Boise compared to Bend, OR (Sun Valley: appointed, sales, house)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone lived in both Bend and Boise? I've visited Bend a number of times and have considered moving there when I retire in a year or so because I love outdoor activities, but lately Boise popped up on my radar and I'm starting to think I should visit because it might work better for me. Why? Because...
Boise is larger so it has more cultural activities and restaurants, which I like.
Boise airport has non-stop flights to the two places I would be visiting family the most, whereas the Redmond airport only has regional service, so traveling would be a bigger hassle/cost more.
Boise has cheaper housing prices for equivalent quality.
Idaho has a lower top state income tax rate, and the property taxes appear to be lower. I don't buy a lot of stuff, so the lack of OR sales tax is a minor factor, though I realize food is taxed in Idaho.
Bend seems to have colder springs, summer, and falls. I don't mind some snow since I would only be working part-time from home for my current clients, if at all. When I compared average temperatures on weather.com for the two, it looked like only December and January had lower average lows than Bend, but average highs were a few degrees higher almost all year, which sounds more to my liking.
On paper, Boise seems to be worth a look-see. I'm thinking of taking a road trip in the spring to check it out. (I've been following j-k-k's saga on here and that's been quite helpful). Can anyone familiar with both Bend and Boise suggest anything else I should consider?
Very similar but Bend is much smaller with less amenities. Boise is by far the easiest city to live in as everything is so close with very little traffic. When you need a break from the normal, you can be in the mountains within a 30 minute drive. Boise was not on our radar either when we were looking to leave Hawaii years ago but we are so happy now that we looked into it! You will not be disappointed here.
That's sort of my feeling from what I've read...and I think after living before in either large cities or college towns within a half-hour of large cities that Bend might be a little too small for me. I like the idea of being close to both city and outdoor amenities, like I had when I lived in San Francisco, only in a smaller metro area with a much more reasonable cost of living. I think I need to take a week to explore when it warms up a bit. My neighbor's daughter lives in Boise so she can probably take a little time to show me a few things when I visit.
Bend/Redmond is a metro of about 170K, Boise is around a half million. That is the biggest difference right there.
Bend had a bigger decline during the great recession, but is slowly coming back.
Weather: Not that different during winter, but Boise is quite a bit warmer in summer.
Vibe: Both are cool and attract cool-seekers.
Winter resorts: Mt Bachelor is within 45 minutes of Bend, Sun Valley is a good three hours from Boise, though Boise does have a less glamorous ski area within a half hour called Bogus Basin.
Taxes and such: Oregon, as mentioned, has no sales tax. Great if you are buying a new Cadillac, but not so great for everything else.
Bend/Redmond is a metro of about 170K, Boise is around a half million. That is the biggest difference right there.
Bend had a bigger decline during the great recession, but is slowly coming back.
Weather: Not that different during winter, but Boise is quite a bit warmer in summer.
Vibe: Both are cool and attract cool-seekers.
Winter resorts: Mt Bachelor is within 45 minutes of Bend, Sun Valley is a good three hours from Boise, though Boise does have a less glamorous ski area within a half hour called Bogus Basin.
Taxes and such: Oregon, as mentioned, has no sales tax. Great if you are buying a new Cadillac, but not so great for everything else.
I like both, but they are indeed different.
Yeah, that's my dilemma. I *know* I like Bend, having visited there several times, but have some reservations about living there full-time as I mentioned in my original post. I think a week-long visit to Boise is in order this spring. I'm more concerned with access to local hiking and biking than skiing, and from what I read about Boise, I'd have many options for those activities there.
I've lived in both and I think everyone covered it. They're similar but quite different, too, mostly due to size and Bend being more of a tourist and second home community while Boise is a self-supporting small city. There's much more to do in Boise on a day-to-day basis. Boise is isolated (although not from recreation) while Bend is a very doable drive to Portland, Eugene, and the coast.
Bend also has a little more of a snobby attitude and can be a tough place to make a living due to low wages, very limited economy, and high home prices. Some will say the same applies to Boise, but there's really no comparison.
Bachelor is an awesome mountain and I'd give a slight edge to Bend's climate over Boise.
You'll probably be happy either way, you can definitely do much worse than Boise or Bend.
Glad that folks' answers to my questions are helpful to you. One thing I think is a point of emphasis in your consideration is medical care in retirement years. In Boise, it looks to me like its sufficiently a center for a large region that it kind of has to have just about everything, with significant choice in providers simply for population reasons. Bend might have very good medicine for its size, but its size is much smaller. If it has, say three orthos, and one is sorta okay, one is a jerk and one you can barely understand what she says, then what you get is 'sorta okay.' Not sure that is what you want taking care of you.
Also, I am convinced that mediocre doctors flock to smaller areas because they know there is less competition and that people may just have to take what they can get. I am so disappointed with medicine in the Tri-Cities that I don't go unless it's desperate--usually I would rather suffer than pay outrageous amounts of money for assembly-line medical apathy. There is a whole lot of pill-pushing, not a whole lot of doctoring, and staffs tend to be apathetic. When I get to Boise, I will have years of conditioning to overcome just to consider the possibility of trusting and respecting doctors and hospitals by default, rather than until proven worthwhile.
Bend/Redmond is a metro of about 170K, Boise is around a half million. That is the biggest difference right there.
Bend had a bigger decline during the great recession, but is slowly coming back.
Weather: Not that different during winter, but Boise is quite a bit warmer in summer.
Vibe: Both are cool and attract cool-seekers.
Winter resorts: Mt Bachelor is within 45 minutes of Bend, Sun Valley is a good three hours from Boise, though Boise does have a less glamorous ski area within a half hour called Bogus Basin.
Taxes and such: Oregon, as mentioned, has no sales tax. Great if you are buying a new Cadillac, but not so great for everything else.
I like both, but they are indeed different.
Boise's metro as of 2010 had a population of 616,561.
Glad that folks' answers to my questions are helpful to you. One thing I think is a point of emphasis in your consideration is medical care in retirement years.
That's another thing to consider, you're right. So far I've been extremely healthy my entire life, but some age-related issues are bound to arise as I get older.
I actually have a fantastic primary care physician and dentist here - Port Townsend is sort of a destination town, and a lot of people retire here, so I'm fortunate that it attracts some good medical practitioners; however, the hospital is small. Too many friends have had to go to Seattle for more specialized care, and it takes a couple hours to get there, so that's always been a long-term concern of mine.
I understand the fact about small town doctors. I live in a small town in Wisconsin and do not want to see a doctor. Everyone here is on some kind of pills with no recovery in sight. Probably a kick-back from the drug companies. If someone here gets seriously ill, they ship you down to Madison-100 miles away. Try visiting someone everyday. I am on my way to Boise as soon as the house sells.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
