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Stockton like a lot of the Central Valley cities has terrible air quality and are somewhat limited in regards to high paying jobs. There's pretty decent possibility though of air quality dramatically improving over the course of this decade given the various measures California's taking to address this and Stockton towards being near the northern limits of the Central Valley brown patch of very poor air quality. I think it's also likely that Stockton becomes quite a bit wealthier partially from overflow from the Bay Area and even Sacramento eventually being enough to establish more employment within Stockton itself which I think is likely given the large infrastructure improvement projects for regional rail that involve Stockton. The port is also likely to keep expanding as trans-Pacific trade keeps increasing. What'd be really nice is if they removed California State Route 4 / Ord J. Lofthus Freeway cutting through Stockton and its interchange taking up a lot of what could be waterfront park, but that's probably not happening.
I think right now Boise is the better option, but I think Stockton has a decent chance of being as good or better by the end of this decade.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 02-15-2022 at 11:34 AM..
I’ve only actually driven through Stockton on the 5 visiting family in Sacramento, but I’ve had many friends over the years that grew up there. From what I gathered from them is they all lived in upper middle class (or affluent) neighborhoods. Not to say much of the area doesn’t have a lot to be desired, but there is gonna be nice areas in a city/metro that size.
One friend in particular had season tickets to the Raiders, A’s, and Warriors growing up. He said it was about an hour to the stadium/arena in Oakland. One of my best friends to this day would go surf mostly in Santa Cruz every chance he got and said it was 1.5-2hrs. But other beaches were closer. Another had a cabin in Tahoe and she would go skiing with her family nearly every weekend during the winter, and spent summers weekends there. She said it was about 2 hours.
If all things were equal, and Stockton and Boise were sister cities in Idaho I’d go with Boise. But Stockton’s location is far better. I feel I’d go stir crazy isolated in Idaho, but that’s just me?
I’ve only actually driven through Stockton on the 5 visiting family in Sacramento, but I’ve had many friends over the years that grew up there. From what I gathered from them is they all lived in upper middle class (or affluent) neighborhoods. Not to say much of the area doesn’t have a lot to be desired, but there is gonna be nice areas in a city/metro that size.
One friend in particular had season tickets to the Raiders, A’s, and Warriors growing up. He said it was about an hour to the stadium/arena in Oakland. One of my best friends to this day would go surf mostly in Santa Cruz every chance he got and said it was 1.5-2hrs. But other beaches were closer. Another had a cabin in Tahoe and she would go skiing with her family nearly every weekend during the winter, and spent summers weekends there. She said it was about 2 hours.
If all things were equal, and Stockton and Boise were sister cities in Idaho I’d go with Boise. But Stockton’s location is far better. I feel I’d go stir crazy isolated in Idaho, but that’s just me?
If you love the outdoors and mountain resort towns, skiing, lakes, whitewater rivers, mountain biking, hiking, etc. then you will not go stir crazy in Idaho. If your idea of fun is how near the next largest city is, most likely you will go stir crazy.
If you love the outdoors and mountain resort towns, skiing, lakes, whitewater rivers, mountain biking, hiking, etc. then you will not go stir crazy in Idaho. If your idea of fun is how near the next largest city is, most likely you will go stir crazy.
Agreed. Isolation is subjective, which is why it’s a worthless metric. You could argue NYC is isolated because because it has few “Natural Amenities”.
If you love the outdoors and mountain resort towns, skiing, lakes, whitewater rivers, mountain biking, hiking, etc. then you will not go stir crazy in Idaho. If your idea of fun is how near the next largest city is, most likely you will go stir crazy.
I do love the mountains, hence why we have a second home in the mountains here. And I do love me some big city amenities. But for me not being near the ocean is a no go. Stockton wouldn’t be my first choice of places to live in, but if I could be in Santa Cruz in 1.5-2hrs I’ll take that spot everyday over something landlocked.
The link below contains some comparative statistics for San Joaquin and Ada counties, which include Stockton and Boise respectively.
The educational attainment numbers are vastly different for the two counties, and explain a great deal of their relative desirability and prospects for the future. Businesses requiring a high level of human capital, or amenities associated with a more prosperous customer base, seldom locate or develop in places like San Joaquin County where a larger share of adults have failed to complete high school vs. earned a bachelor's degree.
Ada County, ID - 95.2% HS Graduates, 38.5% College Graduates
San Joaquin County, CA - 79.3% HS Graduates, 18.8% College Graduates
The two counties also have a huge gap in their mean travel time to work. San Joaquin's is 34.2 minutes while Ada's is 20.7 minutes. Long commutes can work in theory in terms of getting higher compensation while living in a lower cost area, but in practice this often translates into lower life satisfaction, higher stress and worse health outcomes - not to mention the increased transportation expenses.
Of course a metropolitan area of several hundred thousand residents is going to have some desirable neighborhoods. This is true in any part of the US and not much of a selling point for Stockton.
Boise's small, and it's in the middle of nowhere. Winters are dark, chilly, and gloomy with little snow, and summers are exceptionally hot given its northerly latitude (average of 9 days per year above 100 degrees).
Stockton is an armpit that consistently makes the list of most dangerous cities in the US. And the whole "but you can commute to work in Sacramento or the Bay Area" is silly. So you're telling my reward for commuting an hour or two each way to work is a cheap(er) house in a crime-ridden dump? Oh boy! Sign me up!
I wouldn't voluntarily live in either, but Boise gets the slight edge because it's in a prettier area, and it's not a hole.
In almost any other comparison, I'd agree with you.
However, I think some context is needed.
If the context were "Stockton is better than Denver because SAN FRANCISCO is just over an hour drive!", well, yes, that would be a pathetic and embarrassing dodge to the fact that Denver has tons more to offer in the metro.
In this case, we have two similar size metros, and I don't see any specific amenity that Boise has that puts it ahead of Stockton. So I think the fact that Sac and SF are so close is pretty relevant here.
What exactly do I do if I get stir crazy, bored, or lonely in Boise? Its small enough to where I think that happening would be likely for a transplant.
In almost any other comparison, I'd agree with you.
However, I think some context is needed.
If the context were "Stockton is better than Denver because SAN FRANCISCO is just over an hour drive!", well, yes, that would be a pathetic and embarrassing dodge to the fact that Denver has tons more to offer in the metro.
In this case, we have two similar size metros, and I don't see any specific amenity that Boise has that puts it ahead of Stockton. So I think the fact that Sac and SF are so close is pretty relevant here.
What exactly do I do if I get stir crazy, bored, or lonely in Boise? Its small enough to where I think that happening would be likely for a transplant.
Boise is a city made up of a lot of transplants and more keep moving in. Boise punches above its weight with city amenities, as well as being one of the best cities and locations for outdoor lovers. It's not Portland or Seattle, but there's plenty to do. I would think Boise offers more than Stockton because Boise is the big city for hundreds of miles, whereas Stockton is so close to larger cities. Boise is a very active city, so if a person is bored than they are probably a boring person....not directed to you but just a general statement.
Boise is a current "it" city and a state capital while Stocton is sort of a back water town in California, not considered a major city. Its population growth is due to working class people moving there because they can't afford to live in the Bay Area. I might be wrong about this, but I think it's also the largest California metro without a public university. It is one of the least educated metros.
If Stockton's population growth is attributed to economic refugees from more expensive metro areas, than what exactly makes Boise different?
Boise is a city made up of a lot of transplants and more keep moving in. Boise punches above its weight with city amenities, as well as being one of the best cities and locations for outdoor lovers. It's not Portland or Seattle, but there's plenty to do. I would think Boise offers more than Stockton because Boise is the big city for hundreds of miles, whereas Stockton is so close to larger cities. Boise is a very active city, so if a person is bored than they are probably a boring person....not directed to you but just a general statement.
Is Boise "punching above" Richmond, Scottsdale, Norfolk, Salt Lake City, Grand Rapids, or Tacoma?
Those are some of the cities in its population peer group.
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