
I agree that we really do need more parking.
What happened with that story I heard a few months ago about the powers-that-be considering closing Memorial? When I read that I was concerned about the loss of parking.
Does anyone know if construction at Taylor’s Crossing and Snake River Landing is still in the works or has it become a casualty of the times also? Anybody heard of any plans for the Marriott Hotel or is it doomed to just sit there as a big eyesore?
Have they stopped construction on the Marriott? I haven’t driven by that way in quite awhile so I haven’t noticed.
I’m fairly certain that they’re still putting it together. Weather hasn’t exactly been friendly to pavement / concrete work, which seems to be just about all that is left. Parking lot and such. I think the god awful brick color scheme was meant to be that way…