If you drive through Downtown Boise right now, chances are you’ll have to reroute yourself due to the army of orange cones and road closures that have taken over. 

A good section of downtown is torn up right now as crews work on projects like the Saratoga Apartments, Hotel Renegade, Treefort Music Hall and BoDo Cinema (which may be opening sooner than we anticipated. We found a potential opening date and we’re working on confirming it.) 

Images via Google Maps
Images via Google Maps
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The ongoing construction is a reminder that change in Downtown Boise isn’t just inevitable, it’s ongoing and pretty dramatic! The Google Maps car first visited Downtown Boise in 2007, That year, the United States Census Bureau estimated that 203,582 people lived in the city. Buildings like JUMP, Whole Foods and several hotels didn’t exist yet. The Boise Hole was still a hole. Construction on some of those projects moved so slowly that it’s nearly impossible to picture what Downtown Boise looked like before them.

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Luckily, Google Maps cars visit Boise every few years. Their most recent drive through Downtown Boise was captured in October 2022. 

We pulled some of the most dramatic “now and then” pictures of Downtown Boise and areas on Broadway near our office to show you how much different Boise looks 15 years and 34,000 new residents later!

74 Unbelievable Photos of How Much Downtown Boise Has Changed Over 10 Years

The Google Maps car first visited Boise in 2007. Things have changed A LOT since then!

KEEP READING: Do You Remember the 22 Original Restaurant and Food Retail Tenants at Boise Towne Square Mall?

Boise Towne Square Mall turns 35 in 2023! We found a copy of the original directory from 1988 and these are the restaurants and food retailers you would've found there during its first year

34 Crazy Photos Show How Much the Area Around Boise's Mall Has Changed in 15 Years

Sure, superhero movies have perfected the art of time travel and multiverses...but until we manage to do it in real life, there's Google Maps!

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