Kuna, Idaho: A great place to live, muy tranquilo
Idaho Immigration: Genesis of a Suburban Barrio


By Nathaniel Hoffman, 8-14-07



Children bust their piñatas on the last day of Reed Elementary School's summer migrant education program.

Last week the Census Bureau released its 2006 estimates for county populations. The numbers showed Hispanic growth almost everywhere, including in Idaho. Particularly in the larger urban areas.

A few stories highlighted the fact that Idaho’s Hispanic population grew by 8,300 last year. All but two of the state’s counties saw some Hispanic growth. Parts of Wyoming experienced the same type of growth.

The Billings paper ran an AP story noting that Garfield County in Montana, on the other hand, is still among the nation’s whitest counties.

In this second installment of a NewWest series about immigration in the American West, we take a look at Kuna, Idaho, once a sleepy, nearly all-white country town. Now Kuna, experiencing the same explosive growth that has appeared in similar places across the West, is considered a “good place to liveâ€