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I'm a 36yo old, native to Denver with a wife and 2 small children under the age of three. I'll soon be receiving an offer for employment where I can work anywhere west of KS and Boise's slower pace, outdoor lifestyle and family/community focus is very appealing, however reading the forums here, it seems there is a massive influx of Californians trekking to Boise and I can see the future headed in the same direction Denver has gone.
Denver was a smaller city with big city amenities, family focused communities with a great outdoor scene that required just a short drive up I-70 or 285 to get to great camping, fishing, snowboarding/skiing, snowshoeing, etc, prices of homes were affordable compared to the wages earned. It was a place I loved calling home and feels a lot like today's Boise. Now... I'm hard pressed to find a CO native outside my circle of friends I grew up with. Affordable housing is a myth here with the influx of transplants with large sums of cash. Our usual 45min drive up I-70 for a snowboarding trip has now turned into 2 hours both directions and forget about getting across town any direction in less than an hour. Basically Denver grew too fast for the infrastructure and has lost it's appeal of what drew people to the area in the first place. Growth doesn't always equal quality of life increases. Not to pick on CA, it is just the vast majority of transplants here.
So my question is am I over emphasizing the growth of Boise? Is it far off from becoming what Denver is today? Or do the Boise politicos recognize the growth and are making plans to accommodate for the increase of residents (unlike Denver)?
I'm not a negative person, I am however, tired of the lifestyle expansion has brought our city and I'd like to find a city that I feel comfortable raising my family and that I can afford to do so.
I grew up in Boise and have seen so many changes throughout my lifetime (I am now 42). I think in the past twenty years in particular, growth served Boise well. We became more sophisticated with better entertainment, shopping and dining. We added public parks, created better playgrounds, extended our greenbelt path, grew enough to support a much stronger university, used levy funds to purchase foothills land and expand open space. We are a vibrant, positive city that is clean and well-managed with strong but not intrusive government. We have low crime rates, affordable housing, excellent schools and a very high quality of life.
That said, I'd say that in my own personal experience, I've noticed a few things in the past 5-10 years that are unsettling. We do have more smoggy, "inversion" days in the winter. Not a lot. Not enough to make me want to live anywhere else. But there are more. There is more traffic. Not enough to make visitors from larger cities pause, "you call this traffic?" they say. But enough that I notice. We have more sprawl with city planners eager to accommodate development without thoughtful planning for infrastructure. Drive out Ustick Road through massive new developments in Meridian with four-way-stops backed up for blocks and you'll see what I mean. Streets should have been wider with more thought to traffic flows and access for everyone living in the west part of the area. There are excellent planned communities in Meridian, but the access to all that the valley has to offer is far from ideal.
Still, there is a lot of room to grow here. I think we can warmly welcome newcomers, maintaining a vibrant economy and growth. We are still a relatively small city compared to Portland, Denver or Seattle and have a long ways to go before we are that large. In order to stay great, we need to invest in better growth and maintaining stronger schools and it's not clear at this point exactly how that will go moving forward. You are wise to recognize this in your researching places to live. Maybe you can move here and be a part of some good growth planning? Share your experience?
Boise is a LOT smaller than Denver and we are geographically different so that I think there are lots of ways to grow smart and maintain our quality of life. I am sure there will be lots of great opinions here about the pros and cons of growth and how we are doing as a city and region in our growing.
Thank you Benchfan, for your reply. I don't want to divert from OP's question, but I am also living near Denver and wondering if Boise might be my next home.
I don't think Boise will become a Denver anytime this century. The people there are pro-business, but also pro-lifestyle and don't want Boise to become too big. I believe most believe in responsbile planning, and limiting sprawl. However, there are forces that go against this, and sometimes they win out. Still, I think Boise will remain a livable, lifestyle oriented metro that, yes will continue to grow, but not by the usual SW extremes of the past 20 years...(Phoenix, Vegas, etc.). And that as we have seen, is a good thing.
Benchfan- thanks for the insightful reply. I didn't want to come off as hypocritical as I was looking to relocate my own family, but wanted to see what Boise's view on growth and what steps they are doing, if any, to grow smart. I really appreciate all you had to say and will take that into account. I do miss the small-big city community that Denver once was and from what you wrote I believe Boise may fit the bill nicely. Thank you.
Thanks to you to pw72- another couple of cities that grew way to fast. Denver didn't experience the crash of Phoenix and Vegas, however the cost of living here has become unaffordable (unless you want to sink yourself in a sea of debt) with housing, daycare, food, events, etc.
I've lived in Salt Lake and I personally don't think we are heading in that direction, thankfully. Boise is often referred to as a small Portland because of vibe, location and NW similarities. Salt Lake and Denver are more in line with each other.
I'd love to move to Boise, but have been warned against it by some nice people there due to it being very hard to find work.
So I've chosen SLC which I'm planning on moving there in the Spring. Cost of living is much better there than in PDX or in Denver (my sister lives in Denver, have done a bit of research about it), along with getting to see the sunshine, and have a lot more employment opportunities.
Unless Boise gets a large amount of new jobs to draw people in, I just don't see it exploding anytime soon. Most outside people's impression of Idaho is ill-informed; many I talk to are shocked that Boise even has as much as it does. And I think the days of Californians running to any other state with large chunks of cash are most likely over--since no one seems to have cash these days.
How's the wind there? Get much, get many windy days? In some areas I've lived in it can blow some....how is that in Boise and the surrounding areas?
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