San Francisco information experiences ‘Bay Space tech exodus’ may goal Boise subsequent
The article makes reference to Boise’s affordability, but fails to capture the systemic problems that contribute to the housing crisis.
BOISE, Idaho – For Boiseans and Idahoans trying to get by in Gem State, the crushing real estate crisis and depressed wages have created something of a nightmare. For Californians emigrating from the Golden State, this is a ripe opportunity to move and raise a family.
One of Monday’s most read stories for SFGATE, a San Francisco-based news website, focuses on the City of Trees becoming “the next hotspot in the Bay Area’s tech exodus.”
The article highlights, “Tech newcomers see Boise as a city for those who seek balance,” and cites the city’s access to the foothills and nature.
The reporter, Joshua Bote, a Los Angeles native and a UC Berkeley graduate, also noted that displeasure with Californians flocking to Idaho is growing. However, they spoke to a failed Boise mayoral candidate who only garnered less than 1,000 votes for it, which may not be the best perspective to reflect a city of over 225,000 residents.
Bote notes that Californians moving to Idaho emphasize several things about Boise: “California’s relative closeness to Boise, Boise’s affordability, and perhaps most importantly, Boise’s growing attraction in the tech class.”
The City of Trees and the rest of Treasure Valley may be affordable for the tech class, but this is far from being the case for those who already call Gem State home.
According to USA Today, Boise house prices rose faster than any other major US city from 2017 to 2021, as the average house price rose 72% in four years.
In May 2021, the average home sales price in Ada County exceeded $ 500,000, more than 45% more than in May 2020. Over the past five years, Idaho wages have increased only about 14%.
Idahoans looking for a rental home also don’t experience the “affordability”. Between the start of COVID-19 and October 2020, Boise rent rose 9%, a number that has likely not improved in the past eight months.
SFGATE mentioned Boise’s rising housing costs, but footnoteed where Boise is a destination for people in the tech industry and said, “It’s also not the high cost of a big city, although that is changing fast.”
Bote later highlighted the discrepancy between being a San Francisco reporter covering Idaho by saying, “Many longtime Boiseites are concerned about being driven out of the neighborhood by the tech elite.”
For the record, the people who live in Boise are Boiseans, not Boiseites. I almost got an aneurysm while reading “Boiseites”.
The only local messenger he spoke to was a single anonymous source who vulgarly cursed the “rich hypercapitalist tech right” [expletive]”moving to Boise, which doesn’t sound very Boise-friendly.
With no real feedback from Boiseans, Bote reaches out to describe Boise’s “grudge” against “the tech elite”.
A survey conducted by Boise State University better captures local concerns. Out of 750 people who participated in the survey, 78% said the region is growing too fast, up from 40-45% who agreed with the assessment in 2016. 81% of renters said housing costs are a burden on their finances, compared with 33% of those who own a home. Around half of all respondents said that housing costs put a strain on their finances.
Read the full report here.
My mother was 22 when she bought her home in Boise for $ 66,900.
A home in their neighborhood is listed for $ 449,000
I’m 25 and my wildest dream is to rent an apartment with a washer / dryer https://t.co/qwUZjbrcVF
– Devin Ramey (@KTVBDevin) June 13, 2021
The article also features multiple interviews with people who moved to Boise as part of the exodus from the Golden State of California, including Clark Krause, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership.
The reality interviewees face in Idaho, however, is very different from that of the thousands of Idahoans (for the record isn’t a word from Idaho, either) who are still earning the minimum wage of $ 7.25, which has been in place since 2009 was no longer touched.
Nor is it that Treasure Valley can work its way out of this crisis. Timber and labor shortages across the country are making housing projects more expensive and taking months longer. With housing taking almost a year to build, the housing crisis is unlikely to turn around quickly.
Idahoans have gotten used to Gem State or Treasure Valley being in the top ten on a list that uses a vague and complicated formula in its ranking system.
However, any outside perspective or reporting needs to consider the challenges Treasure Valley is facing, especially when it comes to its housing crisis and stagnant wages. Talking to two privileged white men who managed to move to the City of Trees and an angry anonymous person who couldn’t fill out a questionnaire doesn’t paint the full picture of life in Boise.
The “affordability” of the City of Trees may apply to those with deep tech pockets, but the reality is different for those struggling to afford rising housing costs with low wages.
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