Boise vs. Denver vs. Seattle vs. Salt Lake City (living, best, cost)

[xGrendelx]

My fiance are looking to move out West to be closer to family and friends (and better job opps), and have focused our search on these 4 cities. All of them are within driving distance to family (between 6 and 12 hours drive), with Salt Lake City being the closest.

We've been to Salt Lake City and Seattle and loved both places. Seattle and Denver metros have the most job opportunities, naturally, but also higher costs of living. Here's what we're looking for in a new home:

-Nice, clean neighborhoods with character and low crime
-Diverse, demographically speaking (i.e. ethnicity/race, economic status)
-Outdoor recreation options
-Decent public transit options
-Decent cultural amenities (non-chain restaurants, entertainment, etc.)
-Good public schools

I'm sure all of these can be found in some sort of combination in each of the cities I've listed. But for folks who have spent time in them, how would you rank them according to my criteria? Thanks everyone!

[Mandalorian]

Seattle and Denver are more expensive. Boise is relatively backwater, so much cheaper. Salt Lake is somewhere in the middle.

I would cross public transit off the list though. All of them are driving cities despite the hater or two that will contradict me.

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

I would cross public transit off the list though. All of them are driving cities despite the hater or two that will contradict me.

Really? I used public transit in both Salt Lake City and Seattle, and both seemed more than adequate. I mean, SLC and Seattle aren't up there with the world's best as far as access and reliability, but they seem to be enough for what I need.

Also, I'm curious as to what makes Boise "backwater." Care to elaborate?

[Bernard_]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

Seattle and Denver are more expensive. Boise is relatively backwater, so much cheaper. Salt Lake is somewhere in the middle.

I would cross public transit off the list though. All of them are driving cities despite the hater or two that will contradict me.

Seattle has one of the highest rates of public transit rates for commuters in the country. It's currently #6 out of cities with more than 400,000 and #2 out of any city on the West Coast (see numbers below).

Also, Seattle has a rapidly expanding rail network.

1. New York City, New York - 55.66%
2. Jersey City, New Jersey - 45.82%
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 39.19%
4. San Francisco, California - 34.05%
5. Boston, Massachusetts - 32.82%
6. Arlington, Virginia - 28.54%
7. Washington, D.C. - 26.61%
8. Cambridge, Massachusetts - 26.60%
9. Newark, New Jersey - 26.50%
10. Chicago, Illinois - 26.50%
11. Yonkers, New York - 24.95%
12. Daly City, California - 21.45%
13. Hartford, Connecticut - 21.19%
14. Alexandria, Virginia - 21.12%
15. Seattle, Washington - 18.19%

[Syringaloid]

Mandalorian is really off the mark with his or her comments

I've lived in Portland, Salt Lake and spent a lot of time in Seattle and Boise is far from being "backwater" lol. Boise has a bus sytem but does not yet have a light rail but I would dare say, based on my experience, that Boise is more progressive than SLC.

All of the cities listed by the OP are great places. There are obvious size differences but all have some similarities and big enough differences to make each city unique in its own way.

[ShadoAngel]

Just my opinion from visiting and studying these cities for relocation myself:

-Nice, clean neighborhoods with character and low crime - Boise
-Diverse, demographically speaking (i.e. ethnicity/race, economic status) - None, really. Boise is about 90% white, SLC 75% and Denver and Seattle are just under 70%. The suburbs being whiter than the cities themselves, by and large although in Boise some of the suburbs are reversed from the normal trend. In SLC, Boise, and Denver the largest minority group will be Hispanics. In Seattle, Asians.
-Outdoor recreation options - They are all pretty great and have different variety. It kind of depends on what your primary activity is.
-Decent public transit options - Seattle > Denver > SLC > Boise. Which is also how they rank in population size, so not surprising.
-Decent cultural amenities (non-chain restaurants, entertainment, etc.) - I'd give this to Seattle, but you can find mom-and-pop character in many places in the other metros.
-Good public schools - No clue, although I want to say that WA schools are ranked pretty highly, but it's been a long time since I looked and compared that metric so I could be wrong.

What field are your careers/job opportunities in? IMO, the biggest differences between these cities is cost of living and weather and maybe some taxes or other laws. Utah and Idaho are very Republican, Washington trends very Democratic (their current legislative mix has a lot of Republicans, but west coast Republicans would be Democrats in many other states) and Colorado is a mix.

[Bernard_]

Originally Posted by ShadoAngel

Just my opinion from visiting and studying these cities for relocation myself:

-Nice, clean neighborhoods with character and low crime - Boise
-Diverse, demographically speaking (i.e. ethnicity/race, economic status) - None, really. Boise is about 90% white, SLC 75% and Denver and Seattle are just under 70%. The suburbs being whiter than the cities themselves, by and large although in Boise some of the suburbs are reversed from the normal trend. In SLC, Boise, and Denver the largest minority group will be Hispanics. In Seattle, Asians.
-Outdoor recreation options - They are all pretty great and have different variety. It kind of depends on what your primary activity is.
-Decent public transit options - Seattle > Denver > SLC > Boise. Which is also how they rank in population size, so not surprising.
-Decent cultural amenities (non-chain restaurants, entertainment, etc.) - I'd give this to Seattle, but you can find mom-and-pop character in many places in the other metros.
-Good public schools - No clue, although I want to say that WA schools are ranked pretty highly, but it's been a long time since I looked and compared that metric so I could be wrong.

What field are your careers/job opportunities in? IMO, the biggest differences between these cities is cost of living and weather and maybe some taxes or other laws. Utah and Idaho are very Republican, Washington trends very Democratic (their current legislative mix has a lot of Republicans, but west coast Republicans would be Democrats in many other states) and Colorado is a mix.

WA Schools have ranked pretty poorly recently, and Seattle area public schools are a mixed bag, at best.

Also, I wouldn't say WA trends very democratic. The State Senate has a Republican majority, and some of those republicans in the state legislature east of the Cascades are actually more like middle America republicans than West Coast republicans. It is the most left wing of any of the other four states, though, but plenty of places in WA feel conservative.

[xGrendelx]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

Originally Posted by ShadoAngel

What field are your careers/job opportunities in?

I'm in the natural resource management/environmental policy field and my fiance is a dental hygienist. She has looked into what it takes to become licensed in each state, so she shouldn't have too difficult a time finding a job. I, on the other hand, have taken my search to the West because I come from a government and nonprofit background, and there's more work being done in my field by both the government and nonprofit sectors in the Western US. My only other option would be to look in DC, which would be relatively easy since I'm a short drive from there right now but quality of life in DC sucks (in my opinion).

We both have family and friends in the Northwest, and have been to Utah, Washington, and Montana a number of times. We love it out there.

Also, as far as outdoor options, we like to hike/backpack/camp and kayak.

I'm not too worried about cost of living. For one, we don't expect to move anywhere without a job lined up that will allow us to live comfortably in whatever place that ends up being. And from my research, COL in SLC and Boise is lower than where we currently live, Denver is about the same, and Seattle is only slightly higher.

[Jason_show]

Choose Denver. You can smoke marijuana legally there.

[Kar54]

Originally Posted by Jason_show

Choose Denver. You can smoke marijuana legally there.

You can in Seattle too?