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I don't think Boise feels remotely like a traditional college town. When you're actually on BSU's campus you know it's a college, but that extends no more than a few blocks off campus and certainly not into downtown.
Boise is a very nice and clean smaller city with a good art and music scene, lots of outdoor activities, four generally nice but distinct seasons, and Idaho is your backyard. Boise is very slightly left leaning, Ada County as a whole is pretty much smack on the nose centrist, and Idaho overall is quite conservative.
Portland is really nice but much larger, and the weather stinks. I grew up in Oregon and spent a lot of time in Portland so I get why people like it - it's unique, vibrant and as they proudly say, weird.
Spokane is kind of a dump. It isn't Albuquerque bad, but it isn't very nice.
Any ideas regarding rent in the North End? I'd ideally like a house, but don't want to spend more than $1700 a month if I could help it. I imagine that's not workable?
Thanks for the advice!
I haven't rented in Boise for over 10 years, so I'm probably not the best to offer advice on that front. However, when I moved, I was paying under $650 for a 2 bed 1 bath apartment in the North End. My mom is currently paying about the same for a 2/1 condo in SE. $1700 in Portland will get you a pretty decent place, so I'm pretty positive that $1700 can get you a nice house in Boise's North End.
I have the option to attend a school in Meridian, but have always lived in a relatively big city (Minneapolis) and would prefer to live in Boise if I chose this program.
I like:
Running, working out.
Comics, D&D, pretty much all things nerdy.
Open minded people who don't try to force their views on you.
Green space, parks, trees.
I'm a bit center-left politically, value arts, music (I've played professionally for the past 5 years) and enjoy an inspiring scenic environment.
I don't like:
College town vibes. I'm not a fan of the frat, college dominated vibe. I don't like when all the bars and places to eat are centered around sports. I like a city that values the arts as much if not more than sports, say such as Portland?
That's my biggest thing. If a city feels like a place to host all things regarding its state university and doesn't offer much outside that, it's most likely very much not my thing.
The two other cities that I have options to study in are Spokane and possibly Portland.
I would love some opinions so I could get a better feel about it!
Thanks!
Boise is a "right sized" city for many. It offers quite a bit while not having a lot of big city issues. Obviously the arts community will be smaller or limited in Boise compared to a larger city such as Minneapolis or Boise. But it does exist. I had a crazy aunt move from DC. She was apprehensive about the move and even was a bit condescending towards Boise. However, she came into her own and did fairly well in the Downtown/arts community. I'm not too familiar with the music scene but it seems pretty respectable and there's a now nationally recognized indie music fest in Spring.
The university more or less adds to Boise - it doesn't make Boise. Frankly, as a kid I don't remember hearing much about the Broncos (1990s). However, when football started doing well it was a big deal. I really think this has to do more with hometown pride than actual BSU pride. If that makes sense. Downtown offers a lot of other events that aren't BSU centric. Of the places I've traveled for a city its size I think Boise has one of, if not the best Downtown. It is small, safe, clean, yet vibrant with a tinge of urbanity to it. It is also growing up, literally - right now.
I think Boise can be a college town, but it depends on what you mean by that. Boise feels much more like Eugene and Fort Collins than Moscow, Idaho, or Ames, Iowa, or Lawrence, Kansas, etc. Obviously. The latter are true college towns, while the former are cities with colleges in them that greatly influence the character of the area.
Even Boulder is a bit different than Boise, but I would say that Madison, WI and Boise have some very similar traits. And no one disputes Madison is a college town (or Eugene, for that matter).
So I'd argue that yes, it can feel like a college town if you stay within the University area, downtown, and the North / East ends. If you get out into West or South Boise, or Meridian, Eagle, etc., then no, it doesn't.
As for whether or not you'd like it here, it's hard to say. Generally I think most people similarly situated to yourself would tend to enjoy Portland over Boise, as there is no comparison between the type, quality, and amount of opportunity when it comes to music, art, etc. The politics are obviously far more progressive. And certainly it's far more green there (literally and figuratively).
Boise is a niche town, though. Meaning... there is a lot here lurking under the surface if you don't mind a smaller community with less opportunity and, frankly, less competition for things. You'll find a music community and an art community, and it may be sufficient, or it may not. Musicians have been moving back and forth between Boise and Portland for decades. And I would say things are just easier here. Less hustle required.
While the two cities are very similar, I'd focus on what makes them different and start there. Do you want a more mild climate but with far more cloudy and rainy days (which makes everything so beautifully green), or do you want more dry, sunny, but also colder/snowier and definitely more high desert / rugged mountains?
I like Portland, but I vastly prefer Boise to it, for a lot of reasons. It does stink when most of my favorite bands skip Boise and I have to drive or fly to Portland to see them, though.
When I visit it very much seems like a college town near downtown, and then family friendly suburban communities surrounding.
I got a definite college town vibe when I visited last month. It sound like some students might have been driving around cheering a football victory, or something of that sort, at one point. But still it didn't seem to be exclusively a college town. I'm not at all interested in team sports, but I don't find it that difficult to filter out all the chatter about it, in general. On the two weekend nights I was out a little bit, the downtown seemed less stereotypically college-y than Albuquerque's. It's not dominated by drunken college kids as far as I can tell.
Boise is too large to be a "college town". In addition to sports, BSU adds a lot of cultural and musical events to the city. Campus is on the outskirts of downtown so during home football games there will be a lot of people parking in the garages downtown and catching shuttles to the stadium.
I went to grad school in Eugene and I think it's much more of a college town than Boise. Same goes for Boulder, which is similar in size compared to Eugene. I'd agree that Madison is maybe a little more along the lines of Boise in terms of population, but UW is very different than BSU (I'll be nice and not make specific comparisons) and it has a much larger influence in Madison.
I think the fact that Boise is the state's capital has to be taken into consideration as well, when looking at what kind of a city is. There are a lot of state (and other government employees) working in the area. This provides a core of employed adults in the area, not that there isn't an active private sector as well. I assume that being the state's capital has some advantages in terms of public funding (for infrastructure and so forth) as well.
Boise is too large to be a "college town". In addition to sports, BSU adds a lot of cultural and musical events to the city. Campus is on the outskirts of downtown so during home football games there will be a lot of people parking in the garages downtown and catching shuttles to the stadium.
Is Madison, Wisconsin too large to be a college town?
Madison is a fairly ubiquitous choice in the "best college towns" lists, usually in the top 10.
This list has it at 3, and even includes Pittsburgh, Cambridge (Boston), and Minneapolis as college towns.
I've seen Boise in many of those lists. I'd agree it's not a proper college town, per se, ala Corvalis or Moscow, but it is still a college town if Fort Collins, Madison, and Eugene are.
They point out... no professional sports, making BSU the only game in town, really helps that stature.
Also, Ida... touche on the UW/BSU comparison. Ouch.
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