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Boise Mega Projects Coming. Can you spell S E A T T L E? + Exposing The Dark Side of America's AI Data Center Explosion. Micron, St. Luke’s Health System, Boise Airport, Kuna Meta data Center (posted 11/24/25) Updated 12/05/25
🔥 We must be careful what we wish for in the name of “progress” and push back when these developments concern us.We offer three videos on two subjects that concern many citizens:
Rapid growth in the Boise, Idaho area due to three mega projects.
Explosion of data centers for AI and other digital activities.
🔥 12/04/25 Update: We asked Grok for information about tax exemptions for various mega projects in the Treasure Valley (including Kuna data center)
Yes, Micron in Boise has property tax exemptions and sales tax exemptions for expansions.
Yes, St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has federal income tax exemption and Idaho property tax exemption for hospital-operated properties under current Idaho Code § 63-602D (effective until Jan. 1, 2026).
Yes, Boise Airport, as a municipally owned entity, has property tax exemption under Idaho Code § 63-602A.
Yes, the Meta data center in Kuna has sales tax exemptions on equipment and facilities under Idaho Code § 63-3622VV.
Boise: The Boise, Idaho metro area is exploding with three Mega projects: Micron expansion, Boise airport expansion, and St. Luke’s Medical Center. Will Boise and the Treasure Valley become Seattle East? It’s looking that way.
Boise’s Biggest Megaprojects (Crazy Changes Coming!). By Living in Idaho Craig Flood (11/22/25, video 12:55 includes transcript): tinyurl.com/bdd4zzsw
Data Centers: Kuna, Idaho along with states, cities, and small towns all across America (and the world) are installing massive data centers that can destroy lives of those living around them, increase environmental pollution (air, water, soil), and consume gargantuan amounts of water and power — usually with increases to taxpayers and ratepayers, not the companies installing the data centers.
Is this truly progress? Many — including US President Donald Trump — think it is; others, not so much.
Exposing The Dark Side of America's AI Data Center Explosion. By Business Insider(09/12/25, video 31:09 includes transcript): tinyurl.com/sc2jdnem
I Live 400 Yards From Mark Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center. By More Perfect Union (03/27/25, video 13:33 includes transcript): tinyurl.com/yuh3mf9j
The sources above are just the tip of the iceberg but should be plenty enough to explode your brain, as it did ours.
We summarize each video, with help from Grok and YouTube show notes and transcripts. And, yes, we totally understand the irony of using Grok amidst concerns about data centers.
ED NOTE
The wealthy organizations driving this growth receive tax breaks not enjoyed by everyday Americans.__________
Boise’s Biggest Megaprojects (Crazy Changes Coming!)
Three major multi-billion-dollar projects are transforming the Boise, Idaho area:
Micron's expansion into a mega campus for chip manufacturing.
Boise airport's upgrades to handle increased passenger and cargo volume.
St. Luke's downtown medical campus expansion.
Local real estate expert Craig Flood highlights how these developments will drive job growth, housing demand, and real estate opportunities in surrounding areas, potentially reshaping where people live, work, and invest over the next 5-10 years. (Craig Flood offers consultations for buyers, sellers, investors, and relocators.)
1️⃣ Micron's South Boise Mega Campus Micron, a major memory chip manufacturer, is investing up to $50 billion in its Boise expansion, the largest construction project in Idaho's history.
The project includes multiple advanced chip fabrication plants, massive clean room facilities, new R&D support buildings, and utility infrastructure upgrades.
The new fabrication plant is projected to be 12 times the size of the current facility, with completion aimed for 2027.
At peak construction, it will involve 4,000 workers and over 30 cranes.
Creates two waves of housing demand: short-to-mid-term for construction staff (e.g., electricians, welders, managers) and long-term for high-wage manufacturing teams.
Impacts southeast Boise primarily, extending to the Treasure Valley and Mountain Home via Interstate 84.
Attracts high-earning talent like engineers and technicians, boosting real estate investment in Boise's tech sector.
2️⃣ Boise Airport Expansion The Boise airport being expanded due to an 81% increase in passenger counts from 2014 to 2024.
Improvements include a new 5,000-stall public parking garage, a 950-stall rental car garage, a new Concourse A with up to 12 gates (phased from 2027 to 2029), a central utility plant, terminal upgrades, expanded security and baggage systems, and improved dining and retail.
Reinforces Boise as a regional travel and logistics hub, adding jobs in airlines, TSA, rental cars, and concessions.
Facilitates easier national access, attracting more companies.
Real estate impact focuses on Boise Bench, industrial corridors along Interstate 84, Meridian, and Nampa for workforce housing.
3️⃣ St. Luke's Downtown Medical Expansion St. Luke's Health System is investing $1.17 billion in its downtown campus, including a new nine-story hospital tower, cancer center expansion, medical office plaza, central plant, infrastructure systems, and large parking structure.
Construction started in 2024 and will add 80 patient beds and seven operating rooms over multiple phases.
Draws thousands of medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, specialists, residents, fellows, traveling nurses, and students from Boise State University and local programs.
Increases demand for nearby housing like condos, townhomes, apartments, and rentals within walking or biking distance, including via the 25-mile Boise Green Belt.
Targets east end, north end, and areas between St. Luke's and Boise State; suitable for short- and mid-term rentals via platforms like Furnished Finder (tinyurl.com/4yp7cst7).
Overall Implications These projects act as magnets pulling people and investment:
Micron for global tech talent in southeast Boise.
St. Luke's for medical professionals in the downtown core.
Airport for logistics workers in nearby neighborhoods.
Over 5-10 years, these projects are expected to heighten competition, raise prices, and tie real estate to Boise's job and infrastructure growth.
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Exposing The Dark Side of America's AI Data Center Explosion
Business Insider Show Notes (copied, unedited)
The explosion of AI across every industry has seen hundreds of water- and power-hungry server farms sprout up across the US.
Already, one-third of the world's internet traffic flows through data centers in just one US state: Virginia.
However, until now, there has been no official record of the number of data centers in America, who owns them, or how much electricity they consume.
In an exclusive deep dive into the industry, Business Insider reporters cracked the code and, for the first time, revealed the true cost of the data warehouses feeding our growing appetite for cloud computing and AI.
We travelled to Virginia to meet people living in the shadow of 80-foot-high boxes that emit a constant drone, and to the drought-ridden state of Arizona, where some data centers are using as much as a million gallons of water a day to help cool their computer servers.
Business Insider also discovered that the power needs of data centers have forced some states to withdraw from their carbon emissions targets.
Power companies are even looking to extend the life of coal and gas plants to help meet the unprecedented demand.
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I Live 400 Yards From Mark Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center
More Perfect Union Show Notes (copied, minor editing for clarity)
What's the true cost of the AI revolution and who should be paying for it? We went to Georgia to find out.
Demand for data centers is booming as ChatGPT and other AI tools become integrated into our daily life.
Under the Trump administration, investments into data centers in the U.S. is expected to surpass $1 trillion in the next five years.
But data centers put extraordinary demand on the power grid and require entirely new infrastructure. In the next three years, data center use of electricity is expected to double or even triple.
We went to rural Georgia, the state with the fastest data center growth in the country, and spoke with residents who are living next to massive data centers owned by Meta and Blackstone. These residents are facing nonstop noise, pollution and rapidly rising electricity bills.
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Related:
Meta’s Kuna Data Center. By Meta (see image below): tinyurl.com/3s3ffkm8
Trump Executive Order: REMOVING BARRIERS TO AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (01/23/25): tinyurl.com/2xmhawrn
Trump Executive Order: ACCELERATING FEDERAL PERMITTING OF DATA CENTER INFRASTRUCTURE (07/23/25, link below): tinyurl.com/3t96veb3
🆕 Medical Capture by Nonprofit Hospitals — The 50-State Nonprofit Healthcare Map: Where Hospitals Dominate and Where Physicians Still Compete. By Dutch Rojas (12/04/25): tinyurl.com/4nzjyezv
