Between 1950 and 1975 there are no major changes in transportation infrastructure evident on the West Boise parcel of land between Pleasanton and Jefferson, where it extends to Quinn’s Pond. There were however, pivotal changes in social awareness in regards to land and river, as well as the quality of neighborhoods. These things all had a great effect on the West Boise area in the decades to come. During the sixties and seventies, there were many people brainstorming early plans of the greenbelt along the river, but these plans were not implemented until the eighties. The major changes during the fifties up to the seventies that impacted West Boise were general changes in thought about environmental quality, neighborhood quality and equality for African Americans in regards to living conditions.
Many people were still conditioned to the traditional perspective of land use; owning land and being able to do whatever you please with it. There was also a plethora of people with new awareness about the way we view the land. This was very significant because for the first time, people started to realize that we couldn’t continue to take advantage of the land and Boise River. Adam Rome, author of Bulldozer in the Countryside said, “We have come to view our land as a limited and irreplaceable resource. No longer do we imagine that there will always be more of it over the horizon.” (Rome 224) The opposing viewpoint is in direct correlation to the traditional pioneering mindset of America’s legal system. “To the founders of the nation, the ability to own land was a safeguard against oppression, a source of social order, and a stimulus to enterprise.” (Rome 230) This made it a very controversial issue because being able to own a piece of property and do on it what you please were one of the factors that defined America. Environmentalists who saw the bigger picture, which was that improper respect for the use of the land would affect the future of our children, were challenging these values. Environmentalists knew that problems were going to arise and had principles of good land use in mind, but were unable to provide a stable plan to approach these problems. “Though environmentalists readily listed a few basic principles of good land use – don’t build on steep hillsides, preserve open space, minimize water pollution, control soil erosion – the lists did not provide a compelling vision of sound development.” (Rome 252) The new concept of protecting the land was something that had to be brought to awareness even though it was not an easy thing to define.
Those in Boise who were making an effort to bring awareness to these issues relate to the transportation infrastructure because the ones who cared the most were the early greenbelt advocates. Although the greenbelt plans for West Boise were only being brainstormed during this time, the desire for a bike path along the river was something that many people would agree could be a great public commodity. The advocates for the greenbelt were surely making a change within the minds of the general public. “The most obvious force for change came from the discovery of the river’s recreation potential. As we saw in chapters 2 and 9 by the mid 1970s the river had already gained broad appreciation by recreationists, first tubers and rafters on the river and later strollers and cyclists enjoying the greenbelt. The public rating of the greenbelt started high and went up steadily thereafter.” (Neil 173) People began to see great potential for the river as a public commodity and the desire grew into later decades as their potential became more obvious.
The change of awareness about the environment during this time need not be limited to only rivers and land. In fact, changes occurred in a variety of areas among American lifestyles. The Model Neighborhood Plan was a national act of urban renewal in 1967 that strove to provide better living conditions in more ways than one. The President at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson said, “To build not just housing units but neighborhoods, not just to construct schools, but to educate children, not just to raise income but to create beauty and end the poisoning of our environment.” The Housing Development Project in the River Street area was an example of Urban renewal near the parcel under study. These changes in the quality of neighborhoods relates to a very important shift in human equality during the sixties, mainly regarding African Americans. The Civil Rights Movement was in full force, and that was evident in the West end of Boise. Underneath the train tracks, just below the parcel of land being studied was one of the only areas for African Americans to live.
West Boise-1970. The area below the Railroad is African American Housing.
Many of the landlords who owned these properties were against urban renewal because they would no longer be able to take advantage of the black tenants renting their houses. Before urban renewal, there were very few codes for the quality of homes in this part of town. The owners of these houses created “A Petition Against Urban Renewal on River Street” because they were upset that they would be forced to take better care of their property, or in certain cases “forcing some people to give up their property to build housing for some other people” (Goodmiller and Neal) The people who owned these properties wanted to continuously take advantage of the African Americans who rented from them, but the pivotal social changes in America such as urban renewal would force them to do otherwise.
Although the infrastructure of roads in West Boise remained stagnant between 1950 and 1975, the social changes of environmental awareness had a huge effect on the quality of living for many. The Greenbelt advocates who strove to put a Greenbelt along the section of the Boise River in West Boise changed the views of many with their radical ideas of preserving the river and land. The most significant changes between 1950 and 1975 were not revealed on the landscape of Boise, but within the minds of American citizens in regards to environmental quality, neighborhood quality and equality for blacks and their housing opportunities.
Urban Environmental Boise 