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After looking up these statistics my girl friend and I were extremely shocked to find out Idaho was one of the highest per capita gang states in the country. My girl friend and I had already planned out much of our futures in Idaho and after reading several websites and much information regarding this issue she broke into tears. We really thought we finally had our life some what planned out, and now this may change what we have been working so hard to obtain. It's very depressing.
Missoula was our second choice, but Boise had always been where our hearts were set. We want a safe nurturing environment to have our kids and bring up our family.
The next few weeks are going to be very hard for us.
To calintz333: We are in San Diego County and relocating to Meridian this month. I used to live there as well as Montana (Kalispell and NorthEastern Montana) and I think this is concerning both of you more than it should way in advance of even being there. You will easily be able to find an area in the Treasure Valley to live and raise your family where gangs should not be a concern.
It was an easy and unanimous decision for us to move to the Treasure Valley after visiting other areas we were considering as part of our research. I think this will be confirmed when you visit and spend time seeing the area. We chose the Boise/Meridian area after deciding on a few different locations in various states, and Montana was included as a consideration also. After much research, we chose Boise after also visiting many of these areas because of all that it offered which includes the proximity to the outdoors, ability to travel to many areas including California within 2 hours, relatively mild winters and 4 seasons, recreational activities in the Treasure Valley, as well as the high rankings of the schools. I believe the quality of life should be all that you initially anticipated, and maybe take a road trip if possible to visit all the areas you are considering before making a final decision. Good luck.
gangs....in boise....HAHAHA. oh man, one of my coworkers grew up here and he tells me all the time how dangerous and scary this place has gotten.
I grew up in Phoenix and lived all over California as well, this place is the safest I have ever felt. ANYWHERE
The gang statistics are a joke, Boise is one of the safest cities in the entire country.
Used to live in Phoenix and if I was out walking my dog and ran into a group of young people you tried to look away so you wouldn't get hassled. Here in Boise when I walk my dog and run into even the toughest looking gang wanna-be's I still get a nice friendly greeting from someone in the group.
Last night I ran to the store and accidentally left my garage door open for over an hour. In Phoenix there would not have been much left in my garage upon my return. But here in Boise there was nothing missing.
The only gang you need to watch out for are the goons in white shirts and ties cruising your neighborhood on bikes who call themselves "Elder". Pretty scary lot, if you fall in with them they will make you give up drinking beer and coffee.
Re: Gang Statistics
My sister-in-law works as a city school nurse in northern Alabama, currently in an elementary school. If a kid has a symbol that is gang related on one of their book covers, the police are called and the kid is categorized as a gang member. Same is true for all the schools. Most of these kids are just looking for something to make them cool (as in hip and def and fly or whatever) and don't know anything about anything.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
I fear for my life here most of the time. I'm not sure which place is worse - Damascus or Boise.
After looking up these statistics my girl friend and I were extremely shocked to find out Idaho was one of the highest per capita gang states in the country. My girl friend and I had already planned out much of our futures in Idaho and after reading several websites and much information regarding this issue she broke into tears. We really thought we finally had our life some what planned out, and now this may change what we have been working so hard to obtain. It's very depressing.
Missoula was our second choice, but Boise had always been where our hearts were set. We want a safe nurturing environment to have our kids and bring up our family.
The next few weeks are going to be very hard for us.
Oh don't let this stop you....really.....I would move to Boise over Missoula for a thousand different reasons....you will find what you are looking for!
Boise is one of the safest cities I have visited...we are moving there and I envy you guys for getting there before us...LOL....have you been to Boise yet? Maybe a visit is in order to calm your fears..... I lived in Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, Raleigh..now Myrtle Beach and please believe me when I say Boise is a great place to live and raise your children.....
The gang statistics are a joke, Boise is one of the safest cities in the entire country.
I wouldn't necessarily call them a joke, but like all statistics, you need to look carefully at what they are measuring and their relativity to other information.
A lot of Idaho is mountainous and uninhabitable, that puts the majority of the population in specific areas. So "per capita" the #s may seem (relatively) high. I believe the police are very aware of them. Like so many things, it IS all relative. Yes and Boise is quite safe. There is no part of the area where I'd be afraid to walk a ways in the dark if I needed to.
Oh don't let this stop you....really.....I would move to Boise over Missoula for a thousand different reasons....you will find what you are looking for!
Boise is one of the safest cities I have visited...we are moving there and I envy you guys for getting there before us...LOL....have you been to Boise yet? Maybe a visit is in order to calm your fears..... I lived in Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, Raleigh..now Myrtle Beach and please believe me when I say Boise is a great place to live and raise your children.....
After looking a bit more into the numbers I found out that those gang statistics can be a bit misleading.
According to the state's website the over all crime rate is 21% less than the national average, in addition according to the Idaho department of commerce they also rank in the top 10 for quality of life in the country.
I told this to my girl friend and it definitely helped calm her about the situation. I think we were a bit overzealous about the gang problem to begin with. We will continue to look into the research and are planning a trip to Idaho sometime soon, if finances permit. Driving to Idaho from CA and back is at least $380 in gas with the addition of hotel stays, food, entertainment costs, and emergency money we would need about $1000 to have a nice 4-5 day stay in Idaho. As college students that kind of money is not easy to come by.
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....really.....I would move to Boise over Missoula for a thousand different reasons....you will find what you are looking for!
