Veterans Park Neighborhood Association

The 30th Street Area Master Plan is scheduled for hearing by the City Council on November 15, 2011.

Council hearings begin at 6:00 PM.

Following this link to the plan

In case you missed it, VPNA won a Boise City neighborhood reinvestment grant for almost $16,000 to construct an interpretive walking trail through the 30^th Street neighborhoods.  The trail will lead from the new greenbelt bridge and future whitewater park, past points various points of interest to Fairview Park. For more information about the trail click here. The first organization meeting is coming up soon. All are encouraged to attend.

• Date:                     Thursday June 9, 2011
• Location:              2400 W Bannock St  (kitty corner across the street from the tennis courts)
• Pre-Meeting Potluck starts at 6pm (bring something to share and a lawn chair if possible)
• Interpretive Trail Meeting starts at 7:30pm

The committee that comes out of this meeting will organize community workshops, conduct oral history interviews, collect photos, pick the trail’s name, the trail’s final route and the information on interpretive signs.

Anyone interested in working together, building community and learning more about the neighborhood is welcome to join the committee. If you are interested but can’t make this meeting or want more information please contact Jeff Anderson at vpnatrail@gmail.com or at 608-2385.

Check out historian Tully Gerlach’s blog titled “The West End: The Name and the Place” on Preservation Idaho’s website. Tully draws attention to the interpretive trail that VPNA is planning in the 30th Street area (more on that from us later this week). His article also  offers some interesting history of why Veterans Park Neighborhood Association stretches from Thrift Way Lumber all to way to 19th Street. Perhaps most discussion worthy is Tully’s argument for using the name “West End” for the neighborhoods in the “30th Street area”.

Tell us what you think…

VPNA’s is interested to know your thoughts related to the the moniker “West End”. As residents how do you refer to the neighborhoods between State St and Main St and between 19th St and the river? Do you like West End or prefer something else?  Please email us at vpnaboise@gmail.com and we’ll pass along your thoughts to Stephanie Inman whose working on the 30th Street Area “branding” plan (see previous post for background on that project).

To share your feedback Stephanie came up with the following questionaire. Please answer the following questions and email them to sinman@stephanieinman.com by May 31, 2011.

Thank you for your interest in Boise’s 30th Street Extension Area branding project.

This week the Statesman reported a slow down to the 30th Street plan as the City and ACHD disagree over how to handle traffic along a portion of the new road. Read the full article here.

VPNA obtained a copy of the alternative that ACHD is proposing, to see that click here

In other news…

Willow Lane Athletic Complex is holding COED softball league sign-ups April 4-8. More info here

Also, congrats to Susan Williamson, the Principal at Taft Elementary, who won a national award. More info here.

We wanted to alert you to the Idaho Statesman article “Boise to Retool 30th Street Neighborhood” 1/23/2011. In addition to plans that are well known, such as the 30th Street Extension road, the Whitewater Park and Esther Simplot Park; the article mentions talk of a community center and a baseball stadium as possible additions to the 30th Street plan.

The Statesman article goes on to mention the Capital City Development Corp, the the city’s urban renewal agency, “which has convened a steering committee to figure out how to make the 30th Street master plan a reality.”  CCDC’s website states that the steering committee “will be meeting over the course of the next six months to consider issues, alternatives and options.”

Mike Hall, of CCDC, visited the VPNA February Board Meeting on Monday (2/21/2011 – see minutes here). He emphasized that CCDC welcomes questions, concerns, etc… from residents. Mike can be reached at 208-384-4264 or mhall@ccdcboise.com. Mike noted a number of ways that residents can be involved and help shape what our neighborhood will look like in the coming years. One way is to join one of the following CCDC sub-committees:

• Physical Infrastructure
• Public Safety
• Social Services
• Policy and Regulations
• Plan Addendum

VPNA’s primary concern with the current plan is pedestrian safety. The board would like to see a separate pedestrian / bicycle crossing, such as an underpass, of the new thoroughfare as an alternative to the proposed traffic light and crosswalk. One critical reason for this is the fact that the greenbelt’s new pedestrian bridge will allow Whittier Elementary students to walk to school, however students also will need to cross the 30th St Extension.

In other news,  Henry’s Farmers Market (the organic grocery chain) has withdrawn its interest in the vacant property on the corner of Bannock and 15th Street.

ACHD 30th Street Extension Open House
Thursday, January 27, 2011 | 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Lowell Elementary School Gym| 1507 N. 28th Street, Boise

Residents will have an opportunity to meet with ACHD and Boise City staff to view the project design progress, ask questions and provide input. For more information about the project or to subscribe for email updates from ACHD please visit this page.

Click here for open house flyer

Click here to read an email from Kathleen Lacy (Boise City Planner) about recent changes to the landscaping on the east side of the 30th Street Extension.

Have you ever wanted to name a road? The City of Boise is giving you yourchance.

The city is looking for name suggestions for a stretch of road that’s being built as part of the 30th Street Area Master Plan. The roadway, currently known as the 30th Street Extension, is meant to help revitalize the western area of downtown Boise along the Boise River.

If you are a Boise resident and want to help re-name the 30th Street Extension, click here.

A new name for the roadway needs to be picked soon so that it can be included in the design plans, which are expected to be completed in early 2011.

The actual roadway will connect 30th Street near the Shilo Inn on Fairview Avenue to Rose Street near the Idaho Department of Transportation headquarters on State Street. Construction on the road is being planned for 2013.

To help pick the name, the Boise City Council is offering a survey to all Boise residents over the age of 18. You can either supply your own name, or pick one of the ones that have already been suggested, such as Whitewater Way or Rose Parkway.

The City Council will then use those survey results to pick the name of the street, which will have four lanes of traffic, two bike lanes, and sidewalks on each side.

From KTVB.com by Jordan Gray of Idaho’s NewsChannel 7