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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.24] on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 14:28:50 :
In Reply to: Re: bureaucracy posted by Kaegi [24.16.253.154] on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 12:26:02 :
But it didn't really turn out that way. Most of the towns that were bypassed were dying anyway because they were farm towns an logging towns. Sandpoint is a big tourist town now. Downtown it's all restaurants, boutiques, and real estate offices. People go TO Sandpoint, not through it. The towns that died were the ones that had nothing to offer a traveler except a motel and a gas station. Once the freeway went in, travelers would just keep on going to the next bigger town that had a motel and a gas station.
In your neck of the woods, look at North Bend. The North Bend merchants fought tooth and nail to stop the I-90 bypass. Republicans even became environmentalists to fight it. I believe North Bend was the second-to-the-last stoplight on I-90, with Wallace being the last. Look at North Bend today. Nintendo built a big plant there and all the strip mall chain stores followed. It's become a bedroom community for the eastside techies who can no longer afford Medina. If you'd been a contrarian and bought some North Bend property right after the I-90 bypass went in, you'd be a very rich man today.
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