Refashioning A Town Down On Its Luck

Home to Chinese immigrants before becoming a town known for vice and sin, Garden City, Idaho, is planning a rebirth that leaders and residents hope will transform the community into a desirable and prosperous part of Metro Boise.

3 minute read

July 23, 2007, 5:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


"Garden City earned its name from the many early Chinese immigrants who planted gardens in the rich floodplains of the Boise River. The area later became a haven for the kinds of activities the leaders of Boise didn't want connected with their city, but still wanted close enough to enjoy. Gambling remained legal in Garden City until 1949, and for long after that, adult bookshops, pawn shops and hotels advertising hourly rates lined the road.

Todd Shallat, director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State, said for a time the area was a national hot spot for celebrities who wanted a quickie divorce and the kind of fun that was frowned upon in polite society.

But in recent decades, Garden City has begun a slow transformation, from seedy playground to viable community. The city's infamous adult shops now number just one, and the city is the only one in Ada County where crime rates are actually on the decline.

It still has its issues, including the highest concentration of registered sex offenders in the county, with 46 living among the roughly 12,500 residents. And there's that lingering reputation that makes some business owners shy away from the area, despite its heavy traffic flow-165,000 cars per day-and proximity to downtown Boise.

"Business people said it was gutsy to do it-it seemed risky because of Garden City's reputation," said Irene Deely as she sat in the comfortable yet chic interior of her gallery.

"I loved the fact that it was the first fine-art gallery [in the city]. It was unusual," she said. "We just had to have a lot of tenacity. I plugged my ears to all of the negative and just stuck in there."

Deely's approach is one Garden City Mayor John Evans and other city leaders are trying to persuade others to take. Last year, the city council adopted a new comprehensive plan, and while plan updates are required every 10 years, this time, the city started from scratch.

"We wanted to capture the current mind-set of the community," Evans said. "Garden City needed to be legitimized as a real city, with benefits for its citizens, or it needed to go away."

Sitting in his office in the new Garden City Hall, Evans describes how 125 residents turned out to share their visions for the future of the city. Of that original group, 17 formed a steering committee that helped draft the comprehensive plan later adopted by the council.

The 49-page plan outlines every aspect of the ideal Garden City, from improving the city's appearance by making Chinden Boulevard and Glenwood Street "grand boulevards" lined with trees, to maintaining and improving the area's existing assets, including more than 5 miles of riverfront property and the Greenbelt.

"Garden City is creating a new vision for the future," reads the plan."

Thursday, July 19, 2007 in The Boise Weekly

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 25, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Person wearing mask walking through temporary outdoor dining setup lined with bistro lights at dusk in New York City.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?

Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

June 19, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19, 2025 - Outdoor Life

Two-story buildings with porches in walkable Florida neighborhood.

Orange County, Florida Adopts Largest US “Sprawl Repair” Code

The ‘Orange Code’ seeks to rectify decades of sprawl-inducing, car-oriented development.

45 minutes ago - CNU Public Square

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1 - KQED

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.