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There is spectacular scenery in Idaho, but Boise itself is a little removed from the mountains. With the generally arid climate and shorter growing season, the vegetation is much more sparse than in North Carolina, so I'm not sure on an everyday basis it is the obvious winner for scenery. The Triangle has lushly forested rolling hills with plenty of water and picturesque fall colors, so although not especially remarkable it is very visually pleasant.
I have visited Boise briefly and enjoyed the city, particularly their riverfront park which is a wonderful recreational asset. But the only key category where it has the edge over Raleigh from my perspective is access to winter sports and outdoor wilderness activities. Raleigh (really the Triangle as a whole) is outstanding as an educational hub, a center of technological innovation, has a great arts and entertainment scene, good quality housing that isn't overpriced relative to local incomes, and is culturally diverse where most people should be able to find their niche. I think Boise has a bright future but it just isn't at the same level in terms of what it offers today.
Politics: Raleigh more liberal, tolerant. Very progressive
School district Raleigh
Scenery Boise RDU has beautiful trees.. and rolling hills. No slacker here. But Boise is really cool geographically. WHo sai Boise was ugly??
Weather: Boise for me personally. Raleigh has ideal weather for like 99% of Americans.
Diversity (locals open to minorities, etc): Raleigh. Although Raleigh is just White/Black, it got diverse fast. Boise isnt as lilly white as people think.
Entertainment Raleigh
Strategic location(surrounding cities) Raleigh. Close to Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte, and Virgnia Beach. Not too far from DC and Atlanta.
Economic future: Oh this is tough... maybe Raleigh because of Apple. I really do think Boise is VERY overhyped and knewwjerked. I really think the market will crash there when it does crash.
Housing value: Raleigh. See above, I dont really think Boise is in a biiiig bubble. Raleigh is fairly priced.
Lived in both cities so thought I'd update this with my two cents:
Politics
I consider myself moderate. Idaho is very red. Boise is "moderate" in the sense that half of the people in the city are liberal and half are conservative, but it has an overly idealistic "west coast" flavor that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Very polarizing political atmosphere.
NC is moderate. Some of the legislation is passed with bipartisan support, but a lot seems like a power struggle between parties. The Triangle is much more liberal than Boise, and people seem more pragmatic with their political desires here.
Subjective, but I prefer Raleigh.
School district
Both areas have issues with underfunded schools. I might give the edge to Raleigh, which also has much better rated higher ed options.
Scenery
In the winter, the snow-capped mountains of Boise are stunning. In the summer, they are pretty drab as they're covered in dead grass (these aren't very tall for the Mountain West). On the other hand, Raleigh isn't much to look at in the winter, but it's a strikingly green, lush forest in the summer. I'm going to give this one a Tie.
Weather
Both places get very hot in the summer. Boise boasts >100 degree temps frequently in July/August with dry heat. Raleigh is more 80 to 90 degrees with a lot of humidity.
Boise's winters are much colder, 20 to 40 degrees with some snow is typical, whereas a Raleigh winter is more 40 to 60 degrees with no snow to speak of. Raleigh warms up for Spring much faster.
Lastly, Boise has air pollution problems due to fires in the summer and inversions in the winter, whereas Raleigh has lots of pollen which isn't great for people with allergies.
I'm going to go with Raleigh as the air pollution in Boise is really nasty, and I'm a warm weather kind of guy.
Diversity (locals open to minorities, etc)
As a POC, the Triangle is much more minority-friendly due to its demographics. Raleigh and Durham have a relatively high Black population, whereas Cary and Morrisville have a relatively high Asian population.
Boise is very homogeneous, and there are certain establishments in which you will definitely turn heads if you're a POC. Some people here are very ignorant about the POC experience. They usually mean well, though. Raleigh.
Entertainment
The Triangle has a reputation for being a sleepy tech hub without much of a bustling nightlife, which isn't entirely inaccurate, but with its numerous museums, variety of restaurants, plethora of breweries, parks, trails, and lakes, it still has something for everyone. It's much bigger and has more urban area to explore.
Boise feels more "hip" (its small downtown is very lively), and for what it lacks in variety (particularly its passable food scene) it makes up for with its steep foothills, accessible mountain activities, and gorgeous river. Tie, depending on what you're more into.
Strategic location(surrounding cities)
The problem with the West part of the country is that everyone is so isolated from each other. Boise is about 4.5 hours from SLC and 6 hours to Portland, and almost 9 hours to the coast. However, it has fantastic proximity to all sorts of mountains, and it's close to the incredible Sawtooths, Hell's Canyon, Seven Devils, City of Rocks, Bruneau Dunes, etc.
Raleigh is 2 hours from Charlotte, 2 hours to the coast, 3.5 hours from the mountains, 2.5 hours from Richmond, 4 hours from DC, 4.5 hours to Charleston (SC), and a "fairly inexpensive" flight or train ride to NYC.
This one goes to Raleigh for its great proximity to so many places.
Economic future
I'll give this one to Raleigh due to its bright future as a tech hub. Much of Boise's economy revolves around Micron which is in a very volatile business. It's also notoriously difficult to find jobs in Boise in many sectors.
Housing value
As evidenced by Boise's market falling and the Triangle's holding steady, I think you get better value in Raleigh if you can pay the entry free (which is still probably cheaper than Boise's atm). There is a healthy influx of relatively young, well-off people buying houses in Raleigh, and I don't see that changing. Raleigh.
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Overall, I'd recommend Boise to people who want to live in a hip mountain town and don't mind a lack of diversity in people or food, and I'd recommend Raleigh to people who want to live in a warm, progressive tech hub that doesn't have the traffic problems or high costs that most other tech hubs have (and yes, people in Raleigh love to complain about COL and traffic, but it simply does not compare to most other major tech hubs in the U.S.).
Overall, Boise definitely attracts more “blue state conservatives” than Raleigh, which means that people in Boise are extra conservative and probably fairly “angry” (think inland CA or western NY). Raleigh feels like Washington, DC by comparison, lol.
I’ve never been to Boise, but I have been to Raleigh-Durham and it seems like a great area for families. Nice homes, good COL, great area and resources (Research Triangle), access to colleges and universities (probably translating to good schools), cool local shops/restaurants, medium-size city amenities, and relatively mild year-round weather. Can’t go wrong with Raleigh IMO.
Boise feels pretty blue in core neighborhoods despite being red in the suburbs and elsewhere. The state politics are pretty nuts.
You can walk from Downtown to the foothills pretty easily. People routinely ski after work on weekdays, and especially after school hours. It's not separate from the mountains at all.
There is spectacular scenery in Idaho, but Boise itself is a little removed from the mountains.
Boise sits at the base of the foothills of the mountains and the foothills are brown and kind of barren. If "scenery" were restricted to the actual cities themselves I would say that Raleigh is prettier although Boise has some really scenic neighborhoods like North End. But a lot of it is just kind of plain Jane. However 15 to 30 minutes out of town from Boise is pretty stunning. The Reservoirs and up in the actual mountains are awfully nice.
Are you a minority? If not, I could see why you would find it strange. I've had some pretty conservative friends tell me "Boise isn't really the place to be for minorities." Just what I heard, from actual conservatives. While I agree any city is probably going to be pretty open to other cultures, but don't act like Boise and SF are identical.
Just saw this old post. Time flies. Funny enough, my conservative friends say the same about Raleigh. "gets red when you leave town."
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