SOUTHEAST BOISE, Idaho — Southeast Boise is growing every day from new businesses to single and multi-family homes growing the area in population little by little.
- Between 2021 to 2023, Barber Valley saw 520 building permits issued for multi and single-family units.
- From 2000 to 2020, Southeast Boise including, Harris Ranch and Barber Valley, saw the population rise from roughly 33 thousand residents to more than 43 thousand.
- Harris Ranch submitted a specific plan amendment to create a town center for the area. With open space, cafes, and small retail shops.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Southeast Boise growth has been on the rise for the last few years, new apartments and businesses are taking over the area, giving growth to a once-empty area.
"That really big boom of development has been going on my entire childhood,” says Sequoia Solmorales.
Sequoia Solmorales is a barista at Brewed Coffee in Harris Ranch.
He's lived in Southeast Boise since 2006 and has seen the growth firsthand.
He says, “This area out here where Brewed it wasn't as developed; there was a lot of development going on but now it's really blown up, you see condos and apartments all over the place.”
The growth has been constant. Between 2021 to 2023 alone, Barber Valley saw 520 building permits issued for multi and single-family units.
According to planning and zoning from 2000 to 2020, Southeast Boise including Harris Ranch and Barber Valley, saw the population rise from roughly 33,000 to more than 43,000.
Josh Wilson says, “Coming out of the housing crises majority of new construction for single-family homes in Boise was taking place in the mid-2015 range and that is starting to slow down and phase out as they run out of essentially platted residential lots that are ready to build on.”
In the early 2000s Harris Ranch saw a huge boom in construction in 2007 the city adopted the Harris Ranch-specific plan.
Since then there have been new schools, homes, and businesses throughout the area
"Now we're starting to see and you might've seen on Warm Springs Avenue the multifamily is under construction and filling in kind of some of the last vacant parcels out there,” says Wilson.
Josh Wilson is the Planning Manager for the City of Boise, he says, recently Harris Ranch submitted a specific plan amendment to create a town center.
He says, "There’ll be civic space open space some open space, we would anticipate restaurants some small scale retail that will really start to fill in the area.”
Brewed is one of many businesses already in the area, surrounded by new developments. As more people move to the area, the once small and tight-knit community could become a destination for more residents.
