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I am considering relocating to Boise and would like to know a little more about how gay/lesbian friendly the area is.
I live in S.D. and will be going to Boise next month for a job interview in my field. If it goes well, I would seriously like to consider relocating. I am concerned however about how accepting the area and residents are to the lesbian, gay, bi and trans community/individuals who live there. Honestly speaking, I do not want to have my partner come to visit (we will be doing the long-distance thing for a while) and feel like we can't leave the house for fear of being discriminated against. I live in a pretty balanced area of San Diego where there are many college students and the climate seems middle of the road to very liberal.
On another note, how vegetarian-friendly is are the grocery stores in Boise and the area surrounding it? I am a 12+year vegetarian and only eat some fish 1-2 times a month. Is there a Wild Oats, Trader Joes, and/or a Whole Foods in the Boise area?
Also, where is the best place to live if I want a somewhat liberal area of town that is within commuting distance to Emmett? I would like to have neighbors and a community in which I can feel at home.
Thank you for your effort and time in responding to my request. I really appreciate it!!!
From my perspective I think that you'll find Boise people to very nice and hospitable, even to same-sex couples, you'll probably run into some intollerant people out there still. And again I am talking from my perspective, as I could really care less if you're gay, lesbian or straight! I base my opinions on the person. We do have a store that you would like, the Boise Co-Op, and we are supposed to be getting a Whole Foods at some point. As for a more liberal feeling/academic area you might want to look at downtown Boise and the North End, there you have State St. to get you to Emmett area. While you're here check out BODOs on 8th street and Hyde Park north of State around 13th..you'll find a lot of great homes and stores. Hopefully this helps and good luck with your visit here!
It can't really compare to San Diego when looking at the GLBT community. Lesbians are going to have an easier time. People may still take a second look or maybe even stare but no one will say anything. I highly doubt anyone would actually say anything or be threatening. Your personal safey GLBT or not in Boise will be higher than in San Diego.
With that being said definitely look into Downtown Boise or the North End of Boise. It is a pretty liberal, granola neighborhood. Not exactly close to Emmett but you'll probably be going against traffic instead of with it so that will help.
It definitely is a more conservative community but as mentioned above certain areas of town might be a little more hospitable (ie the North End). The North End will also fit your dietary needs as the Co-op is located there and the focus is on providing a wide variety of organic foods and beverages.
There are gay and lesbian people and couples all over this valley so you shouldn't have to worry. I have some friends who are a lesbian couple and they relocated here from Seattle and they have told me that Boise is the kind of place that couples like to move to and settle down. Some areas in the valley are more diverse than others and I would stick with Boise. There are gay clubs in prominant locations downtown and being vegetarian here will be easy. Several restaurants have vege menus and there is a new vegetarian restaurant on Federal Way up from downtown.
While this may be true about the growing gay population in San Diego, it is still very conservative outside of the Central San Diego area. As it related to Prop 8, there were 52% of San Diego residents who voted to deny marriage rights to the LGBT community. So, it is truly an interesting mix of liberal and highly conservative individuals. I wasn't aware that it had the largest gay population in So.Cal. I though that the L.A. area would have ranked #1 in that area.
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