Camas Creek Canyon

Another picture for your viewing pleasure. This picture is of Camas Creek. Notice that the river is HUGE! This Creek is normally just that… A creek! I’ve seen in many times where there isn’t even any water running through it. It is bound to get higher too. I’ll send more pictures if it does indeed rise.

Gooding City of Rocks

I had to take the opportunity to share some photo's from our recent hikes to Gooding City of Rocks. This is such an amazing place that not many people actually know about. If they do know about it, they don't take the time to check it out! I've included a link that has some great information on this area. You can also check out this map that will show you how to get there.















Cool leaning Hoodoo Structure.
















Amie in front of a Waterfall at City of Rocks. Spring time is about the only time of year you can experience the water flow.

Beautiful Soldier Mountain

I just had to share this awesome picture of Soldier we took about 2 weeks ago. THIS is why I love living where I live! For those of you looking for a great Real Estate investment in our area, the lots I recommend are just at the base of this fabulous mountain. Plus, they are right on an 18 Hole Golf Course, and one of the only areas in Camas County close to commercial zoning for tourist activities. Contact Amie if you want more info on that.

Shoshone Falls

Based on all the recent fuss about the waterways in our parts, we decided to check it out for ourselves. If you haven't already seen for yourself, both Shoshone Falls, and the Falls below Magic Reservoir are amazing! There is so much water! I've never seen this much water running personally. And based on how much snow is in the mountains, we haven't even seen the beginning of it. - This is a picture of Shoshone Falls. We took Golf Course Road to check it out instead of going to the actual viewing area. If you squint, you can see that it was a LONG wait to use the public road accross the canyon.

Camas County - Where are we headed?

On my drive home from work today, I heard an interesting segment on NPR regarding New Urbanism Design and Theory. As I was listening to the commentator, I couldn’t help but think of Fairfield, and the current design process we are going through in Camas County. If you aren’t familiar with the New Urbanism movement, it goes something like this: New Urbanism Designers are involved in new development, urban retrofits, and suburban infill. In all cases, New Urbanism neighborhoods are walk able, and contain a diverse range of housing and jobs. New Urbanism supports regional planning for open space, appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. They believe these strategies are the best way to reduce how long people spend in traffic, to increase the supply of affordable housing, and to rein in urban sprawl.

Needless to say, I like the thought. I’m interested to hear everyone’s comments on it as well. So far the last public meetings haven’t really seemed to focus on any of these issues. We seem to be debating more what specific plots of land can and can’t be used for. In my opinion, that is silly. Who cares what color of the map my property is on? Instead, I feel we should be focusing more on a “community plan” that would outline specific building requirements, and processes to go through in order to build in our community. If someone who owns land up Soldier Creek can build a sustainable community that supports the local economic base, while also creating jobs and a greater Camas County overall, I say go for it. Just because his land might be zoned A-80 (or whatever) doesn’t mean that his land is best suited for A-80. Instead, as a County, why can’t we say, “we’ll look at any ideas IF they meet the following requirements”.

One more point I would like to make is this. I’m not a professional planner, and I’m certainly not a professional developer. However, I do know what I like and what I don’t like. I know what attracts me to certain places, and I know which places I’m not attracted to. I like areas like Hyde Park in Boise. There is a great mix of commercial and residential development in a small place. When walking through Hyde Park, you get the feeling of going back in time. It is peaceful and very much feels like a community should. On the other hand, I don’t like areas like Blue Lakes Boulevard in Twin Falls. Walking on Blue Lakes is almost unheard of, and the feeling of sprawl is almost unbearable (apologies to those who have a different view). I have a feeling that when the Twin Falls P&Z sat down to discuss the future of Twin Falls, they decided to “Zone” all of Blue Lakes as Commercial. Now look at what we are left with! I would much rather see our community head in the direction of Hyde Park or Hidden Springs, and steer away from something like Blue Lakes.

Here are a few links to check out. Please let me know your thoughts on this topic.

NPR Segment – http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5338974 (click on “listen”)
Congress for New Urbanism - http://www.cnu.org/index.cfm

Hidden Springs - http://www.hiddensprings.com/community/tour.asp (community close to us)

Fairfield Sherpa

Luckily the local Sherpa's in town are very helpful.

Fairfield Flooding

Driving through the Camas Prairie right now, one would think they were in a completely different place. Where there has been feet upon feet of snow, there now lies lakes, rivers and streams in every direction. Camas Creek runs west to east and is normally nothing more than a small trickle, if anything at all. But right now, the river is at least an eigth of a mile wide in some spots!



All over town there are lakes, and streams. Heath & Amanda's place has been submerged for 3 weeks already, and we refer to his backyard as "Lake Norton". Heath dug a ditch all the way from his back yard, down the alley behind his house, and to a storm drain he found. When that wasn't enough, he had to rig up a set of HDPE pipes and a 1/2 HP pump to get it out of his yard. The water is leaving slowly, but their backyard still looks pretty much like it does in the picture below.



It is simply amazing the changes that this area goes through throughout the seasons. Soon the lakes and rivers will dicipate and we will be left with green fields and camas lillies once again.

Boise, Idaho - Please Stand Up

For those of you uncertain about the local Boise Idaho Real Estate market, have no fear. I just read a post by Eileen over at Rain City Guide (one of my favorite RE Blogs), where she talks about the top 10 Markets in the country where Real Estate values should continue to grow. Who was at the top of the list? None other than our very own Boise, Idaho! I’m not surprised either. If you think about it, Boise is still an affordable place to live, and very desirable as well. Median home prices are still in the 100’s to 200’s, plus there are plenty of jobs and other things bringing people to Boise. I don’t know about you, but a city where you can leave your Condo on the 15th floor, drive for 5 minutes and be at the base of hundreds of hiking trails is unheard of! I have a friend who wakes up some mornings, goes kayaking, and still makes it to work by 11am. Oh, the beauty of Idaho!