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Boise and a California Invasion?


AIC Conference in Boise

I attended the annual conference of the Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) this week in Boise, Wed-Fri. The conference was well attended by mayors, city council members, city clerks, attorneys and other city staff and employees from both large and small Idaho cities.

AIC does a good job providing training and information for new and veteran elected officials and other city staff members. I attended workshops and listened to lectures on everything from broadband resources for communities to city planning to campaign finance laws to government transparency laws to understanding the new city budgeting guidelines (HB389). I appreciate the opportunity I had to attend the conference. I think I am a better council member because of it.

California Invasion?

The city planning sessions I attended were particularly interesting and helpful. In one session, Dr. Vos, Professor of Planning and Natural Resources from the University of Idaho, provided various tables and maps regarding population growth and migration within Idaho.

We often hear that people from California are moving in and "taking over our state." The data shows a rather more complex situation than that, but there are a lot of Californians moving into Idaho--particularly certain areas.

By far, most people who have moved into the Boise area the past two years are from other parts of Idaho. Here's some of the data.

Here's some of the data closer to home.

As areas of the state are experiencing significant growth, the demographics are inevitably going to shift. I don't have the data that would show how many people are moving out of the Boise or Pocatello areas at the same time others are moving in, which would also show how demographics can shift dramatically in a short period of time.

We have our own growth here in Sugar City and are facing many of the same challenges and opportunities other areas are facing. As we do so, I am confident we can maintain the things that make this a great place to live.

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