Moscow: Growing with the Flow

October 20^th was just like any other Wednesday in Moscow, Idaho. University of Idaho students attended their classes, people went to work, grocery shopped, hit the gym, and overall went about their regular business.  

But for many, this was a day that will never be forgotten. This was the day the local Target opened. For a traditionally small, rural college town, this was a momentous occasion. Not only did this mean a larger snack aisle and more access to trendy fashion – but it also meant a taste of the bigger city, and the possibility that Moscow was becoming modern. 

The sound of traffic, crowded shops, long checkout lines, construction, business expansion, and extremely limited parking. These are the characteristics someone might use to describe a big city. However, they’re also increasingly beginning to describe Moscow.  

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Idaho is the second-fastest-growing state in the nation behind Utah, experiencing a 17.3% population increase since 2010. Latah County, specifically, experienced a 6.1% population increase over the last decade. With an unprecedented number of people in the area comes unprecedented change – which people in the town have mixed feelings about.  

Adam Wallace, a UI senior who grew up in Moscow, has seen a lot of changes take place during his 20 years here.  

“The town used to feel a bit like a smaller city – it had much more ‘small town’ vibes,” Wallace said. “The amount of new businesses and new developments that have come up just in the time that I’ve lived here is absolutely insane.”  

Wallace believes that the business sector of Moscow saw some of the biggest changes over the last decade.  

“I remember when the IDENTITY apartment lot was an empty lot, and then we got that huge apartment complex put up, and it felt so crazy to me,” Wallace said. “We didn’t have anything like that before.”  

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, since 2010 the area has gained just shy of 2,000 housing units, and this number is only increasing. Part of this is due to the influx of new businesses and companies that have come to the area over the years.  

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, a large company based out of Pullman, Washington, plans on finishing construction of their state-of-the-art plant for fabricating printed circuit boards in Moscow in mid-2022, according to their website. Wallace believes that this has been one of Moscow’s biggest pull factors.  

“If you live in Pullman, you either work for (Washington State University), or you work for Schweitzer,” Wallace said. “Seeing that come into town – whereas before it was a quiet little town – is a little weird.”  

Although this rapid developmental change is foreign to many Moscow residents, Wallace believes it is ultimately a good thing.  

“It brings the town more legitimacy,” Wallace said. “I felt like the reputation of Moscow was like, ‘oh, nothing ever happens there,’ which can still be very nice. Moscow hasn’t done a complete 180, but it’s definitely going a certain direction.” 

While the business sector of Moscow is gaining traction, growth and development have also been seen on a university level.  

October 8^th of this year marked the grand opening of the ICCU Arena, a $51 million dollar basketball stadium that began construction in July of 2019, according to the UI website. While some are on board with big, expensive developments like this, others are less enthusiastic.  

Sarah Nelson, a French professor at UI who’s taught at the university for over 20 years, believes that there should be more focus on smaller internal developments rather than extravagant ones.  

“The university is becoming more and more polished and corporate,” Nelson said. “There’s been growth in numbers, in salaries paid and in money devoted to upper administration, and less to actual staff and faculty.”  

According to Nelson, university staff that retire often can’t be replaced because there isn’t enough money to hire more people. In her view, this is because the university dedicates a lot of its money to its image, which can create financial challenges for some departments.  

“In French, we’re not as able to have as deep of a curriculum as other schools might because we have just two faculty right now,” Nelson said. “We can’t grow because we’re small, and if we could get a little infusion of resources, we could hope to attract more.”  

Despite some of the pitfalls of university-wide change, for Nelson, the advantages lie in what has stayed constant throughout her time at UI.  

“One thing I don’t think has changed is the general good-heartedness of people that work here,” Nelson said. “One time before I even applied for a job here, when I first started visiting Idaho, I went and knocked on the door of the Foreign Language Department and everybody that I encountered on this campus was friendly. I still feel like people at the university are open, friendly, and genuinely interested in being helpful.”  

This friendliness and care aren’t limited to the UI campus – it also radiates from the community.  

Jamie Hill, a UI alumna born and raised in Weiser, Idaho, a small town about four hours south of Moscow, knew Moscow like the back of her hand from a young age.  

“I grew up coming to the university at least three times a year, so I gave my first campus tour at four years old,” Hill said. “I’ve been around for a very long time.” 

After graduating from UI in 2009 and moving to Portland, Oregon, she decided to move back to Moscow in 2012 and has been here ever since.  

“I genuinely came back to show a student the campus, and within two hours I had six people who were like, ‘Jamie, it’s so good to see you, how are you?’” Hill said. “I realized living in Portland I wasn’t getting that anymore.”  

According to Hill, she’d initially moved to Portland with the intention of being a big-city person. However, upon her return to Moscow, she realized she missed the small-town community connections she’d established during her time here. Despite the change that the town has seen over the last decade, this is ultimately what keeps her here.  

“Knowing who my checker was at the grocery store, knowing the person behind the post office counter’s name, knowing who makes my coffee in the morning and what her dog’s name is – that was all really important to me,” Hill said. “I’m a person who needs other people, I need that connection – and I have a feeling I’ll be here for a while.”