New bus route; ideas from Mark Rivers

Hola! It's been a long time between blog posts (due to my crazy day job), but I want to share a few things I've come across, including a Valley Ride survey that ends TODAY (Sunday, March 6).

Valley Ride expects to bring bus service back to southwest Boise sometime this spring. The proposed route is a good one because:

It reinstates service to the Social Security office for our older and disabled neighbors.

It ties together one shopping and entertainment center (Boise Towne Square) with another (the Edwards cinemas and shopping west of Cole Road).

It provide service to Frank Church High School and the Boise School District offices (as well as one of the best auto mechanic shops in town).

Valley Ride has a survey about the new route. I believe it closes today, but I just heard about it.

In other urbanist news, Mark Rivers of Brix & Company has a new online flipbook, 10 Fresh Ideas for Downtowns in 2011. From comfy sidewalk benches with reading lamps to winter festivals (how about bringing back First Night?) to expanded truck-based commerce (why should taco trucks and bookmobiles have all the fun?), Rivers and crew are thought provoking as always. I still wish Mark would run for mayor; I'm still not surprised that he has no interest, since politics suck.

The people on the bus say 'Ride with us'

As an avid bus rider in Boise, I am part of this new video that shows a few reasons why it's cool and cost effective to take transit.

Art time in the old town tonight

It's going to be a scorcher in Boise today, with an expected high of at least 100. But as the sun dips lower, downtown will be filled with cool activities for August First Thursday. From sky-high, one-night-only galleries at the Aspen Lofts to the spectacle of 30 artists creating a mural in the parking garage at Bannock and Capitol, there's plenty going on.

I'll be at the Pioneer Building with Idaho Indie Works and the Etsy Street Team to sign copies of the 8th edition (just out in June; $15) of Idaho Off the Beaten Path. This is probably the last appearance I'll do for the book this summer, so please plan to stop by!

From the market, June 5

We actually had some rare (for this spring, anyway) good weather on Saturday morning, making it a pleasure to shop the Capital City Public Market. Some of this week's haul: several handmade greeting cards, a bag of lettuce, fresh eggs, butternut squash ravioli, Ballard Family cheese, granola bars, and a end-of-school gift (the glass musical note piece) for my daughter.

One big pleasure of the Market is stopping to chat with folks, including Michael Boss from Behind the Menu and Millie Hilgert from Miss Courageous. (I'm definitely buying one of her Lego business card cases some not-distant Saturday.) I also ducked into The Box in the Basement at the 8th Street Micro Mall (below Thomas Hammer and the former Coldstone) for a fun peasant-type top that I spotted on First Thursday two nights before, then hit Failla Drums' 11 a.m. drum group, newly relocated to A Novel Adventure on Main Street. It was a morning well spent!

Memorial Day Weekend quick takes

A few quick takes:

Check out the Downtown Boise Neighborhood Association's website. It's a work in progress, but it's looking good. I also learned at yesterday's DBNA meeting that we'll soon be seeing some more electric boxes bedecked with cool local art. (That photo atop the right-hand side of this blog is one of the current boxes, at Capitol and Main.)

Timberline High students have been hitting the streets this past week, gleaning stories about architecturally and historically significant buildings. Check out this blog post about one team's trip to the Owyhee Plaza Hotel, featured on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Preservation Nation" blog. I'll also be writing about the Boise Architecture Project - led by teacher Doug StanWiens (on his way to Boise High School) - in the summer issue of Treasure magazine.

Speaking of preservation, Preservation Idaho has a free bike tour of Art Deco architecture in Boise this Saturday. Info here.

In sad downtown news, Sweetwater's Tropic Zone has closed. Can it be that with the abundance of great restaurants on and within a block of 8th Street, 10th Street is just too far for diners to wander? Or is it simply a sign that we're not yet quite out of the economic woods here in the City of Trees?

Early bird gets the eggs (Market 5/15)

As much as I remember and/or have time, I am going to post a pic from my weekly haul from the Capital City Public Market here this spring, summer, and fall. Today's gets included little banty eggs (the bigger, terra cotta-colored ones are coming soon, they tell me), an awesome blackberry lime granola bar made in Meridian, spinach, tomatoes, and handmade asparagus ravioli.

Just a head's up, so you can mark your calendars now: I will be at the market to sign hot-off-the-press, 8th edition copies of Idaho Off the Beaten Path on Saturday, June 19. That's the day before Father's Day, and the book makes a great gift for all your guys who like exploring our fab state. I'll donate a buck from each book sold to the market's Fresh Fund, which - starting in June - will help food stamp users buy locally produced food at the market.

See you at the Green Expo

Just a reminder: This weekend is the 3rd Annual Idaho Green Expo down at the Boise Centre. I am going to try and make it down there for the Green Jobs panel and the worm composting workshop. You'll find a full listing of events, exhibitors, etc. here.

Admission is free, and the first 500 moms attending on Sunday (Mother's Day) get a free stainless steel water bottle, too.

Walk and talk about downtown Boise

See this woman? She was the fabulous Jane Jacobs, an amateur urbanist who wrote one of the most important books of the 20th century, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. She believed that cities ought to be planned by the people who live in them; that density (within reason) and diversity bring vitality; that cool old buildings ought to be saved when at all possible; and that above all, cities are meant for walking.

This weekend, Jacobs' legacy will be honored with "Jane's Walks" in dozens of cities across North America, including one in Boise. We'll meet on The Grove at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (May 1), walk and talk around downtown for about 90 minutes, and (for those interested) continue the conversation afterward at Red Feather Lounge. (Thanks to Dave Krick for promising some goodies for us.)

We want to keep the group size smallish, but we really do have room for another four or five people. If you are interested, please RSVP by Friday evening, April 30, to walkboise@gmail.com. And if you are reading this too late but would like to be involved in Jane's Walk for 2011 - perhaps in other Treasure valley neighborhoods - give me a shout at that same email address.

Busker do

Here's Boise's own internationally known jazzman Curtis Stigers, busking outside the Record Exchange on Saturday aka Record Store Day. In addition to two in-store performances by Idahoan-turned-Brooklynite Josh Ritter and the band Everest, many local musicians sang and played on the sidewalks outside throughout the day.

Busking is a trend that the local music advocacy group Go Listen Boise would like to encourage. "Our city is so safe, and our downtown core is so pedestrian friendly, why shouldn't the streets be filled with music?" the group wrote on "Busking Basics" cards distributed throughout the day.

Why not, indeed? As last summer's Curb Cup showed, Boiseans love street performing. Go Listen Boise says that there currently are no regulations or licenses for busking in Boise, and that with common courtesy and good sense, we can keep it that way. I've seen and heard some great busking downtown in recent weeks as the weather has warmed, and I'm going to try and catch some of it on FlipCam to post here on Sidewalk 208.

P.S. Curtis graciously kept his guitar gig bag closed to tips so other, lesser-known acts could get the day's spoils. Go Listen Boise held a killer bake sale for the cause, too. This town rocks.

BSU students take fresh looks at downtown

Anyone who loves downtown Boise ought to have a look at the Statesman today. Page 1 of the print edition has two very cool stories that - combined with news of the first drop in Idaho's unemployment rate in 32 months - show Boise's brightest days may yet be ahead of us.

First of all comes the news that BoDo developer Mark Rivers has toured the old Macy's building and is at least thinking of a purchase. Kathleen Kreller's story notes that others are looking at the property, too. Let's hope that something can come together in "the big old barn" (Rivers' words) while the market is still down. The costs of the cavernous building - and of neglecting it - are only certain to rise in the future; on the flipside, the psychological and financial rewards of investing in such an iconic property could ripple valleywide.

Bethann Stewart covered the first-ever spring break innovate@boisestate conference, showing how five teams of students envisioned infill projects for downtown parcels. The first-place team proposed something called Zenabuki Village along Broadway between Front and Myrtle streets, described as "a mixed-use housing and retail development of condos and apartments where students, young professionals and other community members would interact."

Whole Foods Market has plans to build on this parcel (if we can't interest them in the old Macy's instead), and the students made the grocer the anchor tenant of their proposal. But they also envisioned a skywalk to the Boise State campus and a living center where at-risk teens could mix with college students to see the benefits of higher education.

The second-place team envisions an "Urban-Outdoor Nirvana" at Myrtle and 11th streets, including a transportation center with Zipcar and bike rentals; a concert venue; a children's museum; citywide volunteer center; and more. Read the whole story here, and see the proposals on display at the BSU Undergraduate Research and Scholarship conference, set for from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday, April 12, in the Student Union Building. And bravo to BSU for an activity that shows how in-person higher ed can remain relevant in the Internet era.

P.S. If these stories set your heart and mind racing, please consider joining us for Jane's Walk 2010 on May 1 in downtown Boise. See the link for more details and sign up soon; the event will be limited to the first 15 people.

Something new to do in Boise

UPDATE: The next Impromptour is this weekend ... Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 2 p.m. on The Grove. Come enjoy a springtime urban stroll with us. $15 cash or pre-pay online (see below).

I'm pleased to say I have a new gig as a partner in Boise Walking Tours, which will be officially relaunching this spring. Linda Byron and Judy Secrist started the historical strolls in 2000, and I've joined them to help take the venture into a new decade.

While the tours are mainly going to be geared to groups visiting Boise, we'll also be holding drop-in tours once or twice a week (to start, anyway) for Boiseans who are looking for something fun to do. The first of these "Impromptours" will happen at 4 p.m. this Sunday, February 28. That's right - after the Olympic men's hockey finals.

The original Boise Walking Tours route centered on Old Boise, but I've designed a tour that takes in a somewhat larger area, from the Grove to the Anne Frank Memorial to the Basque Block and the heart of downtown. We'll be covering about two miles total in 90 minutes at a nice leisurely stroll. Much of the information will be familiar to people who've lived in Boise a while, but I think you'll enjoy the walk (it's supposed to be in the 50s again on Sunday) and learn something new even if you've been here for decades.

The tours cost $15 per person, and you can either pay cash at the start or use the PayPal link on our website if you'd rather use your bank account or credit card. We're starting this somewhat quietly; you can think of the first few tours as a "soft opening." But I once led a version of this same tour for about 30 people on President's Day Weekend a few years ago, so I am ready for anything.

For more info or dates of other upcoming "Impromptours," see our website, Facebook fan page, or Twitter feed.

Transit: It's time to get creative

I grew up riding the Port Authority Transit trolleys in Pittsburgh. Two separate streetcar lines ran between Bethel Park (the suburb where my family lived) and downtown. The trolleys took us to Pirates games, movies and concerts. Even after I got my driver's license, I realized that it was way cheaper to take the trolley to my downtown summer jobs than to drive.

My childhood love for public transit hasn't let up. As an adult, I'm the sort of person who considers transit to be as much tourist attraction as transportation mode; I was almost as excited last summer to finally get a chance to ride the Salt Lake TRAX light rail as I was to see Green Day in concert that same trip. In other words, you'd think that I'd be a huge fan of the Boise streetcar concept, and that I'd be devastated at yesterday's news that our city lost out on the federal grant that would've underwritten a good chunk of its cost.

Nope. If anything, I was rooting quietly for the grant application to fail. For one thing, I prefer the idea of starting with a north-south line to connect downtown with our cultural district and Boise State. But beyond that, I question whether we ought to be pursuing any sort of fixed-line streetcar service when our bus system is so insufficient. I was far more disappointed to learn that Valley Regional Transit lost out on a $26 million grant to improve local bus service than I was to hear that the streetcar funds fell through.

Of course, I am familiar with the main reason our bus system is so bad: Unlike most states, Idaho refuses to let local citizens decide whether to pay a little extra in sales tax to fund public transit. Idaho was one of only nine states to get entirely shut out of yesterday's transit grants. Pointing to the four cities (out of a dozen applicants) that got streetcar grants yesterday, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter noted to the Idaho Statesman that Tuscon, Portland, Dallas and New Orleans all have local option authority.

Alas, living as we do in a state where legislators refuse to give citizens local control, Boise now has to get creative. The Statesman had an excellent editorial on Sunday pointing out how the city - faced with a strong vote of support for local libraries that still fell short of the unreasonably high two-thirds majority required - found a way to build the branch libraries we so badly needed in this city.

The difference is that 57 percent of Boise voters supported branch libraries, while nowhere near that high a percentage supports the current streetcar plan. It will also cost a lot more money to bring the local transit system into the 21st century than it will to build a few libraries.

But we have to start somewhere, and the answer - for Boise - is not a fixed-line streetcar route. It's buses that run past 6 p.m., and on Sundays, and more than once an hour mid-day. It's buses that serve the growing populations of Eagle, Meridian and Kuna.

It's temporary trolley service that runs at times when people are already downtown and want to have fun: First Thursdays, for example, or Morrison Center concert nights. We all know how popular the Boise State football game-day trolleys are; why not expand that concept?

Let's look at creative marketing and schedule tweaks that makes bus riding cool and fun. For example, how about special service that would allow people to take a bus between downtown Boise, Towne Square Mall and the Idaho Center (and back again at 11 p.m.) for big concerts? How about keeping bus service available until 9 p.m. on summer Wednesdays for Alive After Five or running buses until midnight for 10 days during the Western Idaho Fair?

Valley Ride is strapped for cash, and these ideas would require public-private funding partnerships along the lines of those that were envisioned for the streetcar route. But Boise's compact, walkable downtown doesn't need a permanent 2.3-mile streetcar running east-west or north-south so much as it needs a way to help people travel to and from downtown to eat, drink, work, shop and have fun in the first place.

Update 10:30 a.m. February 18 ... Here are some other thoughts on Boise's transit situation (h/t Treasured Valley):

Randy Stapilus at Ridenbaugh Press

Kevin Richert at the Idaho Statesman

Mark Rivers, talking sense

Mark Rivers, one of the smartest guys in Boise, did a two-part interview with BSU Radio this week. In Part One, he says that while Boise city administration has good intentions and integrity, it lacks vision when it comes to economic development. Is the state any better? "Don't get me started," he tells reporter Elzabeth Duncan, noting that Butch Otter's signature Project 60 is "asinine."

In Part Two, Rivers suggests a better streetcar route, calls Boise State University our city's biggest remaining "factory," and says downtown Boise is still in pretty good shape. Listen here.

And no, he doesn't want to run for office. Of course, I can't blame him, and I agree that people like Rivers can probably do more good outside the political process than within it.

Interesting side note: I just got the save-the-date postcard today for an intriguing City Club program on April 15. BSU's Nancy Napier and Bob Lokken of White Cloud Analytics will discuss whether Boise is living up to its promise of a creative economy.

Another downtown loss, but a bit of good news, too

Postscript April 19, 2010: Listen to a Boise State radio story about Boise Blue and "The Art of Saying Goodbye."

Postscript February 12: While it doesn't diminish the loss of Boise Blue, I heard some really good news yesterday after I posted this. Another locally owned business - a real fixture in the Think Boise First movement, in fact - will be relocating downtown this summer. The news is not yet widely known, so I won't say which one, but it's a business that knows what it takes to beat the trends toward online shopping and big-box price wars.

I am a strong believer in local businesses and downtown Boise, and although closures like Boise Blue and Macy's give us all pause (especially amid a still-rough economic climate), there are still many people who would prefer to shop, eat, hang out, and even live downtown.

Just a few weeks after Macy's announced it will close its downtown Boise location, I was saddened to read today that Boise Blue Art Supply, a downtown fixture for decades, will be closing soon. The store has been suffering from lack of parking, the congestion wrought by the long Capitol renovation project, and - everyone's favorite bogeyman - online shopping.

I'm not in the market for art supplies very often, but I stopped in a couple of times. Once was to buy a cheap ballpoint pen when I found myself downtown without one. Late for a meeting at the Statehouse, I lay my money on the counter and begged the staff - waiting on another customer - to keep the change so I could get on my way.

Another time, shortly after I moved to Boise, I was captivated by an exhibition of student photography showcased in Boise Blue's windows along Jefferson Street. I went inside to learn more, and the staff kindly gave me the name and phone number of the Boise School District employee who coordinated the project.

That's the kind of community-minded support that artists mentioned in today's Idaho Statesman article by Anna Webb. "It's sad when any business closes, but it's especially sad when it's a business like Boise Blue that's supported the art community for so many years," Cherry Woodbury of the Idaho Watercolor Society said.

And of course, Boise Blue's name (originally derived from an early focus on architectural blueprints) took on a whole new meaning in recent years, as blue became the color most associated with Boise. The store often had a pro-Broncos message on its reader board.

Boise Blue will be missed, and its closure offers yet another reminder that it's good to shop locally, with Boise-based businesses, whenever and however we can.

Filling the Macy's hole

Many of us are disappointed to hear that Macy's will be closing its downtown Boise store. I haven't been here long enough to remember the earlier retail incarnations that Tim Woodward described in his Idaho Statesman article today. I just know that, whenever I was lured by Macy's One-Day Sales or holiday blow-outs, I always tried the downtown store first to see what they had before even considering a trip to Mallville. Sure, the selection was never as good, but the vibe was friendlier.

Now the big question turns to whether and how downtown Boise can fill the void at 10th & Idaho. In Cynthia Sewell's main Statesman story today, key players including Capital City Development Corporation director Phil Kushlan and downtown revivalist Mark Rivers were fairly downbeat about the possibilities, though they said that this does give Boise an opportunity to re-imagine future uses for the space,since it's unlikely any national retailers will want it. Here are a few possibilities I'd propose:

Make it multi-use. It's unlikely that one tenant will need the 118,000 square feet Macy's occupies. Besides, some of the most compelling spaces in our downtown and those of other cities feature a mix of retail, offices, cultural attractions, and even residential space.

Boise State will continue to grow, and its campus boundaries become more porous every year. Could BSU claim part of the Macy's real estate for a downtown campus, perhaps for its political science or community and regional planning classes?

Central downtown really needs a grocery store and/or a public market. Winco's flagship behemoth is too far east to serve people living and working in the downtown core, especially people who'd like to quickly hit a store on foot at lunchtime or before heading home. Whole Foods' plans for a Boise store have been on the back burner during the downturn - but if it does move forward, perhaps it would consider taking over part of Macy's. (The first Whole Foods I ever visited, while researching for Lonely Planet in the chain's hometown of Austin, Texas, was a multi-level store.)

Perhaps the Boise Co-Op, crammed into its current Fort Street location, might take a look. Or how about a year-round, indoor public market a la Seattle's Pike Place or Vancouver's Granville Island? Yes, parking will always be an issue, but not an insurmountable one, especially for the thousands of people who will be living downtown in another decade or so.

Bowling! Say no more. Macy's basement would be a rocking spot for a bowling alley/nightclub/performance space.

What are your ideas?