Considering Relocation to Boise Area

[zoso1979]

Boise is in the high desert, but you can get into the mountains, full of a variety of trees, within an hour.

I'm originally from the Pacific NW, so I'm pretty familiar with trees as well, fir, cedar, spruce, and I think it's funny also because you'll see Ponderosa pine and some spruce, but most of the trees in Boise are deciduous.

Boise is called the city of trees (Les Bois) because as explorers were traveling west across the plains they came to the river valley and ther presence of trees along the river were a standout landmark.

[Wildsporty]

Originally Posted by thesearch

Can anybody give me their opinion of Boise? I need to know things like: weather [ how cold/snow, how hot, earthquakes, any volcano near by, etc.], crime [like sex offenders, theft, murders, etc. ], housing market, things to do, shopping. Just tell me what you think of living there, pros and cons.
I currently live on the East coast so if you could compare that to Boise?

Thanks!

I have never been on the East Coast so no I cannot compare it to Boise. We have an area here that is called the Treasure Valley. It is composed of Boise,Garden City, Meridian, Nampa ,Star, Eagle, Middleton, Kuna, and Caldwell. It is a rather nice place to live.

Boise is more the metro city lifestyle with much shopping, bars and events to attend. Meridian and Garden City are the inbetween towns which gap between Boise and the smaller communities. Nampa is a little larger than the other towns but a bit smaller than Boise , it is holding it's own with events and shopping. The other towns mentioned are smaller communities around Boise that offer smaller communities to live in work or commute to Boise to work.

It is a good place for an outdoor enthusiast to live. We have withing an hour or less driving a ski resort, mountains with provide camping, fishing, trail hiking, white water rafting and a number of water sports. There is ample hunting opportunities. ATV riding and horseback riding are often popular sports. We have car race tracks, a great winning football team at BSU, a minor league baseball team the Hawks which is affiliated with the Cubs ball club, in the summer there are many outdoor fairs, festivals and events. There is a nice zoo in boise as well as many parks. Our schools are good we strive for excellence. Housing is pentiful and right now prices are the lowest they have ever been. Jobs not so plentiful, but if you look they can be found.

Idaho can be cold in the winter , we have some snow and it can be a bit warm in the summer but is much milder than other regions of the country. They call us here in the Treasure Valley the banana belt of Idaho because we usually have less severe weather hot and cold than the rest of the state.

We do have crime much like the rest of the nation. We had some problems with meth and we have a campaign against it now that appears to be working somewhat although it is still the major factor around most of the crimes in the area. We do have other crimes but not near as many as the large metro areas. We have a rather large mexican immigrant population coming in from California and Arizona. We try to deal with it the best it can be dealt with. We have financial concerns with city and state budgets as every other state does during this economic downturn. We also deal with these as well as we can. We have not escaped the problems of the nation, however, we have them to a lesser degree and we are dealing with them the best we can.

I have lived in Idaho most of my life ,I have also lived in a couple other states , visited more and Idaho is the best. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Shirley in Nampa

[Syringaloid]

Boise is nicknamed the City of Trees because it is an oasis where the high Rocky Mountain Desert areas meet the evergreen forests just north of the city. It isn't called the City of Trees to claim it has more trees than anywhere else, just like Portland, The City of Roses, doesn't claim to have the most roses of any city and Spokane is nicknamed the Lilac City, but they don't claim to have more lilacs than any other city. You have to take it in context. But, Boise does have a truthfull claim to being the City of Trees because of any major city in the arid areas of the Rocky Mountains, (SLC, Denver, Billings, etc.) Boise imo has the lushest canopy coverage and has dense cottonwood forests along the river all the way through the city. When you are up in the foothills and look down at the city all you see is trees and the taller buildings in downtown poking over those trees. Within the confines of the Intermountain West, not including cities right in the forests, Boise is the City of Trees.

[thesearch]

Thanks for everyone's help. It looks like the job fell through. If ever I am given the chance I'll look into moving to Boise again. Thanks alot for your in put.