Eastern ID growth slowing? (Boise, Pocatello: home, school, contractors)

[pnwguy2]

While Bonneville Co. (IF) continues to grow at a good clip, growth to the south in Bingham (Blackfoot), and Bannock (Pocatello) seems to have slowed to a crawl. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? (also posted in the IF thread)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Because it is winter and no one likes to move in bad weather?

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

While Bonneville Co. (IF) continues to grow at a good clip, growth to the south in Bingham (Blackfoot), and Bannock (Pocatello) seems to have slowed to a crawl. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? (also posted in the IF thread)

Not noticing this phenomena here in Twin Falls. New businesses opening their doors...and factories crying for workers. Perhaps you don't think Twin Falls is Eastern Idaho?

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by EvilEyeFleegle

Not noticing this phenomena here in Twin Falls. New businesses opening their doors...and factories crying for workers. Perhaps you don't think Twin Falls is Eastern Idaho?

Twin is South Central Idaho. Eastern Idaho is growing despite slower growth in Pocatello compared to other areas of SE Idaho. From what I've read, the economy in Pocatello is picking up.

I just noticed there are two new threads about this topic. That's not going to speed up growth in Poky.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

While Bonneville Co. (IF) continues to grow at a good clip, growth to the south in Bingham (Blackfoot), and Bannock (Pocatello) seems to have slowed to a crawl. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? (also posted in the IF thread)

Why do you expect all the growth in one county to accelerate the growth in two others to all happen at once?

A growth spurt never works that way. More often than not, a sudden spurt only affects one county at a time, as it always takes a lot of time for the growth to spread outward. Think about it; what's easier for all the workers who are in it? Commuting to Bonneville for the job is a lot cheaper and easier than relocating to Bonneville country for a job that might not last all that long.

It's only after the sudden growth settles down that steadier growth begins and starts to spread out.

Blackfoot's growth slowness is different from Pocatello's.

Pocatello was, for decades, a very industrial city, and it was in the fastest growing county in southern Idaho for a very long time. Pocatello has struggled in this post-industrial age, but it's still full of the industrial spirit that caused it to grow, so, in time, as the opportunities arise, I'm sure it will return and will have a lot of growth once more. The reasons why it grew in the first place haven't changed at all.

Blackfoot, on the other hand, has always preferred to pass up it's opportunities for fast growth. A century ago, the city passed up it's chances to become Idaho's first Capital by declining the choice. As a result, Lewiston became the Capital of the state until it became obvious that Lewiston was too remote to serve well, so the capital was moved to Boise, a more central state location.

When the Atomic Energy Commission sent a commission to Idaho in the late 1940s to look Idaho over as a location spot for their needed testing laboratory, Blackfoot was the commission's first choice, due to its closest location to the old Naval gunnery testing range out in the Arco desert.

The largest naval guns ever made were made in Pocatello during World War II. The Navy built a rail spur line out to the desert to carry the huge cannons out to the desert, where they could be tested to their full range safely, without endangering any population.

Blackfoot is almost 30 miles closer to the INL than Idaho Falls by highway, so it was the first spot the commission chose, but the town didn't want to become the host city for the lab.

But Idaho Falls sure wanted to be the host city.
Led by the Chamber of Commerce, who went to great lengths of hospitality, and a little chicanery- Hwy. 20 was an un-paved graveled dirt road at the time, but an Idaho Falls road contractor paved the first 5 miles of 20 west of Idaho Falls at his own expense, just to show the highway would soon be paved it's full length out to the proposed site- I.F. wooed the commission into selecting Idaho Falls as the headquarters instead.

This has always been the pattern in southern Idaho. Pocatello likes industry, Blackfoot likes agriculture, and Idaho Falls likes entrepreneurs who want to start up new businesses. It has been this way since the 1800s. The location of each city favors the differing desires of the citizenry.

With about 25 miles between each of them, there is still plenty of room for them all to grow and spread out. And now, all three are in a regional group, along with Twin Falls to the west, that is actively seeking new businesses to come and re-locate to Idaho as a region, not as one city competing against another.

What's good for one will ultimately be good for another. That's the philosophy that created the regional effort, and it's very sound reasoning. Each of the cities has it's own strengths, so by acting as a single entity, in cooperation with each other, those strengths will allow more opportunity for growth than any individual city can offer.

Some of the fruits of this cooperation have already ripened. Twin Falls is fast becoming California's main competition in the dairy industry, something that could have never been imagined 15 years ago.

So, while Twin Falls is booming, it's boom is helping the start-ups in Idaho Falls, is helping Blackfoot's agriculture, and helping Pocatello's industries. Each is getting a piece of the pie, but the pieces are not all the same size at the same time.

I expect this will be the pattern of growth here will be this century, and will remain to be the pattern for a long time to come. It's the best way to overcome the big empty distances we have here, which have always been a hindrance to growth in the past.

Nature has put a lot of barriers up that prevent growth in southern Idaho. The vast center of the region will never be hospitable with its rough terrain full of lava rock and mountains and mile-deep canyons. It's impossible to overcome those obstacles, so it is to be expected that growth will not come everywhere at the same time.

It's also very unlikely some of our remote small towns out in the middle of those obstacles will ever grow much larger than they are now, unless some reason develops for them to grow.

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Originally Posted by banjomike

...
Some of the fruits of this cooperation have already ripened. Twin Falls is fast becoming California's main competition in the dairy industry, something that could have never been imagined 15 years ago...

That is a good point about the Dairy industry here. Between Chobani, Jerome Cheese(Agropur) and Glambia--all who run 24/7--the demand for local milk..has caused the dairy industry here, to expand in a big way.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by EvilEyeFleegle

That is a good point about the Dairy industry here. Between Chobani, Jerome Cheese(Agropur) and Glambia--all who run 24/7--the demand for local milk..has caused the dairy industry here, to expand in a big way.

Yup.
And all those dairy cows are eating Blackfoot hay this winter. Idaho Falls sent some young managers to those companies, and Pocatello built some of the equipment in those factories.

There are a lot of home contractors from all over S. Idaho with crews who are working in Twin Falls right now, along with paving contractors, civil engineers and the like. Twin Falls may not be close, but it's a lot closer than Wyoming or Utah or Nevada, and this open winter has helped every city in the south this season.

That's how it works. What's good for one is good for all.

I forgot to mention Rexburg in my earlier post. It's also part of the regional promotion organization, and Rexburg is filling another unique niche- BYUI is one of the leading private universities in the nation now. It's strict graduation requirements are attracting a lot of attention in some of the United State's largest industrial sectors as a school to recruit new hires from.

And Rexburg is booming too. I think its very interesting that this region has developed so many singularities that have allowed so many cities to grow individually and as a region, especially in a state with such a small population.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by EvilEyeFleegle

Not noticing this phenomena here in Twin Falls. New businesses opening their doors...and factories crying for workers. Perhaps you don't think Twin Falls is Eastern Idaho?

No, technically it is not in Eastern Idaho. The midpoint of Idaho west-east is east of Twin, but more importantly, the locals generally call Rexburg/IF/Blackfoot/Poky/American Falls "East Idaho", while as another poster noted, Twin is generally "Southern Idaho" or "South/Central Idaho", which would also include Ketchum/Sun Valley.

I do appreciate the detailed responses on the differences between Bonneville County and Bingham/Bannock counties. As a former resident of East Idaho, I find this all to be very interesting, especially when considering the history of the area. Idaho Falls (Bonneville) seems to have more in common with the Salt Lake Valley than the rest of Idaho.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by banjomike

The largest naval guns ever made were made in Pocatello during World War II. The Navy built a rail spur line out to the desert to carry the huge cannons out to the desert, where they could be tested to their full range safely, without endangering any population.

Not to be nit-picky but technically they would be the largest ever made for the US navy. 16"/50 calibers, Mk 7 gun. The Japanese had 18" guns on the Yamato and Musashi. (btw, great reply)

ETA, Mike was right again, we built and tested an 18" gun but it was never installed on a warship.

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

No, technically it is not in Eastern Idaho. The midpoint of Idaho west-east is east of Twin, but more importantly, the locals generally call Rexburg/IF/Blackfoot/Poky/American Falls "East Idaho", while as another poster noted, Twin is generally "Southern Idaho" or "South/Central Idaho", which would also include Ketchum/Sun Valley.

You are correct, although the Wood River Valley towards Stanley is often referred to as the heart of Idaho or simply Central Idaho which also includes The Frank. South Central is mainly the Magic Valley to the Nevada state line.