Now I-85/985, I-20, and every highway between them is littered with tiny Atlantas at every exit for 50+ miles. Every former bedroom community is turning into its own little city. At least some of them are trying to manage it in a way that leaves them better off once the exodus ends and flips back around.
People seem to have decided 50 miles is enough, so the escapist development has turned to the west and north sides.
Isn't that a good thing, if you want people to have everything they need in their own neighborhood, rather than needing to commute 20 miles for a Costco and another 10 miles for a latte?
I'd rather have smaller (potentially walkable) communities than rows and rows of suburban housing where people just get in their car to drive elsewhere when they need to do something.
Highly recommend Alexander's "A Pattern Language." I just did an insanely massive purge, and this is one of the few books I kept.
Boise will have some growth pains, but it will have to really screw up to become California.