Archives West Finding Aid

This series documents the formation and activities of the East End Neighborhood Association. In 1983, a group of seventy residents created a "unified statement of shared concerns" pertaining to increased growth in the area. The Neighborhood Plan and Policy Guide, Folders 11 and 12, would be the platform for group's future grassroots activism. The association board's responses to new housing developments are located in the minutes found in Folders 14 through 28.

The Castle Rock development controversy lasted for more than twenty years. Series II documents the multitude of questions pertaining to the proposal to build the Morningside Heights housing development on the rim above Castle Rock and on land immediately below it. Schools, and architectural design in the neighborhood became almost secondary matters to the citizenry compared to the complex geological, hydrological, and historical questions surrounding the Castle Rock development. The area had, in the past, been identified as a Native American burial site and sacred ground. Deliberations over the proposed development resulted in several professional reports, public hearings, and legal actions that can be traced through the series. The papers are arranged chronologically, documenting the issue as it unfolded.

The building of new housing developments in Boise's East End resulted in increased traffic on historic Warm Springs Avenue during the 1970s and 80s. Prospects for development beyond the East End, in the Barber Valley, raised the likelihood of even more traffic accessing downtown via Warm Springs Avenue. Residents of the area lobbied Boise City and Ada County to establish alternative transportation routes to relieve congestion. Records kept by the East End Neighborhood Association contain several transportation studies and plans for Boise area. The Foothills Loop plan proposed diverting traffic off of Warm Springs by creating roads encircling Boise on the north, through the Foothills. The East End Neighborhood Association actively worked with other neighborhood groups instead for the construction of two new Boise River bridges to divert east-west traffic via a route through Southeast Boise. Much of Series III traces the development of the Southeast Transportation Corridor plan, which led to the building of ParkCenter Boulevard in Southeast Boise and the eventual construction of the West ParkCenter Bridge (opened 2001) and East ParkCenter Bridge (opened 2009) over the Boise River.

The East End Neighborhood Association united with other Boise citizen groups to have a voice in planning for the growth of their community. Neighborhood representatives, members of the Boise City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, and others formed the Metro Committee. The committee worked over 15 years to create the Boise Metropolitan Plan of 1990. Designed to provide guidelines for development, the Plan was and amended throughout 1990s. Series IV addresses joint neighborhood concerns such as the impact of the Foothills development, traffic flow, fire and flood prevention, and water usage. Through the folders of this series, the East End Neighborhood Association's participation in resolving such questions can be examined.

As a long time resident of Boise's East End, Jay King served on the association's board, 1991-1995. The controversy surrounding the Castle Rock development dominated the board's activities during these years. King, an English professor at Boise State University for more than 25 years, met with engineers and geologists, attended State Land Board and City Council meetings, and studied reports to inform his neighbors of the geologic implications of Morningside Heights subdivision. Reports, maps newspaper clippings, and photographs compiled by King are included in this series.