GARDEN CITY EVOLVES
With All Eyes On The Pint-Sized City's Future, People On Both Sides Of Chinden Are Defining Its Present
By Erin Ryan - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date 12/08/07
Words like "visionary" and "renaissance" are being used to describe the shift that is turning Garden City's neglected corners into a model of urban renewal. Crime is down, rents are up, the cultural sector is igniting, and people in and around the area are excited about the future.
The buzz started in 2005 when the city scrapped its comprehensive plan and invited the entire community to the rewrite. The resulting 49-page document won a Grow Smart Award from Idaho Smart Growth last year, not only for its inclusive process, but also for its innovative use of existing space and resources.
An industrial stretch on Adams Street is slated to become a vibrant corridor like Boise's Hyde Park. New zoning allows a Live-Work-Create district in the city's Old Town that will have artists both living and working in affordable lofts. Design standards have been set that encourage attractive, integrated spaces in the commercial sector. The mixed-use Waterfront District development is going up between 37th and 35th streets. Bright buildings and bulldozers dominate the view from the south side of the Greenbelt, which will soon connect all the way to Eagle.
The dream is grand, and some of it already has been realized, but how possible is the extreme transformation of a city with such a dark past? Can a place once known for gambling houses and shanty towns become, as it is sometimes called, "the heart of the Treasure Valley"? Will State Street grow into a tree-lined mall? Can the fairgrounds turn into a downtown core with its own skyline? Will boutiques, restaurants and neighborhood groceries pop up between used car lots, warehouses and bars?
Garden City's comprehensive plan boasts a "new vision for the future," but most of the thousands of people who drive through the city every day are kicking back, waiting to see what happens.
Meanwhile, a handful of individuals are carving out that vision. From business owners to artists to elected officials, these people are making the difference between a nice dream and a satisfying reality. All have hopes for the future, but in the 4.2 square miles on either side of Chinden, they are beautifying the present.
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