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I saw this come up on another thread, debating whether Idaho is apart of the Pacific Northwest or not. Someone claimed that most Idahoans consider Idaho to be a part of the PNW. So I thought I would ask people who actually live in Idaho to see if it is true or not. If you are a resident of Idaho do you consider Idaho to be a part of the Pacific Northwest? Feel free to explain if you like. Thanks in advance.
Not really, I think northern Idaho is in the Inland Northwest which would include WA and OR east of the Cascades as well. Seems to make the most sense to me.
I lived in both north Idaho and southern Idaho, but it was in the 70's.
Ecologically speaking, north Idaho is part of the Rocky Mountains and southern Idaho has both Rocky Mountain eco-regions and Great Basin eco-region.
Most of the people live in the Great Basin eco-region in southern Idaho.
Economically, north Idaho is tied to Spokane. It is the trading, medical and business center for north Idaho. Spokane services southern British Columbia, Alberta, north Idaho, parts of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Montana and parts of eastern Montana. So is Spokane part of the northwest??
In the 70's southern Idaho was tied socially, medically, and business with Salt Lake City. I suspect these days there are more ties with California, but I think it is still Salt Lake City for southern Idaho.
I define the Pacific NorthWET as exactly that. It is the WET parts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. I am always surprised at the lack of economic ties between Vancouver and Seattle.
So in my humble opinion, NO. Idaho is not part of the Pacific NorthWET and neither is eastern Washington.
Idaho is definitely part of the Northwest which seems to be broken down into two regions: Pacific and Inland and Idaho would be Inland. Boise is considered a Northwest city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 509
Economically, north Idaho is tied to Spokane. It is the trading, medical and business center for north Idaho. Spokane services southern British Columbia, Alberta, north Idaho, parts of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Montana and parts of eastern Montana. So is Spokane part of the northwest??
In the 70's southern Idaho was tied socially, medically, and business with Salt Lake City. I suspect these days there are more ties with California, but I think it is still Salt Lake City for southern Idaho.
I define the Pacific NorthWET as exactly that. It is the WET parts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. I am always surprised at the lack of economic ties between Vancouver and Seattle.
So in my humble opinion, NO. Idaho is not part of the Pacific NorthWET and neither is eastern Washington.
Parts of SE Idaho are tied to SLC (think religion), and such because it is part of the I-15 Corridor and SLC is closer to that area of the state than Boise is, but as a whole, most of Southern Idaho is "socially, medically including business" tied to Boise. Maybe 40 years ago most of the southern area was tied to SLC, but not anymore. Southern Idaho is a lot larger obviously than Northern Idaho so the further west you travel away from Pocatello, the perceived influence wanes.
Hmmmm. We've been watching a fabulous series of YouTube geology lessons about the Pacific Northwest, and from what I've learned, the ancient northwestern shoreline of the North American continent was actually the western edge of today's Idaho, more or less. Then, over 100 million years, give or take, one land mass after another (Selezia, Wrangalia, etc.) bumped into the continent and was accreted or subducted, and altogether that jumble of land masses became the Pacific Northwest (and parts of Canada), and the Cascades arose as a result. Soooo, from a geological point of view I guess the answer is clear: Idaho is not part of the Pacific Northwest, but the Rocky Mountains. Culturally speaking, that's another matter, but I also "feel" that Idaho is a Rocky Mountain state, not a PNW state. Even with the NID PST time zone.
Definitions of the "Pacific Northwest" region vary, and even Pacific Northwesterners do not agree on the exact boundary.[7][8] The most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and sometimes the Canadian province of British Columbia.[5]
Parts of Idaho are also the Rocky Mountains, but the two regions are not mutually exclusive.
Hmmmm. We've been watching a fabulous series of YouTube geology lessons about the Pacific Northwest, and from what I've learned, the ancient northwestern shoreline of the North American continent was actually the western edge of today's Idaho, more or less. Then, over 100 million years, give or take, one land mass after another (Selezia, Wrangalia, etc.) bumped into the continent and was accreted or subducted, and altogether that jumble of land masses became the Pacific Northwest (and parts of Canada), and the Cascades arose as a result. Soooo, from a geological point of view I guess the answer is clear: Idaho is not part of the Pacific Northwest, but the Rocky Mountains. Culturally speaking, that's another matter, but I also "feel" that Idaho is a Rocky Mountain state, not a PNW state. Even with the NID PST time zone.
Western Idaho, not far from where Boise is located, used to be ocean front property.
I consider Idaho part of the NW and it seems the vast amount of info out there on the net also places Idaho in the NW.
Here's one example:
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https://www.thoughtco.com/ten-facts-...thwest-1435740
There are four mountain ranges dominating the Pacific Northwest. They are the Cascade Range, the Olympic Range, the Coast Range and parts of the Rocky Mountains.
To the OP, Ontario, Oregon which is less than an hour from Boise is part of the Boise CSA (Combined statistical area). It would be interesting to see what Oregonians living in Ontario near Boise have to say on this topic.
Last edited by Syringaloid; 01-09-2023 at 01:25 PM..
The term that's the most accurate is : Intermountain West.
This is what is used the most here, and it describes the region that is west of the Rockies and east of the Pacific coastal ranges, the Cascades and the Sierras.
The Intermountain west includes all of Idaho and Utah, the eastern half of Washington and Oregon, and the northern most part of Nevada.
But the Pacific Northwest is the second best descriptor, as Idaho starts on the western slope of the Rockies, so it's outside the Rocky Mountain region.
I've never considered Idaho as being part of the PNW, anymore than I consider Creston in BC, just north of the Idaho border to be part of the PNW. To us here in BC, Creston is part of the Kootenays.
However just looking up what areas are in the PNW, it's literally all over the map. Some sites include, Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, and one even included Wyoming! Some include BC and Alaska as well.
The difference may be because of different people mean slightly different things by the PNW. Many Americans mean the Pacific North-west of the lower 48.That may be why some Americans include Idaho and exclude Alaska.
Some include Alaska and BC since they mean the PNW of the Pacific Ocean itself.
In my mind, to be part of the PNW you have to at least be sort of close to the Pacific.
Last edited by Natnasci; 01-09-2023 at 02:44 PM..
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