Ignite Boise Founders Featured in Sunday Idaho Statesman

Last Sunday, Tim Woodward did a nice piece on Ignite Boise, calling it one of the best in the Northwest, and Darin Oswald complemented the story with great photographic work. Check it out at the Statesman’s website and we look forward to seeing all of you at the SOLD OUT Ignite Boise 4 THIS THURSDAY! W00t!

Rapid Fire Urban Update

I’ve decided to go all aggregator today since time is short and news is long. Here’s what’s up:

TOO MUCH HUMAN CAPITAL IN CHINA

In China there are too many college grads and not enough jobs. So much for the theory about just creating lots of human capital.

PAY FOR TRANSIT OR TEAR OUT YOUR DOWNTOWN

So . . . why should we fund the bus system to a greater extent? Well it turns out that the more you reduce transit into the central business district (downtown) the more of your city you have to tear out to build parking lots. Want a more robust downtown? We’re gonna need that local option, yo.

EVERYONE BUT BOISE GETS TIGER FUNDS

It also turns out that the 100 largest cities in the U.S. (BOI is around 84 or 86 depending on who is estimating when and with what data) got 70% of the TIGER funds. Boise, as you recall, got bupkis. Does this foretell bad things? Are we not part of the renewed federal interest in cities?

HIGH SPEED RAIL FROM RENO TO SLC. BOI: NO TRAIN FOR YOU!

Another favorite of mine from this week is the discovery of a new advocacy group - the Western High Speed Rail Alliance. In another shut-out for Boise and Idaho, this coalition has formed to advocate for high-speed rail routes all over the west, including a route from SLC to Reno. SLC to Reno? Boise doesn’t figure in to the planning.

U.S. population to decline by 2050?

I got a tweet the other day with a link to this graph:

The text accompanying the tweet said, “U.S. population to decline 20% by 2050.” But that isn’t at all what this chart shows. This chart shows that the rate of population growth in the U.S. is declining, according to some model put together by some economist.

The reality is that America is still one of the fastest growing countries in the world, and by 2050 the America 2050 initiative believes we’ll add another 130 million people to our ranks.

So, um, no, the U.S. population is not shrinking, and remember that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Often they all look the same!