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Haven't been to Boise, but I'm sure it wins in outdoor opportunities and probably has lower crime. I'd imagine COL is similar between both. But they are two totally different types of cities and I bet there are very few, if any, people here on C-D that have actually spent a considerable amount of time in both cities.
I have been to both and as stated earlier it is a tough comparison simply because they are in such divergent parts of the country. Also, Boise was a small mountain town for a long time (not unusual in the west) while Columbia was a more established community. This is particularly true of the two Universities. USC has a stately "old south" campus while BSU looks more like the growing Junior college that it once was. Boise seems a bit slower than Columbia but has Boise has done a good job of maintaining that small mountain town charm downtown and in the north end. It's been a while but Columbia seemed to be more business oriented downtown and the partying was in a place called "5 points" which was on the other side of the USC campus from downtown. That may have changed since I was there.
Boise seemed cleaner and nicer than Columbia in the core area and somewhat less urban and industrialized but that is probably just a function of the size and age of the established community in both places.
It's been a while but Columbia seemed to be more business oriented downtown and the partying was in a place called "5 points" which was on the other side of the USC campus from downtown. That may have changed since I was there.
Boise on all counts for me in the OP's list, although weather is tossup. Its subtropic humidity vs desert dryness. Boise's 4 seasons is a plus but I hate the inversion.
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