Data Center ↔ relates to ↔ Construction

a point system that can lead to inappropriate design choices and the prioritization of LEED certification points over actual energy conservation; for lacking climate specificity; for not sufficiently addressing issues of climate change and extreme weather; and for not incorporating principles of a circular economy. Draft versions of LEED v5 were released for public comment in 2024, and the final version of LEED v5 appeared in April 2025. It may address some of the previous criticisms. Despite concerns, LEED has been described as a "transformative force in the design and construction industry".

eather; and for not incorporating principles of a circular economy. Draft versions of LEED v5 were released for public comment in 2024, and the final version of LEED v5 appeared in April 2025. It may address some of the previous criticisms. Despite concerns, LEED has been described as a "transformative force in the design and construction industry".

Certified: 40–49 points Silver: 50–59 points Gold: 60–79 points Platinum: 80 points and above The aim of LEED 2009 is to allocate points "based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit". These are weighed using the environmental impact categories of the EPA's Tools for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) and the environmental-impact weighting scheme developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Prior to LEED 2009 evaluation and certification, a building must comply with minimum requirements including environmental laws and regulations, occupancy scenarios, building permanence and pre-rating completion, site boundaries and area-to-site ratios. Its owner must share data on the building's energy and water use for five years after occupancy (for new construction) or date of certification (for existing buildings). The credit weighting process has the following steps: First, a collection of reference buildings are assessed to estimate the environmental impacts of similar buildings. NIST weightings are then applied to judge the relative importance of these impacts in each category. Data regarding actual impacts on environmental and human health are then used to assign points to individual categories and measures. This system results in a weighted average for each rating scheme based upon actual impacts and the relative importance of those impacts to human health and environmental quality. The LEED council also appears to have assigned credit and measured weighting based upon the market implications of point allocation. From 2010, buildings can use carbon offsets to achieve green power credits for LEED-NC (new construction certification). LEED v4 (2014) For LEED BD+C v4 credit, the IEQ category addresses thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality. Laboratory and field research have directly linked occupants' satisfaction and performance to the building's thermal conditions. Energy reduction goals can be supported while improving thermal satisfaction.

consumption in 2024, at a growth rate of 12% per year over the last five years. The IEA projects this amount could double to reach around 945 TWh by 2030, growing by around 15% per year. In the U.S. alone, power consumption by data centers will be "almost half of the growth in electricity demand between now and 2030." According to Terry Nguyen and Ben Green of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, a single data center can "consume up to 2 megawatt hours (MWh)," the same as "the equivalent power consumption of a small town." This includes increased electricity costs. According to a study in the academic journal Npj Clean Water, it was estimated that data centers consumed about 1.7 billion liters of water per day in 2021, with 57% drawn from potable supplies, noting that fewer than one-third of operators measured their water use. Concerns over environmental impacts, energy and water use, and other costs have led to opposition to new data centers during the AI boom. These movements have been seen in parts of Europe, the U.S., and South America.

Energy consumption and the environmental impacts it creates are a central issue for data centers. Power draw ranges from a few kilowatts (kW) for small server racks to several tens of megawatts (MW) for large facilities. Modern hyperscale data centers can exhibit power densities exceeding 100 times those of conventional office buildings, primarily due to the high concentration of servers and cooling systems required to manage continuous digital workloads. For higher power density facilities, electricity costs are a dominant operating expense and account for over 10% of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a data center. As of 2024, data centers in the U.S. are primarily powered by natural gas, which supplies 40% of their electricity (with renewable energy at 24%, nuclear at about 20%, and coal at about 15%). The Associated Press reported that electricity for AI data centers in the U.S. would likely come from natural gas or oil, as companies prefer using currently available power plants, which primarily use fossil fuels. Fossil energy is also often cheaper in locations where data centers are developed, and experts believe that energy demands from generative AI and data centers would be difficult to fulfill with renewable energy alone. Some companies such as Google, Amazon, and Meta have expressed interest in nuclear power for their data centers. As of 2020, according to the IEA, solar photovoltaic-generated electricity is at its lowest cost in history. Other data centers, including xAI's Colossus, OpenAI's Stargate, and Meta's Prometheus use their own off-grid natural gas plants. Electric vehicle and lithium-ion batteries have also been used for powering data centers, including for Colossus. Power utility companies make upgrades to their infrastructure to handle demands of new data centers, and the price for these changes typically falls on residential or smaller commercial consumers. In 2025, the Mountain Valley Pipeline announced plans to expand its capacity by 25% to meet energy needs for data centers. In December 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) published a unanimous order allowing data centers in the U.S. to have a direct connection with power plants. United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright expressed support for un-retiring coal plants to power AI data centers. Electricity demands from AI data centers have slowed or reversed the retirement of peaking power plants in the U.S. For example, in 2025, Southern Company announced that energy use from data centers would prevent the company from retiring coal-fired power plants as it had earlier promised. In Nevada, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) calculated that 35% of the state's energy production could go to data centers by the year 2030 if all projects planned in the state as of 2026 are completed.

PUE = ⁠Total Facility Power/IT Equipment Power⁠ = 1 + ⁠Non IT Facility Energy/IT Equipment Energy⁠ PUE measures the percentage of power used by overhead devices (cooling, lighting, etc.). The average U.S. data center has a PUE of 2.0, meaning two watts of total power (overhead + IT equipment) for every watt delivered to IT equipment. State-of-the-art data centers are estimated to have a PUE of roughly 1.2. Google publishes quarterly efficiency metrics from its data centers in operation. PUEs of as low as 1.01 have been achieved with two-phase immersion cooling. The EPA has an Energy Star rating for standalone or large data centers. To qualify for the ecolabel, a data center must be within the top quartile in energy efficiency of all reported facilities. The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 (U.S.) requires federal facilities—including data centers—to operate more efficiently. California's Title 24 (2014) of the California Code of Regulations mandates that every newly constructed data center must have some form of airflow containment in place to optimize energy efficiency. The European Union (EU) also has a similar initiative: EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres. Efficiency improvements and renewable energy integration are helping offset some emissions, but fossil fuels remain a major electricity source for data center operations worldwide. In 2011, server racks in data centers were designed for more than 25 kW, and the typical server was estimated to waste about 30% of the electricity it consumed. The energy demand for information storage systems is also rising. A high-availability data center is estimated to have a 1 MW demand and consume $20 million in electricity over its lifetime, with cooling representing 35% to 45% of the data center's total cost of ownership. Calculations show that in two years, the cost of powering and cooling a server could be equal to the cost of purchasing the server hardware. Research in 2018 showed that a substantial amount of energy could still be conserved by optimizing IT refresh rates and increasing server use. Research for optimizing task scheduling is also underway, with researchers looking to implement energy-efficient scheduling algorithms that could reduce energy consumption by anywhere between 6% and 44%. In 2011, Facebook, Rackspace, and others founded the Open Compute Project (OCP) to develop and publish open standards for greener data center computing technologies. As part of the project, Facebook published the designs of its server, which it had built for its first dedicated data center in Prineville. Making servers taller left space for more effective heat sinks and enabled the use of fans that moved more air with less energy. By not buying commercial off-the-shelf servers, energy consumption due to unnecessary expansion slots on the motherboard and unneeded components, such as a graphics card, was also saved. In 2016, Google joined the project and published the designs of its 48V DC shallow data center rack. This design had long been part of Google data centers. By eliminating the multiple transformers usually deployed in data centers, Google had achieved a 30% increase in energy efficiency.

In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use and building "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a single use (e.g. residential, industrial), they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development. Zoning is the most common regulatory urban planning method used by local governments in developed countries. Exceptions include the United Kingdom and the city of Houston, Texas.

(e.g. residential, industrial), they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development. Zoning is the most common regulatory urban planning method used by local governments in developed countries. Exceptions include the United Kingdom and the city of Houston, Texas.

pment may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development. Zoning is the most common regulatory urban planning method used by local governments in developed countries. Exceptions include the United Kingdom and the city of Houston, Texas.

, coined the name "Treasure Valley" in 1959 to reflect the treasure chest of resources and opportunities that the region offered. The valley has a very diverse terrain, from sage flatlands, to mesas, agricultural areas, and urbanized areas. As the Boise Metropolitan Area grows, more and more undeveloped and agricultural land is being urbanized. History Settling the region The tribes that roamed the area, specifically, were the Northern Paiute and Shoshone. In 1834, Thomas McKay built the original Fort Boise, in the area near present-day Parma, which was run for a time by Francois Payette. It later was moved because of flooding troubles and was abandoned in 1854. The Oregon Trail runs through the Treasure Valley. The valley was settled for the most part by ranchers and farmers, initially to supply the gold and silver mining communities in the higher elevations nearby: Idaho City in the Boise Basin and Silver City in the Owyhees. A new Fort Boise was constructed by the U.S. Army in 1863 in present-day Boise, from which the city grew.

The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural eastern Oregon to Boise, and is the most populated area in Idaho. Historically, the valley had been known as the Lower Snake River Valley or the Boise River Valley. Pete Olesen, president of the valley's association of local Chambers of Commerce, coined the name "Treasure Valley" in 1959 to reflect the treasure chest of resources and opportunities that the region offered. The valley has a very diverse terrain, from sage flatlands, to mesas, agricultural areas, and urbanized areas.

icultural land is being urbanized. History Settling the region The tribes that roamed the area, specifically, were the Northern Paiute and Shoshone. In 1834, Thomas McKay built the original Fort Boise, in the area near present-day Parma, which was run for a time by Francois Payette. It later was moved because of flooding troubles and was abandoned in 1854. The Oregon Trail runs through the Treasure Valley. The valley was settled for the most part by ranchers and farmers, initially to supply the gold and silver mining communities in the higher elevations nearby: Idaho City in the Boise Basin and Silver City in the Owyhees. A new Fort Boise was constructed by the U.S. Army in 1863 in present-day Boise, from which the city grew.

actures computer memory and computer data storage products, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), flash memory, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and solid-state drives (SSDs). Founded in 1978 in Boise, Idaho, Micron is the only major American computer memory manufacturer. It is one of the "Big Three" computer memory manufacturers, along with the South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Micron marketed its consumer products under the brand Crucial, with the sub-brand Ballistix being used to denote products targeting gaming computers, until its disestablishment on 2026. Micron and Intel together created IM Flash Technologies, which produced NAND flash memory. It owned Lexar between 2006 and 2017. Sanjay Mehrotra has served as president and CEO of Micron since 2017. On May 26, 2026, Micron became the latest U.S.

n since 2017. On May 26, 2026, Micron became the latest U.S. company to reach a US$1 trillion market capitalization, amid surging demand for its HBM chips. History 1978–1999 Micron was founded in Boise, Idaho, in 1978 by Ward Parkinson, Joe Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman as a semiconductor design consulting company. Startup funding was provided by local Idaho businessmen Tom Nicholson, Allen Noble, Rudolph Nelson, and Ron Yanke. Later it received funding from Idaho billionaire J. R. Simplot, whose fortune was made in the potato business. In 1981, the company moved from consulting to manufacturing with the completion of its first wafer fabrication unit ("Fab 1"), producing 64K DRAM chips. In 1984, the company had its initial public offering. Micron sought to enter the market for RISC processors in 1991 with a product known as FRISC, targeting embedded control and signal processing applications. Running at 80 MHz and described as "a 64-bit processor with fast context-switching time and high floating-point performance", the design supported various features for timely interrupt handling and featured an arithmetic unit capable of handling both integer and floating-point calculations with a claimed throughput of 80 MFLOPS for double-precision arithmetic. Micron aimed to provide a "board-level demonstration supercomputer" in configurations with 256 MB or 1 GB of RAM. Having set up a subsidiary and with the product being designed into graphics cards and accelerators, Micron concluded in 1992 that the effort would not deliver the "best bang for the buck", reassigning engineers to other projects and discontinuing the endeavour. In 1994, founder Joe Parkinson retired as CEO and Steve Appleton took over as Chairman, President, and CEO. A 1996 3-way merger among ZEOS International, Micron Computer, and Micron Custom Manufacturing Services (MCMS) increased the size and scope of the company; this was followed rapidly with the 1997 acquisition of NetFrame Systems, in a bid to enter the mid-range server industry.

Since 2000 In 2000, Gurtej Singh Sandhu and Trung T. Doan at Micron initiated the development of atomic layer deposition high-k films for DRAM memory devices. This helped drive cost-effective implementation of semiconductor memory, starting with 90 nm node DRAM. Pitch double-patterning was also pioneered by Gurtej Singh Sandhu at Micron during the 2000s, leading to the development of 30-nm class NAND flash memory, and it has since been widely adopted by NAND flash and RAM manufacturers worldwide. In 2002, Micron spun off its personal computer business as MPC Corporation and put it up for sale. The company found the business difficult as the number 12 American computer maker with only 1.3 percent of the market. Micron and Intel created a joint venture in 2005, based in IM Flash Technologies in Lehi, Utah. The two companies formed another joint venture in 2011, IM Flash Singapore, in Singapore. In 2012 Micron became sole owner of this second joint venture. In 2006 Micron acquired Lexar, an American manufacturer of digital media products. The company changed leadership again in June 2007 with COO Mark Durcan becoming president. In 2008, Micron converted the Avezzano chip fab, formerly a Texas Instruments DRAM fab, into a production facility for CMOS image sensors sold by Aptina Imaging. In 2008, Micron spun off Aptina Imaging, which was acquired by ON Semiconductor in 2014. Micron retained a stake in the spinoff. However, the core company suffered setbacks and had to layoff 15 percent of its workforce in October 2008, during which period the company also announced the purchase of Qimonda's 35.6 percent stake in Inotera Memories for $400 million. The trend of layoffs and acquisitions continued in 2009 with the termination of an additional 2,000 employees, and the acquisition of the FLCOS microdisplay company Displaytech. Micron agreed to buy flash-chip maker Numonyx for $1.27 billion in stock in February 2010. On February 3, 2012, CEO Appleton died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from the Boise Airport. He was the pilot and sole occupant of the Lancair IV aircraft. Mark Durcan replaced Appleton as the CEO shortly thereafter, eliminating his former title of president. In 2013, the Avezzano chip fab was sold to LFoundry. In the 2012 to 2014 period, Micron again went through an acquisition-layoff cycle, becoming the majority shareholder of Inotera Memories, purchasing Elpida Memory for $2 billion and the remaining shares in Rexchip, a PC memory chip manufacturing venture between Powerchip and Elpida Memory for $334 million, while announcing plans to lay off approximately 3,000 workers. Through the Elpida acquisition, Micron became a major supplier to Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad. In December 2016 Micron finished acquiring the remaining 67 percent of Inotera, making it a 100 percent subsidiary of Micron. In April 2017, Micron announced Sanjay Mehrotra as the new president and CEO to replace Mark Durcan. In June 2017 Micron announced it was discontinuing the Lexar retail removable media storage business and putting some or all of it up for sale. In August of that year the Lexar brand was acquired by Longsys, a flash memory company based in Shenzhen, China. In May 2018, Micron Technology and Intel launched QLC NAND memory to increase storage density. The company ranked 150th on the Fortune 500 list of largest United States corporations by revenue. In February 2019, the first microSD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) was announced by Micron. As of March 2020 3.84TB Micron 5210 Ion is the cheapest large-capacity SSD in the world. In September 2020 the company introduced the world's fastest discrete graphics memory solution. Working with computing technology leader Nvidia, Micron debuted GDDR6X in the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processing units (GPUs). In November 2020, the company unveiled a new 176-layer 3D NAND module. It offers improved read and write latency and is slated to be used in the production of a new generation of solid-state drives. On October 22, 2021, Micron closed the sale of IM Flash's Lehi, Utah fab to Texas Instruments for a sale price of US$900 million. In February 2022, Micron announced that it would discontinue its Ballistix gaming brand. With the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, Micron announced its pledge to invest billions in new manufacturing within the United States. In September 2022, Micron announced it would invest $15 billion in a new facility in Boise, Idaho. In October 2022, Micron announced a $100 billion expansion in Clay, New York. Micron Technology owed Netlist, Inc. $445 million in damages for infringing Netlist's patents related to memory-module technology for high-performance computing. The jury found that Micron's semiconductor-memory products violated two of Netlist's patents willfully, potentially allowing the judge to triple the damages. Netlist had sued Micron in 2022, accusing three of its memory-module lines of patent infringement, which Micron denied, also arguing the patents' invalidity. The U.S.

Meridian is a city located in Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 117,635 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in the county and Idaho, after Boise, the state capital.

Rail transportation (1908–28) Following the raising of $4,000 to lay the Interurban rail line from Onweiler (Meridian and Ustick Roads), the tracks were completed into the village center. Turning east on Broadway and ending at East Second, the last car would spend the night in Meridian before returning to Boise early the next morning with passengers and freight. The interurban Station and Generator building (west one-third of the old library at Meridian and Idaho Streets) was built in 1912, and the line continued on to Nampa via Meridian. The tracks down Broadway were not used after 1912. The Interurban Company entered into receivership and closed in 1928 after 20 years of providing continuous transportation to neighboring towns. It was Meridian's main connection to the area outside the local community. The Union Pacific Railroad spur opened in 1900 and is currently operated by the Boise Valley Railroad. Many industrial customers continue to ship forest, agricultural, and chemical products along this corridor. Creamery (1929–70) The city's official website describes the history of the Ada County Dairymen's cooperative creamery as follows:The lowest days of the Great Depression brightened for area dairymen when the Ada County Dairymen's cooperative creamery began operation in 1929. It provided milk checks to those who were members of the cooperative, enabling them to pay their taxes and provide food for their families. Other community members hauled milk to the creamery and were employed by the creamery, whose product was Challenge Butter. The creamery ran seven days a week for 40 years. Additions and improvements were made while the plant was in full operation. Later years saw the Wyeth Laboratories affiliate with the creamery to manufacture SMA baby formula.

Creamery (1929–70) The city's official website describes the history of the Ada County Dairymen's cooperative creamery as follows:The lowest days of the Great Depression brightened for area dairymen when the Ada County Dairymen's cooperative creamery began operation in 1929. It provided milk checks to those who were members of the cooperative, enabling them to pay their taxes and provide food for their families. Other community members hauled milk to the creamery and were employed by the creamery, whose product was Challenge Butter. The creamery ran seven days a week for 40 years. Additions and improvements were made while the plant was in full operation. Later years saw the Wyeth Laboratories affiliate with the creamery to manufacture SMA baby formula.

Boise (locally also ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the county seat of Ada County. The population of the city was 235,685 at the 2020 census. The Boise metropolitan area, located in the Treasure Valley, includes five counties of Idaho with an estimated population of 846,000, the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho and 95th-most populous in the United States. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. Downtown Boise's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level. Boise is home to major employers in the technology, manufacturing, and service sectors, including companies such as Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

an area in Idaho and 95th-most populous in the United States. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. Downtown Boise's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level. Boise is home to major employers in the technology, manufacturing, and service sectors, including companies such as Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

...that the military should continue killing Indians 'until the last Indian in the Territories was either on his reservation or enriched the sagebrush with his decaying carcass.' ...if the Indians refused to move there, 'they will be killed or put on the reservation by force, and certainly shot if they don't stay there.' Furthermore, the editor continues, 'The idea that the Indians have any right to the soil is ridiculous. ...They have no more rights to the soil of the Territories of the United States than wolves or coyotes...' This would be our plan of establishing friendship upon an eternal basis with our Indians: Let all the hostile bands of Idaho Territory be called in (they will not be caught in any other manner) to attend a grand treaty; plenty of blankets and nice little trinkets distributed among them; plenty of grub on hand; have a real jolly time with them; then just before the big feast put strychnine in their meat and poison to death the last mother's son of them. At the same time, native warriors around the valley, under the leadership of Howluck also known as "Bigfoot" among white settlers, among others, waged an escalating and intensified guerrilla campaign of harassment of passerby caravans along the Oregon Trail. The United States Army also escalated and intensified "punitive expeditions" against formations of warriors and against civilian communities as well. This marked the start of the "unofficial" Snake War in 1866. This war lasted until 1868, and is statistically the deadliest of the Indian Wars in the West in terms of casualties. In the end, 1,762 men were counted as the casualties of this war from both sides. In 1868, Fort Hall Indian Reservation was established in Southeastern Idaho, about 220 miles upstream, according to the terms of Fort Bridger Treaty. The Boise Valley Shoshone and Bannock Tribes were not party to this treaty. Nevertheless, in April 1869, the United States Military embarked on a campaign of "Removal, rounding up of natives in the region including in and around Boise, and expelling them with cavalry escort to Fort Hall Indian Reservation. This period is known among the Shoshone and Bannock people as Idaho's Trail of Tears. Some of the natives managed to escape, and they ran to either Duck Valley or Fort McDermitt in Nevada. Incorporation and growth Boise's early growth was significantly driven by its role in supplying the nearby gold towns that sprung up in the 1860s northeast and then southwest of the town. Miners sometimes wintered in Boise and a number of early prominent businessmen were miners who settled in town in the years after the gold rush waned. By 1864 substantial agricultural production was underway on easily irrigated lands near the river and three canal companies had been incorporated. Early transportation improvements were largely a result of toll road franchises awarded by the territorial legislature starting in the 1860s. These first ran from Fort Boise to the mining centers in the Boise Basin and east to Rocky Bar and to Rattlesnake Station where they connected to the Oregon Trail. Territorial census records from a special 1864 enumeration list the population of Boise as 1,658, and an act of December 12, 1864, was the first attempt by the Idaho Territorial Legislature to incorporate the city. This was rejected by voters the following March. Two more unsuccessful attempts were made to organize a city administration by election before the 1866 version of the city charter was approved by voters on January 6, 1868. The growing number of homes and businesses, for which owners wanted proper legal title, may have contributed to the eventual success of incorporation. All of these rejected efforts to incorporate the city came after Boise had been controversially made the state capital in 1864 over strong opposition from northern Idaho interests. This decision reflected the rapid shift of population growth from north to south after the discovery of gold in southern Idaho. By 1868 Boise had over 400 permanent buildings with a wide range of commercial services. 1868 also marked the formal beginning of a long advocacy for railroad connections to other Idaho communities and, just as importantly, to other growing cities in the west such as Portland, Oregon. Competing railroad and western state government interests frustrated these efforts for many years. Designed by Alfred B. Mullett, the U.S. Assay Office at 210 Main Street was built in 1871 and today is a National Historic Landmark. It first began accepting gold and silver for purchase on March 2, 1872, largely eliminating the need to transport ore to the mint in San Francisco. A territorial penitentiary, now known as the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, opened the same month several miles east of town. Mining continued to be important to Boise's economic growth and periodic booms contributed to population growth as well, though production of gold and silver probably peaked in the 1860s. 1882's gold and silver production of $3,500,000 declined to $1,488,315 (including lead) by 1899. Boise began to earn its City of Trees nickname in this period with a popular focus on a range of tree planting projects. Thomas J. Davis planted several thousand fruit trees in 1864 and several other early businessmen either founded nurseries or orchards of their own. In the 1870s tree planting began in earnest in downtown Boise led by prominent hotels as well as businessmen and residents. In 1907 Davis donated 43 acres of his orchard property to the city for use as a park in the name of his wife Julia. Commercial agriculture continued to expand, but was slowed by the lack of reliable rail links to regional and national markets and by a lack of large scale irrigation projects, which themselves were often tied to hoped-for railroad projects for financing. A.D. Foote, a successful mining engineer, drew up plans to irrigate up to 500,000 acres immediately south of Boise in 1882, but progress was halting and smaller farms were the norm until after the turn of the century with most located near to the river bottom where soil was productive and irrigation more easily achieved. Fruit orchards proliferated and sugar beets, still an important agricultural industry in Idaho, began to be widely cultivated in the 1890s. Cattle and sheep farming became increasingly important as the century closed. With the exception of dairy, most livestock products were exported from Idaho, unlike other agricultural products which were still largely scaled to support local markets. The timber industry also increasingly thrived in the Boise market in the 1880s and 1890s. Large quantities of timber were exported from elsewhere in Idaho, but a growing Boise supported the expansion of Alexander Rossi's sawmill, first established in 1865. Prominent early Boisean William Ridenbaugh had inherited control of the canal now bearing his name from his uncle William Morris in 1878 and later partnered with Rossi to expand the sawmill capacity under the name Rossi and Ridenbaugh Lumber Company. Their materials supported bridge building and the rapid expansion of Boise in the 1890s. As with many early infrastructure ventures, electrification succeeded only after at least one false start. July 4, 1887, marked the start of electrical transmission from a plant located on the Bench. William Ridenbaugh provided expertise and manpower for the water supply and several months were spent rigging poles and lines from the Bench to the service area across the river. Additional electrical supplies allowed the building of an electric streetcar line in 1891. This ran without interruption until buses replaced the lines in 1927, tracking—and sometimes driving—the development of Boise and nearby communities. This system expanded over several decades, reaching into the North End, South Boise and across the river on Front St. A loop line, completed in 1912, ran as far as Caldwell and Nampa, providing transport throughout the valley. Three early trolley companies merged in 1912 to form the Idaho Traction Company with a depot at 7th and Bannock Streets downtown. Additional services and urban amenities arrived in the 1890s as Boise grew. Exploratory drilling for hot water was successful in 1890 and by the end of the decade many homes along Warm Springs avenue were being heated by this source. A natatorium was built in 1892 close to the source of the hot water near the Idaho State Penitentiary. Churches serving several denominations, a Jewish synagogue, a major hardware store and department store, a Masonic hall, the Columbia Theater, Saint Alphonsus' Hospital, a number of parochial and secular schools, a City Hall and a new Union Pacific passenger station, constructed when service was finally extended to downtown, were all built during the 1890s. Falk's Department Store sponsored a semi-professional baseball team representing Boise from at least 1892 and the city supported other organized sports as they became popular.

Garden City is a city in Ada County, Idaho. The population was 12,316 at the time of the 2020 census. Garden City is nearly surrounded by Boise but retains a separate municipal government. Garden City was named for gardens raised by Chinese immigrants who lived in the area.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.17 square miles (10.80 km2), of which 4.04 square miles (10.46 km2) is land and 0.13 square miles (0.34 km2) is water. Expo Idaho, which hosts the Western Idaho Fair, is part of unincorporated Ada County but the city limits completely surround the complex. In 2017, Mayor John Evans proposed that Garden City annex the enclave in order to develop a downtown area. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 census, Garden City had a population of 12,316. The median age was 47.0 years. 16.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.5 males age 18 and over. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas. There were 5,585 households in Garden City, of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.2% were married-couple households, 21.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 5,927 housing units, of which 5.8% were vacant.

2000 census At the 2000 census there were 10,624 people, 4,331 households, and 2,784 families living in the city. The population density was 2,559.9 per square mile. There were 4,590 housing units at an average density of 1,106.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 89.3% White, 0.5% African American, 0.9% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.9% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.6%. Of the 4,331 households 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 27% of households were one person and 8.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.91. The age distribution was 24.3% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.3 males. The median household income was $38,520 and the median family income was $46,463. Males had a median income of $30,499 versus $28,315 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,242. About 9.8% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over. Education Most of Garden City is in Boise School District.

Kuna ( KYOO-nə) is a city in Ada County, Idaho. It is part of the Boise metropolitan area. The population was 24,011 at the time of the 2020 census. Kuna is one of the fastest-growing areas in Idaho, having nearly tripled in population between 2000 and 2010 and a nearly additional 60 percent gain between 2010 and 2020.

History Kuna originated as a railroad stop with coach transport to Boise. It is popularly believed, as cited by the Kuna Chamber of Commerce, that the translation of the name "Kuna" means "the end of the trail", but Charles S. Walgamott cites the origin of the name as a Shoshone Indian word meaning "green leaf, good to smoke." The Western Heritage Historic Byway, designated as a national as well as a state scenic byway, travels around a number of historic sites in the area. Geography Kuna's business center is approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of downtown Boise, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.18 square miles (47.09 km2), of which 18.08 square miles (46.83 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water. South of Kuna is the Kuna Caves, a lava tube. A small seasonal creek, Indian Creek, runs through the city. It is now used as an irrigation canal, filled by the New York Canal from the Boise River Diversion Dam.

Geography Kuna's business center is approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of downtown Boise, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.18 square miles (47.09 km2), of which 18.08 square miles (46.83 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water. South of Kuna is the Kuna Caves, a lava tube. A small seasonal creek, Indian Creek, runs through the city. It is now used as an irrigation canal, filled by the New York Canal from the Boise River Diversion Dam. One of the few small floatable waterways in the region, Indian Creek is a favorite swimming spot for local residents. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 census, Kuna had a population of 24,011. The median age was 30.9 years. 31.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 8.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.2 males age 18 and over. 97.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.9% lived in rural areas. There were 7,736 households in Kuna, of which 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 62.3% were married-couple households, 11.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 13.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 7,948 housing units, of which 2.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%. As of the 2020 census, the median income for a household in the city was $68,017. Families had a median income of $75,296 versus $91,364 for married-couple families and $33,512 for nonfamily households.

pa ( ) is the most populous city in Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 100,200 at the 2020 census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about 20 miles (32 km) west of Boise along Interstate 84, and 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Meridian. It is the second principal city of the Boise metropolitan area. The name "Nampa" may have come from a Shoshoni word meaning 'moccasin' or 'footprint'. According to toponymist William O. Bright, the name comes from the Shoshoni word /nampai/, meaning "foot".

History Nampa had its beginnings in the early 1880s when the Oregon Short Line Railroad built a line from Granger, Wyoming, to Huntington, Oregon, that passed through Nampa. In Nampa there is a history museum that marks the railroad's significance. More railroad lines sprang up through Nampa, making it an important railroad town. Alexander and Hannah Duffes established one of the town's first homesteads, eventually forming the Nampa Land and Improvement Company with the help of their friend and co-founder, James McGee. Despite the name, many early settlers called the town "New Jerusalem" because of its citizens' strong religious focus. After only a year the town grew from 15 homes to 50. As amenities were added, Nampa continued to grow, and it was incorporated in 1891. Downtown Nampa's street grid is oriented with the railroad tracks, which run northwest–southeast; this was done intentionally by Alexander Duffes to prevent accidents like one that occurred earlier in a town he had platted near Toronto, where a woman and her two children were killed by a train when their buggy wheel got stuck as they crossed the tracks. As the Oregon Short Line railroad originally bypassed Boise, Nampa has the fanciest of many railroad depots built in the area. Nampa gained attention in 1889 due to a purported archaeological discovery known as the Nampa figurine. George Frederick Wright wrote up details that year for the Boston Society of Natural History. The first elementary school was built in the 1890s. Lakeview School was on a hill on 6th Street and 12th Avenue North, with a view of Lake Ethel. Just after the school's centennial celebration, it was condemned as a school and sold to the First Mennonite Church. In 2008 the building was refurbished, and it is now used by the Idaho Arts Charter School. Lake Ethel, an irrigation reservoir, had long been the site of community picnics, and many citizens fished, swam, boated, and even hunted on it and its surrounding property. But the hunting didn't last long, as O. F. Persons, owner of the adjoining homestead, took offense when local hunters started shooting his pet ducks. The city later auctioned off the lake. E. H. Dewey (a former Nampa mayor) was the only bidder. But occasional flooding led to a series of lawsuits from neighbors. Dewey eventually drained Lake Ethel. Not long after, the city council became interested in buying back the Fritz Miller property as well as the Dewey home. Pressure had been building for more than four years. Nampa citizens wanted another park. On August 7, 1924, the city council passed an ordinance to purchase the Miller property and name it Lakeview Park. A bandstand was completed in 1928, and the municipal swimming pool opened on August 13, 1934. It is Nampa's largest park and many community celebrations are held there. Colonel William H. Dewey, a man who made a fortune mining in Silver City, built the Dewey Palace Hotel in 1902 for $250,000. He died in his hotel in 1903, leaving his son $1 million. The hotel survived the great fire of 1909, which burned several blocks of downtown Nampa, but was razed in 1963 after redevelopment plans failed. Relics from the hotel such as the chandelier and the hotel safe can be found at the Canyon County Historical Museum, which is in the old train depot on Front Street and Nampa City Hall. After demolition the location on First Street between 11th and 12th Ave. South was sold to private enterprise, including a bank and tire store, replacing this building with modern structures. A public-use postage stamp sized park was later placed across the street from the old palace property as a collaboration between the Downtown Alliance of Nampa (the local business council) and an Eagle Scout Project for the Boy Scouts of America. The park includes a large mural/wall sculpture of running horses commissioned for the project. A Carnegie library was built downtown in 1908; it burned down after the library moved in 1966. Nampa Public Library was then on the corner of 1st Street and 11th Avenue South in the old bank building. A new library, on 12th Avenue South, opened in 2015. Deer Flat Reservoir, an offstream irrigation storage reservoir, was constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation between 1906 and 1911. Known locally as Lake Lowell, it is surrounded by the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The refuge is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lake Lowell is filled by the concrete New York Canal; the water is diverted from the Boise River a few miles below Lucky Peak Dam. In 1910, the Idaho State School and Hospital was built northwest of Nampa for the state's developmentally challenged population. It opened in 1918. The institution was largely self-sufficient, with a large farm staffed by the residents. The higher-functioning residents also cared for residents who could not care for themselves. The land for the farm was sold and is now golf courses (Centennial and Ridgecrest), and the residents no longer give primary care to other residents. The institution is modernized and remains in operation, though a few of the oldest buildings now house juvenile offenders. Nampa held an annual harvest festival and farmers' market from about 1908, a time of celebration and community fun. From this festival emerged the Snake River Stampede Rodeo in 1937, which continues to this day. It is one of the top 12 rodeos in the pro rodeo circuits. In 1913, a local congregation of the Church of the Nazarene built a small elementary school, which became to Northwest Nazarene College in 1915 and finally Northwest Nazarene University. As of 2025, the university has approximately 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students. Karcher Mall opened in 1965, the first enclosed shopping mall in the Treasure Valley. It was "the place to gather" for several decades until the Boise Towne Square mall was built in Boise in 1988, drawing business away. Karcher Mall was renamed District 208 in 2022. The Idaho Press-Tribune is the local newspaper for the Canyon County area.

or 'footprint'. According to toponymist William O. Bright, the name comes from the Shoshoni word /nampai/, meaning "foot". The city has a prominent student population, home to the College of Western Idaho and Northwest Nazarene University. History Nampa had its beginnings in the early 1880s when the Oregon Short Line Railroad built a line from Granger, Wyoming, to Huntington, Oregon, that passed through Nampa. In Nampa there is a history museum that marks the railroad's significance. More railroad lines sprang up through Nampa, making it an important railroad town. Alexander and Hannah Duffes established one of the town's first homesteads, eventually forming the Nampa Land and Improvement Company with the help of their friend and co-founder, James McGee. Despite the name, many early settlers called the town "New Jerusalem" because of its citizens' strong religious focus. After only a year the town grew from 15 homes to 50. As amenities were added, Nampa continued to grow, and it was incorporated in 1891. Downtown Nampa's street grid is oriented with the railroad tracks, which run northwest–southeast; this was done intentionally by Alexander Duffes to prevent accidents like one that occurred earlier in a town he had platted near Toronto, where a woman and her two children were killed by a train when their buggy wheel got stuck as they crossed the tracks. As the Oregon Short Line railroad originally bypassed Boise, Nampa has the fanciest of many railroad depots built in the area. Nampa gained attention in 1889 due to a purported archaeological discovery known as the Nampa figurine. George Frederick Wright wrote up details that year for the Boston Society of Natural History. The first elementary school was built in the 1890s. Lakeview School was on a hill on 6th Street and 12th Avenue North, with a view of Lake Ethel. Just after the school's centennial celebration, it was condemned as a school and sold to the First Mennonite Church. In 2008 the building was refurbished, and it is now used by the Idaho Arts Charter School. Lake Ethel, an irrigation reservoir, had long been the site of community picnics, and many citizens fished, swam, boated, and even hunted on it and its surrounding property. But the hunting didn't last long, as O. F. Persons, owner of the adjoining homestead, took offense when local hunters started shooting his pet ducks. The city later auctioned off the lake. E. H. Dewey (a former Nampa mayor) was the only bidder. But occasional flooding led to a series of lawsuits from neighbors. Dewey eventually drained Lake Ethel. Not long after, the city council became interested in buying back the Fritz Miller property as well as the Dewey home. Pressure had been building for more than four years. Nampa citizens wanted another park. On August 7, 1924, the city council passed an ordinance to purchase the Miller property and name it Lakeview Park. A bandstand was completed in 1928, and the municipal swimming pool opened on August 13, 1934. It is Nampa's largest park and many community celebrations are held there. Colonel William H. Dewey, a man who made a fortune mining in Silver City, built the Dewey Palace Hotel in 1902 for $250,000. He died in his hotel in 1903, leaving his son $1 million. The hotel survived the great fire of 1909, which burned several blocks of downtown Nampa, but was razed in 1963 after redevelopment plans failed. Relics from the hotel such as the chandelier and the hotel safe can be found at the Canyon County Historical Museum, which is in the old train depot on Front Street and Nampa City Hall. After demolition the location on First Street between 11th and 12th Ave. South was sold to private enterprise, including a bank and tire store, replacing this building with modern structures. A public-use postage stamp sized park was later placed across the street from the old palace property as a collaboration between the Downtown Alliance of Nampa (the local business council) and an Eagle Scout Project for the Boy Scouts of America. The park includes a large mural/wall sculpture of running horses commissioned for the project. A Carnegie library was built downtown in 1908; it burned down after the library moved in 1966. Nampa Public Library was then on the corner of 1st Street and 11th Avenue South in the old bank building. A new library, on 12th Avenue South, opened in 2015. Deer Flat Reservoir, an offstream irrigation storage reservoir, was constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation between 1906 and 1911. Known locally as Lake Lowell, it is surrounded by the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The refuge is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lake Lowell is filled by the concrete New York Canal; the water is diverted from the Boise River a few miles below Lucky Peak Dam. In 1910, the Idaho State School and Hospital was built northwest of Nampa for the state's developmentally challenged population. It opened in 1918. The institution was largely self-sufficient, with a large farm staffed by the residents. The higher-functioning residents also cared for residents who could not care for themselves. The land for the farm was sold and is now golf courses (Centennial and Ridgecrest), and the residents no longer give primary care to other residents. The institution is modernized and remains in operation, though a few of the oldest buildings now house juvenile offenders. Nampa held an annual harvest festival and farmers' market from about 1908, a time of celebration and community fun. From this festival emerged the Snake River Stampede Rodeo in 1937, which continues to this day. It is one of the top 12 rodeos in the pro rodeo circuits. In 1913, a local congregation of the Church of the Nazarene built a small elementary school, which became to Northwest Nazarene College in 1915 and finally Northwest Nazarene University. As of 2025, the university has approximately 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students. Karcher Mall opened in 1965, the first enclosed shopping mall in the Treasure Valley. It was "the place to gather" for several decades until the Boise Towne Square mall was built in Boise in 1988, drawing business away. Karcher Mall was renamed District 208 in 2022. The Idaho Press-Tribune is the local newspaper for the Canyon County area.

105, which by 2025 was estimated to have risen to 275,123, making it the second-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat is Caldwell, and its largest city is Nampa. Canyon County is part of the Boise metropolitan area. History Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Boise in 1834 near what is now Parma, but abandoned it in 1855. Emigrants traveled through Canyon County on the Oregon Trail. Discovery of gold in the Boise Basin in 1862 brought settlement to the region again. The lower Boise River was fully contained within Boise County from 1863 until the formation of Ada County in 1864. Settlement of the lower Boise River west of Boise City was limited prior to the completion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad. Middleton was the first European settlement of Canyon County, starting in 1863. The 1870 Census for Ada County listed 76 residents of the Boise Valley, excluding Boise City and the 1880 Census listed 44 residents at Middleton. The arrival of the railroad at Caldwell led to the establishment of a town there as of August 1883. Businessmen James A. McGee and Alexander Duffes filed the plat for nearby Nampa in 1886. Parma was settled around the same time, with the Old Fort Boise post office being moved to the town's location; it was incorporated in 1904. Ada County established precincts for each of the settlements with a combined 1890 Census population of 2,311. Significant settlement of Greenleaf and Notus started around 1904 with the two settlements listed as precincts at the 1910 census. Notus was incorporated in 1921 while Greenleaf was incorporated prior to 1980. Melba was incorporated in 1912 while Wilder was incorporated in 1919. The City of Star annexed a portion of territory in northeast Canyon County prior to 2007, becoming the county's ninth incorporated city. The majority of Star is located within Ada County. The Idaho Legislature created Canyon County from Ada County in an act approved March 7, 1891, effective at the November 26, 1892, election. Caldwell was established as the county seat. The county originally contained all of Canyon and Payette counties and part of Gem; Gem County formed in 1915 and Payette County in 1917.

History Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Boise in 1834 near what is now Parma, but abandoned it in 1855. Emigrants traveled through Canyon County on the Oregon Trail. Discovery of gold in the Boise Basin in 1862 brought settlement to the region again. The lower Boise River was fully contained within Boise County from 1863 until the formation of Ada County in 1864. Settlement of the lower Boise River west of Boise City was limited prior to the completion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad. Middleton was the first European settlement of Canyon County, starting in 1863. The 1870 Census for Ada County listed 76 residents of the Boise Valley, excluding Boise City and the 1880 Census listed 44 residents at Middleton. The arrival of the railroad at Caldwell led to the establishment of a town there as of August 1883. Businessmen James A. McGee and Alexander Duffes filed the plat for nearby Nampa in 1886. Parma was settled around the same time, with the Old Fort Boise post office being moved to the town's location; it was incorporated in 1904. Ada County established precincts for each of the settlements with a combined 1890 Census population of 2,311. Significant settlement of Greenleaf and Notus started around 1904 with the two settlements listed as precincts at the 1910 census. Notus was incorporated in 1921 while Greenleaf was incorporated prior to 1980. Melba was incorporated in 1912 while Wilder was incorporated in 1919. The City of Star annexed a portion of territory in northeast Canyon County prior to 2007, becoming the county's ninth incorporated city. The majority of Star is located within Ada County. The Idaho Legislature created Canyon County from Ada County in an act approved March 7, 1891, effective at the November 26, 1892, election. Caldwell was established as the county seat. The county originally contained all of Canyon and Payette counties and part of Gem; Gem County formed in 1915 and Payette County in 1917.

2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 131,441 people, 45,018 households and 33,943 families living in the county. The population density was 223 people per square mile (86 people/km2). There were 47,965 housing units at an average density of 81 units per square mile (31 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 83.10% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 0.85% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 12.17% from other races, and 2.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.61% of the population. 15.9% were of German, 12.7% English, 10.3% American and 7.6% Irish ancestry. There were 45,018 households, of which 39.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.70% were married couples living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.60% were non-families. 19.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.28. 30.90% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.70% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males. The median household income was $35,884 and the median family income was $40,377. Males had a median income of $29,418 compared with $22,044 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,155. About 8.70% of families and 12.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.50% of those under age 18 and 10.70% of those age 65 or over. Communities Cities Unincorporated communities Bowmont Huston Roswell Sunnyslope Walters Ferry, Idaho Politics Like the majority of Idaho, Canyon County is reliably Republican by comfortable margins. The last time a Democratic candidate carried the county was in 1936 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.