Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why would Idaho want a huge major city, with all the dirt, crowding, traffic, drugs, homeless, and crime?
People move to Idaho to get away from all the crowding and all the bad things that come with over-crowding.
If you like living in a big city, you have your choice of many. Do not try to ruin other areas by moving all that crap to them. Keep it to yourself.
The people in Idaho prefer to look at forest, waterfalls, and lakes instead of admiring an "incredible" urban skyline, which just indicates more crowding, worse traffic, more pollution. Yes, humans are capable of building huge tall ugly concrete structures. I don't see much to admire about that.
Last I check, Boise is actually not that small. MSA is now 750k-800k people, which is actually close to places like Little Rock AR.
That's like 2-3x the size of Bozeman...and even before the pandemic bubble growth, Boise MSA has something like 600k people, twice the size of Bozeman (and similar size to MSA like Jackson, MS)
I don't know that we'd want another one of those, it concentrates tourism, traffic, and $$$$ into little pockets. If there were just tons more people, there would be economic issues as it's a isolated and cold region, so there's difficulties with that. And it wouldn't be wild.
I think small cities scattered about vs 1 big one is a much better layout. Having all those grow at a moderate rate sounds like the best possible outcome. You can still fly there and there's basics, but you still get the wild connection that you lose with mega cities. Wyoming has all their cities in the wrong spots though, so they need to fix that - Buffalo should be the bigger city and Casper should be the small town.
Maybe even throw in Idaho I probably wouldn't count Boise as a major metro either way at least the eastern side of the state you could throw in here. I feel like the only major draw to this area is Yellowstone more then anything else. There's no city, with no major hub airport/no sports team/no place with an incredible urban skyline etc. to draw people in to check out the local area. (Perhaps local residents feel it's for the best) but everywhere else there's a hub metro for the region. Otherwise people don't really find their way to this part of the country. In this spot it just feels like something's missing. Imagine if Bozeman, Montana grew to a 3 million metro. Thoughts?
Boise's CSA population is nearly 900,000 and is considered a major mountain west city and the third largest city in the Northwest. (for comparison, Montana's entire population is just over 1 million). The city is the corporate headquarters for 3 Fortune 500 companies, and also has a headquarters for one of the largest private corporations in the world and is also a tech hub. BOI has over two dozen non stop flights around the nation and is a very busy airport that offers easy and convenient connections. Boise also has a growing city skyline with new towers currently under construction. Downtown Boise is touted as one of the most vibrant in the west and is a draw for thousands of people with sporting teams, concerts, diverse dining scene, etc.
Coeur d' Alene has a growing skyline of highrise condos and hotels. 35 miles away is Spokane and the CD'A/Spokane Metro population is around 782,000, so there are highrises in view, if people like it or not.
Idaho is probably doing good considering the Boise CSA area, the Coeur d'Alene/Spokane MSA/CSA and Eastern Idaho has several smaller metro areas along I-15 and proximity to Salt Lake. Most of the interior of Idaho is mountains/forests/wilderness.
So, imo, Idaho doesn't fit the OP's criteria regarding the other states, based on the above.
Billings may be the best shot Montana has for a larger city.
Why would Idaho want a huge major city, with all the dirt, crowding, traffic, drugs, homeless, and crime?
People move to Idaho to get away from all the crowding and all the bad things that come with over-crowding.
If you like living in a big city, you have your choice of many. Do not try to ruin other areas by moving all that crap to them. Keep it to yourself.
The people in Idaho prefer to look at forest, waterfalls, and lakes instead of admiring an "incredible" urban skyline, which just indicates more crowding, worse traffic, more pollution. Yes, humans are capable of building huge tall ugly concrete structures. I don't see much to admire about that.
What if there wasnt a major city and those states kept what makes them so special and different than other states with overpopulated cesspool large cities.
Boise cmsa is certain to pass 1 million fairly soon. 2 million will take many decades but I dunno how many.
The 3 mil plus metros of influence will remain Minneapolis, Denver and perhaps Kansas City.
5 of the 6 biggest metros today (the 5 other than Bismarck) within the defined region have a fair to excellent chance to go to 500k someday but it will take more decades than I have to watch. Get to 500k before any talk of 3 mil is at all realistic.
Telosa is the proposed new super city in the SW. Never considered this region. Almost 2 years since plan announcement. They are working behind scenes but no announcement of site and very little effort at publicity after initial burst. No visible signs of negotiations with national, state and local leaders. Hard to say what comes of it at this point. May have to radically change size and / or timetable.
Why would Idaho want a huge major city, with all the dirt, crowding, traffic, drugs, homeless, and crime?
People move to Idaho to get away from all the crowding and all the bad things that come with over-crowding.
If you like living in a big city, you have your choice of many. Do not try to ruin other areas by moving all that crap to them. Keep it to yourself.
The people in Idaho prefer to look at forest, waterfalls, and lakes instead of admiring an "incredible" urban skyline, which just indicates more crowding, worse traffic, more pollution. Yes, humans are capable of building huge tall ugly concrete structures. I don't see much to admire about that.
Ironically, the kind of "uncrowded" development springing up in these places, aka new subdivisions just thrown up with no planning, is the kind of development that disproportionately destroys nature. Dense cities are actually the best way to limit incursion into natural and/or agricultural lands...
Traffic is a result of auto-dependent development. So is pollution, to an outsized extent. If anything, you should advocate for denser development and strong transit options (buses, bike lanes, etc.) spread across towns/cities in these places instead of the status quo...
I'd bet that people in non-Idaho states also enjoy looking at forests, waterfalls, lakes-- even ones known for big cities/lots of people, like New York State or California. How exactly does that make Idahoans unique? Lmao.
Also, it sounds like you're extrapolating largely from Oregon/the west coast, in regard to the homeless/crime issues. There are plenty of cities that don't have these issues to any significant extent, for whatever reason, despite the fact that they are national issues.
Boise cmsa is certain to pass 1 million fairly soon. 2 million will take many decades but I dunno how many.
The 3 mil plus metros of influence will remain Minneapolis, Denver and perhaps Kansas City.
5 of the 6 biggest metros today (the 5 other than Bismarck) within the defined region have a fair to excellent chance to go to 500k someday but it will take more decades than I have to watch. Get to 500k before any talk of 3 mil is at all realistic.
Telosa is the proposed new super city in the SW. Never considered this region. Almost 2 years since plan announcement. They are working behind scenes but no announcement of site and very little effort at publicity after initial burst. No visible signs of negotiations with national, state and local leaders. Hard to say what comes of it at this point. May have to radically change size and / or timetable.
Minneapolis doesn't really have anything to do with the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana.
Minneapolis and Minnesota in general are among top sources of new Dakota residents according to Census data.
They have some influence in the financial sector and more broadly thru some of the other large corporations. They are heavily involved in Ag buying / processing / selling, ag chemicals and equipment. And in various ways in health care. Distribution in general, including processed food. I assume they get plenty of personal business and pleasure trips from the Great Plains.
Minnesota receives oil from North Dakota (and Canada), refines it and sells it in region or moves it out of region. It is also involved with movement of natural gas. And coal from Wyoming and Montana. And it buys up corn in its role as a leading producer of ethanol.
MN probably sells IT equipment & services into the region.
16 Target stores in region and surely other retail "export" examples.
Probably furnished lumber. Construction, engineering and other business services.
Providing college education. Church organizations. And more.
Last edited by NW Crow; 06-14-2023 at 09:49 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
