I wish I knew why you were asking. Are you thinking of moving here? It’s a fairly small (nearly 200,000) but growing city. It’s relatively clean and safe. Pretty? This part of Idaho is rugged, high desert mountain pretty. There’s an active club scene, lots of local music, good restaurants, and a surprising amount happening in the arts.
My favorite part is that since the population boom began about 15 years ago, we have begun to draw big name acts. We actually had the Rolling Stones last month. I myself have seen Eric Clapton and B.B. King twice, and I’ve gotten to see and meet everyone from Garrison Keillor to Eli Weisel to Al Gore to all the member of Nickel Creek. (Others I’ve seen in concert the last few years include Lucinda Williams, Trace Adkins [twice, for my wife's sake], Lyle Lovette, Chris Isak, Teri Clark, Natalie Merchant, Bob Dylan, and Dolly Parton.) Pretty good for a place that’s 400+ miles from anywhere else (Spokane, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle). And you tend to get better seats at cheaper prices here.
Politically, we are one of the most conservative states in the country. Enough said about that.
Potatoes? Nah. The biggest smell problem is in Nampa, a city 20 miles down the interstate. And the problem is sugar beets, not potatoes. (Few people know that Idaho is a major sugar producing source for the country.)
And of course, if you like football, you’d better know the city is Fiesta Bowl crazy with the game against Oklahoma coming up on New Year’s Day.
As to actually living in downtown Boise itself, I can’t really speak to that. For years downtown was dead, but it’s up and coming now. The trendy people who can afford it like to live in the nice older home on the North Side.
I hope you get a variety of responses that are a little more detailed than the first two. This is at least a start on giving you a more complex picture than you were getting.
I don’t think Boise Is a pretty city. It is a nice city, in comparison to the city I’m closest to now (anchorage) and seems pretty safe. Northern Idaho is the pretty part of the state, alot of trees, which is what I like seeing. I lived in Idaho 33 years, and it took me 30 years to see my first potato field, Idaho actually produces more wheat than Potatoes, but the wheat state name was already taken. The state of Idaho is pretty diverse,,desert, mountains ,trees. And even has two time zones!
November 10th, 2009 on 3:07 pm
Everything smells like potatoes!
November 10th, 2009 on 3:24 pm
I wish I knew why you were asking. Are you thinking of moving here? It’s a fairly small (nearly 200,000) but growing city. It’s relatively clean and safe. Pretty? This part of Idaho is rugged, high desert mountain pretty. There’s an active club scene, lots of local music, good restaurants, and a surprising amount happening in the arts.
My favorite part is that since the population boom began about 15 years ago, we have begun to draw big name acts. We actually had the Rolling Stones last month. I myself have seen Eric Clapton and B.B. King twice, and I’ve gotten to see and meet everyone from Garrison Keillor to Eli Weisel to Al Gore to all the member of Nickel Creek. (Others I’ve seen in concert the last few years include Lucinda Williams, Trace Adkins [twice, for my wife's sake], Lyle Lovette, Chris Isak, Teri Clark, Natalie Merchant, Bob Dylan, and Dolly Parton.) Pretty good for a place that’s 400+ miles from anywhere else (Spokane, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle). And you tend to get better seats at cheaper prices here.
Politically, we are one of the most conservative states in the country. Enough said about that.
Potatoes? Nah. The biggest smell problem is in Nampa, a city 20 miles down the interstate. And the problem is sugar beets, not potatoes. (Few people know that Idaho is a major sugar producing source for the country.)
And of course, if you like football, you’d better know the city is Fiesta Bowl crazy with the game against Oklahoma coming up on New Year’s Day.
As to actually living in downtown Boise itself, I can’t really speak to that. For years downtown was dead, but it’s up and coming now. The trendy people who can afford it like to live in the nice older home on the North Side.
I hope you get a variety of responses that are a little more detailed than the first two. This is at least a start on giving you a more complex picture than you were getting.
November 10th, 2009 on 3:43 pm
Try to think back to 1997………………..Thats Boise!
November 10th, 2009 on 4:17 pm
I don’t think Boise Is a pretty city. It is a nice city, in comparison to the city I’m closest to now (anchorage) and seems pretty safe. Northern Idaho is the pretty part of the state, alot of trees, which is what I like seeing. I lived in Idaho 33 years, and it took me 30 years to see my first potato field, Idaho actually produces more wheat than Potatoes, but the wheat state name was already taken. The state of Idaho is pretty diverse,,desert, mountains ,trees. And even has two time zones!