Beach to Boise (Paul, Hope: live, dangerous, agriculture)

[wolfdog]

I'm recently retired, and my wife is self-employed. We've been on the OR coast for 20 years and are looking at Boise. Read through all 6 pages and seems like a very nice area. And our area is WAY too liberal, un-cultured, and economically depressed. The election last month has sped up our desire for a change. Also very expensive here. We've been looking at Bend, Prescott and Reno, as well, for comparison.
Certainly not a great concern, but the issue of Boise's air quality and winter inversions I read caught my attention. In the 80's, we lived in a strong agricultural area in central WA, where lots of pesticides in the air led to abnormally high cases of leukemia, etc. Is this an issue, since Boise appears to be downwind from large agricultural areas? Not a deal breaker; just curious. In fact, we are planning a get-to-know trip this spring.
Thanks in advance.

[DispatchDave]

Originally Posted by wolfdog

I'm recently retired, and my wife is self-employed. We've been on the OR coast for 20 years and are looking at Boise. Read through all 6 pages and seems like a very nice area. And our area is WAY too liberal, un-cultured, and economically depressed. The election last month has sped up our desire for a change. Also very expensive here. We've been looking at Bend, Prescott and Reno, as well, for comparison.
Certainly not a great concern, but the issue of Boise's air quality and winter inversions I read caught my attention. In the 80's, we lived in a strong agricultural area in central WA, where lots of pesticides in the air led to abnormally high cases of leukemia, etc. Is this an issue, since Boise appears to be downwind from large agricultural areas? Not a deal breaker; just curious. In fact, we are planning a get-to-know trip this spring.
Thanks in advance.

Boise is downwind from lots of agriculture. You are correct on that. Many people have bemoaned the fact that we get this inversion in the winter time. While I haven't lived here very long (3 and a half years), I haven't noticed it, and certainly haven't had any problems with it. But that's just my humble opinion.
Hope your visit this spring is enjoyable!

[Sara Lee]

You would have to go to California or Oregon by the Ocean for beach. Idaho is inland not on the coast.

[wolfdog]

Originally Posted by Sara Lee

You would have to go to California or Oregon by the Ocean for beach. Idaho is inland not on the coast.

Oh, OK. But just how far inland is Boise?
(I think you may have seriously mis-read my post, Sara, but thanks for replying anyway.)

[IdahoDee]

Boise is surrounded by agriculture, but I haven't heard of pesticides being an issue for air quality (or causing cancer/leukemia) in the treasure valley (where Boise is). Mostly, I think it is just a function of the valley trapping pollution and particulates when the weather is cold. It sort-of feeds on itself in the winter where the cold, polluted air gets trapped in the valley. IMO it can get pretty bad some winters. There can be burn bans and it can stretch on for weeks. It can turn the weather into a string of very grey days. This summer, the air was bad because of all the fires in the northwest, we were even getting smoke from fires in Oregon and Washington (as well as our own Idaho fires) coming into the valley. But, that doesn't happen every year, usually summers are mostly blue sky and sunshine.

All that said, the air quality index (even this summer with all the smoke) usually doesn't get into the red or dangerous category.

[wolfdog]

Thank you for your informative responses. Looking forward to our visit this spring. Went to a Christmas party last night and spoke with a woman who was raised in Boise. Nothing but high praise for the area. Saw Paul Revere and the Raiders on Sat. He said he turns 75 next month(amazing) and spoke about his upbringing on a potato farm in the Boise area.
Wife asked me to Google for a Nordstrom in the Boise area. Told her they have a Rack, along with a couple of Chick-fil-A's(she's a Southerner). She's happy. LOL

[Outside Dan]

Chick-fil-a ROCKS! I am from CFA country and have done business with the Cathy's for years. I was very glad to hear that Boise has a CFA. I just wonder if they use the same sweet tea.