Considering Boise... (Star, Council: transfer, high school, college)

[nacfsu]

My wife is a doctoral student in psychology and is applying to internships. She is considering one in Boise. We are both late 20's, non-religious and liberal. Woudl the fact that we are non-religious make it difficult for us to find friends and/or social groups in Boise?

Also, I am finishing up my masters in urban planning. Are there many planning jobs in Boise, either with the state, city or private firms?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice!

[parteira]

Boise is chock full of young folk, and I think it is a great place to be in your 20s if you like to get out into nature. It has a nice balance of city night life and entertainment (though pretty mellow compared to other cities), arty goings on, and opportunities to play outside. There are a ton of young families as well. I'd say most of Boise proper is decidedly not religiously oppressive, but as a non-christian I have found the outskirts and neighboring communities to be a bit stifling for me. A lot of your experience will be relative, of course. Where are you coming from?

[nacfsu]

Tallahassee, Florida. We are both grad students at FSU. Tallahassee is vastly different from the rest of the state of Florida as it is 20 miles from Georgia and 30-40 miles from Alabama. It is the DEEP south. So we are used to very religious, conservative folks, but we wouldn't mind getting away from that.

[parteira]

Well then some aspects of Boise life and culture may feel familiar, while others will be vastly different. Do you have the opportunity to come visit? It seems like most people in the city are from other places, and Boise is by far the "friendliest" place I've lived (10 states). It is a very welcoming, warm community, and everyone I know who has come from out of state has really fallen in love with it. It is one of the few urban places where you can access nature and wilderness quite quickly from town.

[nacfsu]

My wife has an interview in January (which is good, to see if we can handle the winter after living in FL - 7 years for me, 9 years for her). We are avid hikers, paddlers, and novice skiers. The idea of Boise is exciting after living in flat, hot, humid Florida for the better part of a decade. Thanks for the info!

[parteira]

If you're ready for a change of scenery I think you might just love it! Have you ever lived in the west before?

[Syringaloid]

Boise is a great and exciting city to live in if you are in your 20's and 30's and are active and love the outdoors. Boise is great for any age
As Parteira said being non religious is a non issue in Boise.

[nacfsu]

Nope, I grew up in Missouri and went to high school and some college in Kansas before transferring down to FSU. I have spent lots of time out west on vacation and going skiing with a buddy whose dad lived in Denver. My wife is from Pittsburgh, so it will be something new for both of us.

[stingraynm]

What others have posted pretty much answers your question. Since I fall on a number of political middle grounds and religious agnosticism, perhaps I could throw in some clarifications about the conservative and monotheistic presence in Boise.

First off, if you're an economic liberal and like to see state and municipal policies reflect your ideals with lots of government intervention woven throughout, Idaho is not the place for you. The majority have long enjoyed their state's political emphasis on self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. If you're more of a social liberal (not as in socialist, per se, as that would fit more in economic liberalism by my definition; but more in terms of social vs. economic policy focus), then you'll get along great with the strong libertarian constituency that relentlessly maintains a "don't tread on me" spirit in policy. This is not to mention the resounding liberal bent of areas like the North End where bicycles, foreign cars, ecological conservation, and "hippies" abound.

As for religion, it minds its own and mostly does charity work and public fellowships, so you won't really see any difference from other communities, for the most part, and little to nothing affecting your daily life. The only time it really becomes obnoxiously apparent and exclusive from the perspective of a non-believer would be around election season when fundamentalists crawl out of under rocks to push bizarre propositions or when the notoriously right-wing and 'dated' City Council create bizarre laws to try to make Downtown unaccommodating to the youth and chic cultures its businesses try desperately to attract/please (example: several years ago they tried to outlaw cabs downtown to shut down the burgeoning bar scene, until the aforementioned libertarian constituency raised hell over the obvious hypocrisy and disaster that did and could entail, respectively). You can't let growth go unabated and then expect to control the results post hoc via presumptuous legislation, and I think people who watched Boise over the past couple decades have learned this, in some senses even the hard way. Thus, you'll be coming at the end of the learning curve, if you will.

[boisefan88]

Nothing much to add. But as someone tangentially related to city planning, there really are no jobs here in that regard. When we hear of one that opens - whether with the city, county, or even in some private capacity, they're usually bombarded with apps.

Being in planning you know how badly the market is for it. It's just as bad or worse here. Starting pay is pretty lame, too.

I think you should be okay with the psychology stuff, though.