Boise v. Boulder?? (ski resorts, college, quality of life)

[honeymooner]

Hey y'all. My husband & I currently live in Upper Westchester County, NY. We are not New Yorkers. I grew up in Culver City CA in the 1970s (Wonder Years) and my husband grew up in Michigan. We are not big city people but require a metro area because we are medical professionals who need to work in a larger hospital environ. One of us has severe asthma and NY has only proven to be harmful. Suburban NY is rainy, overcast and moldy. And the locals are very provincial, competitive and lack manners. We are politically conservative, enjoy the arts and are athletic.

We are seeking relo - which would be better for us - Boulder CO or Boise ID?
Due to obvious health issues and reading past threads on the inversion layer is there any additional commentary on the air quality that is not noted in the State of the Air 2007 report from the American Lung Association?

[jufrbo]

If you are conservative then I would say definately Boise over Boulder. Plus it is considerably cheaper to get a house. But dry air is bad for asthma, no?

[Anchorless]

Arts: Boulder, by a large margin
Proximity to a large city: Boulder, by a large margin
Air Quality: Boulder, by a large margin
Your politics: Boise, by a large margin
Cost of living: Boise, by a decent margin
Quality of life: Boise, by a decent margin (in my opinion)

[micrguy]

When our family was checking out Boise before we moved here, we heard this multiple times from different people that "Boise is Boulder without the granola". Boise has many active people that are into outdoor sports, lots of bike shops and there are even 3 locally owned running stores. I went trail running on Saturday morning and even though it was cold and spitting snow on the foothills, there were quite a few people out hiking, cycling and running.

[idahomama]

I have lived in both cities, and of course neither is perfect.

In regards to arts, live music, and restaurants.... Boulder wins, by a large spread

In regard to your conservative political views.. you may be much happier in Boise

Outdoor activities... Both are great, the Front Range does have so many more people thought that take advantage of the opportunities so you are more likely to see more people on trails, etc

Boise is a great city for medical professionals. Since Boise is far removed from any other large cities, there are great opportunity in the general medical field and speciality professions. Boulder is able to pull more from the Denver medical community with greater job opportunity probably in Denver, which would be a long commute.

Boulder is a more thoughtfully planned city, denser central core with more public transportation, more bike lines, and more thoughtful planning for the future.

Weather is not too extremely different, although Boulder doesn't get as many days over 100 as Boise does. Boulder gets more snow, which to me is a positive, and they have a a lot more days of sunshine which is super in the winter.

The cities feel very different. Boise is definitely more suburban and Boulder is more urban. It depends what you prefer. Good luck!

[Syringaloid]

I attended two years of college in Boulder and currently live in Boise.

IMO, both cities are on par with each other as far as the Arts go. Boulder has a more established scene and has nearby Denver which has been influential in Boulders art scene. Boise has a smaller well established scene, but Boise's scene is growing quickly with many galleries, and some areas of the city are slated for artistic districts. There is an emerging Arts & Cultural District in downtown Boise and a lot of public art scattered around. Boise has a large creative population, and I know many artistic people who have moved here from Boulder because they have said Boise is more independent and they prefer the northwestern vibe. There are some great art supply stores in Boise too. I have heard Downtown Boise and the Northend referred to as a Bohemian Arts Village from friends who are in that scene.

Restaurants---Well, let me say this...there area lot of similar sized and larger cities that would be extremely jealous of Boise's restaurant scene. Boulder's is great too.


Boise has a larger downtown area and seems more business and government savvy because it is a state capitol. Both are very pedestrian and bike friendly, full of sidewalk cafes and coffee shops. I think Boise is a lot more urban than Boulder, Boulder seems more suburban to me. 10 or 15 years ago it may have been the other way around.
Boulder has better public transportation.


The outdoors scene is great in both cities. There are more forests and rivers and wilderness near Boise. There is a river, and greenbelt, and huge parks through downtown Boise. There are more ski resorts near Boulder.

Boise has pleasant four season weather, although the summers can get hot in July and August, but the heat is nothing like the Southwest. Temps in Boise during summer are on par with most other larger cities in the mountain west.
If it is 100 degrees in Boise, it's also 100 degrees in Salt Lake, Denver, etc.
Boulder receives a lot more snow whereas the snow in Boise tends to stay up in the mountains.

Both are beautiful cities, very much tied to nature, lots of fit people.

[micrguy]

There seems to be a lot of fit people in Boise, but they don't make you feel bad about it. Boulder seems to attract a lot of "body nazis", you know the type: 5% body fat, eat all natural organic foods, tell you all about the last ultra marathon that they squeezed in between a climbing trip and a 10 day bike race.

[Torrie]

Funny, this comparison seems to come up quite a bit. For more answers if you click on the search button above and type in Boise vs Boulder you will pull up several threads that discuss this topic. Just trying to help out .

I lived in Boulder for a year back in 83/84. I loved it and I would say it's somewhat similar to living in Boise. It's very outdoorsy with lots of hiking trails. I use to spend weekends hiking up the Flat Irons till I could see the Continental Divide, what a sight. People seemed pretty nice there, but what did I know,I was very young. I remember it being quite the college town and there did seem to be a few that were a little out there.

Looking back I would say that Boulder might be a bit more yuppy than Boise. It definitely is more expensive than Boise. In fact when I graduated from college in 94, I considered moving there permanently, but it was the cost that made me consider other options. The only other downfall of Boulder would be if you don't like snow. We had two feet of snow dumped on us one Thanksgiving. I thought it was great, but for some it might be a bit too much for some.

One other thing to consider, weather will play a big factor in airport travel. Boise airport is a breeze to zip in and out of for the most part even in the winter-rarely are there issues. Denver on the other hand will be anything, but easy.

When you live in Boise you have quick access to several cities such as PDX, SEA, GEG, LAS, SLC, RNO, just to name a few, so for me that has always been very appealing.

I live in Boise now and just love it.

[honeymooner]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!!

Thank you so much for letting us know that the comparison may often be made between both Boise and Boulder!! We had no idea and we will search past threads to follow through.

The arts are very important. I used to dance and miss taking classes. We also enjoy working out and taking yoga classes although we are not "body nazis"! (thanks micrguy, I am glad I am not the only one who rolls their eyes at their obsession, as I too am around many similar ppl). Quite frankly, where we live now is a suburban world wholly dedicated to those who raise families -with not much for single, childless or alternative lifestylers.

The airport info from Torrie was something we overlooked. My husband has flown and driven across the country to get to Denver and remembers the airport and getting huge dumps of snow.

JustinfromBoise asked whether dry air was bad for asthma - without boring you with details - particulate matter in air and poor air quality are triggers for asthma. Dusty dry air in AZ for example would not be good. Neither is the 100% humidity with mold spores in the Hudson Valley. Los Angeles and Las Vegas (for example) suffer with inversion layer from their basin locale, high temps and humidity. For some reason somewhere, I read that Boise was having this situation. There is NO perfect place however, narrowing the scope to include better possibities is ideal.

One thing for sure - no matter what the temp outside - if it is sunny and cloudless - I feel like I am on top of the world!!

[Anchorless]

If arts, air quality, and sunny days are your priorities it's Boulder no question (and not even close).

Boise has a developing art scene, but it's very local, not well attended/supported, and seemingly not very tight-knit. There are some neat projects and galleries going up, but there doesn't seem to be much momentum to the local art establishment.

Our air quality is atrocious. Half of the year (or more) is marked as a poor air quality day by our local air quality rating. This year we just missed the cut for federal intervention. It is indeed a hazard for those with sensitive breathing issues. There are those who may try to spin this year as being extraordinary, but that's not the case at all. The summer was a bit worse than usual because of the size and proximity of the fires, but our winter inversions are fairly consistent. We will always deal with summer fires, and the ever-increasing traffic in the area won't make the situation any better.

It's actually been quite amazing the past few days - we've had really strong winds and its blown the smog away. YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE FOOTHILLS! They look absolutely amazing with the fresh snow, especially at night, lit by the moon. And the clear, starry nights!

It's not usual to see our valley without a brown, murky haze hovering above. And it makes me so, so sad.

Sunshine - Boise has a long stretch of dry, sunny days, starts between mid-May to mid-June (depending), and lasts through late August to mid-September. The springs and falls are fairly dynamic - clear, beautiful days mixed with cloudy or stormy days. But the winter is usually pretty overcast. We don't have that "dump a ton of snow and then the sun shines" phenomenon that the Denver/Boulder area has. And the winter seasonal affect makes all of the difference, I'd say, in apparent sunshine.

---

But as discussed earlier, most other factors Boise probably does have Boulder beat.