Thanks for Reimagining Catalpa With Us at Open Streets Boise 2026!
This last Sunday, we were thrilled to partner with the City of Boise to host our 3rd annual Open Streets Boise event on Catalpa Drive, and even more thrilled that the Collister neighborhood and greater Boise came to use the street in their own way.
The transformation of Catalpa Drive from thruway to human highway showed the community that forms when our neighborhood streets support people in all modes of life - not just car traffic - allowing our community to envision what their streets can look like when space is designed with humankind in mind.
It was a great, joyful day, full of families enjoying their neighborhood streets safely on bicycles, mariachi bands playing in the road, kids' fun run up and down the street, giant sea monster puppets rolling along... all in the place of vehicle traffic.
Beyond community building, we are proud to have partnered with the Collister Neighborhood Association to facilitate conversations with the City and ACHD about what safe streets in their neighborhood look and feel like, and we are excited to continue that conversation at next year's Open Streets event in the Southeast Boise Neighborhood!
If you're galvanized by the community building and people-centered messaging from Sunday's event, we need your help in supporting BBP's advocacy efforts by attending and getting the word out about the ACHD Commissioners forum that we're holding Wednesday. October 14th at Lost Grove Brewing at 6:30 PM. This down-ballot race is critically important, as it will greatly affect the look, feel, and safety of our streets going forward, and news recently came out that the whole of Ada County will be voting on each of the two commissioner spots available - so please help us spread the word and get to know the candidates.
The winner of our Collister Community Card is Sullivan Zies! Thank you to everyone who participated in our drawing for a $100 Edward’s Greenhouse gift card and a free bike voucher (up to $300) to the Boise Bicycle Project.
Lastly, a personal story from our Programs Coordinator, Anika, a fourth-generation Collister resident:
“I grew up in large part at my Grandpa Rob's house in the Collister Neighborhood, then my parents purchased his home after his passing in 2014. Grandpa used to put us grandkids in a dusty green wagon and pull us, from the seat of his electric wheelchair, down the narrow shoulder of a sidewalk-less road to Catalpa Park. His safety and ours were constantly put at risk in our exposure to speeding, distracted drivers in their cars. Accessible infrastructure was — and still is — non-existent on Collister Drive.
In August, I rode a bicycle on San Francisco's JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park, then onto a stretch of the Great Highway which is now permanently closed to cars. Formerly a 4-lane highway, it was transformed less than 5 years ago. Now, a 17-acre park and 2-mile pathway, jeweled with colorful murals, mini-parks, and scenic lookouts. Impermanence, transience.
I wish my grandpa were here to see Open Streets this weekend, right outside his front door. I imagine what he would want our neighborhood streets to look like, what they would feel like if designed to better serve him, his grandkids, and the whole community. Highways and neighborhoods can be rebuilt, re-seen, and reclaimed. That is hopeful and worth celebrating.”
