Idaho Falls ranked #1 in Idaho of where to Raise Kids! (Boise: crime, hotel)

[Mtn. States Resident]

From BusinessWeek, Idaho Falls was ranked #1 in Idaho for the best place to raise kids

Tacky picture for this honor and I don't necessarily agree with the population of Idaho Falls at 52K, nonetheless, it is a great honor for the City of Idaho Falls to have this recognition.

Nampa and Pocatello were named runners up.

Best Places to Raise Your Kids: 2010: Best Place to Raise Your Kids: Idaho - BusinessWeek

MSR

[cleosmom]

Could they have picked a worse photo op?? It's cool beans though

[wingnut96]

Very cool. Agree on the photo to as it looks like a Pocatello building. Hmmm ok.

[breer23]

Nope, it's the Bonneville Hotel in downtown IF. But geez, couldn't they have gotten a good shot of the greenbelt?

[ejay]

Sweet!! I always knew it was better down south and this just proves it. Now everyone head south!!! LOL

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Could they have picked a worse photo op?? It's cool beans though

Actually, the Post Register and at least one other Idaho publication questioned how in the world did someone "doctor" up an old photo of what use to be the Bonneville hotel, then put some kid in there.

There are many beautiful spots from the Greenbelt, to the River, the Falls, Construction at Ryder Park, SRL, TCOR, Tautphaus park.

For me, what would have been super cool is if they would have gotten (actually taken a picture, not found OLD photographs/postcards) of disabled kids playing at the Idaho Falls Equal Access Playground along with able bodied children around as well. Here are pics: Tautphaus Park new Equal Access Playground
That location and what that says about a community valuing their children would say a great deal more to me!

This little gem might have been a nice link along with many other photos of things kids do in Idaho Falls, including attend school.

Americas Promise Alliance - Highlighting America’s 100 Best Communities for Young People (http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Community-Action/100-Best-Communities/Past-Winners/Bonneville-County-Idaho.aspx - broken link)

Oh well, if the city can win with THAT photo, the city and residents have have a lot going for them

MSR

[FarmerDan]

Well, whaddaya know about that? Pretty cool.

Of course in Idaho, limiting the cities you consider to those bigger than 45,000 people cuts out most of the state. Not really sure why they would do that, especially since their number one consideration was safety. Measured by the crime rate. Usually, the bigger the city, the bigger the crime rate.

[Boisekid]

A little surprised Meridian didn't get the nod as the best place to raise kids. That place is the definition of suburbia!

[boiseguy]

meridian was the runner up along with pocatello

[jufrbo]

I disagree with Meridian being a great place to raise kids. That suburban thing is overrated. Actual childhood might be fine. But I know a lot of people from the area that wound up being pretty screwed up. Yeah, in Boise we smoked herb a lot, dabbled in some psychs and drank like any high school.

But I know people that graduated from Mt. View High, Meridian High, Centenial and Eagle High who were involved with a lot of hard stuff. You know, bad drugs, there's a huge cocaine problem out there, Mt. View in particular with coke. I know several junkies from Meridian High. And know that Eagle has a lot of coke going around as well.

The whole boredom factor plays in, as well as expendable income and detached workaholic parents who work so hard to stay in these upper middle class neighborhood. I just don't buy into the whole great places to raise kids. Hell, the first and pretty much only time I saw/was offered meth was in a large suburban home by people attending Meridian High. I turned down the generous offer thankfully, but amazed about what goes on in these quaint little suburbs.

I don't know much about IF, so the huge LDS population there might factor a little differently from the Meridian crowd. But some of the people I know were raised in right-wing religious type homes, (not LDS, but fundamentalists still) But they still wound up in pretty bad shape.

I'd take my working to lower class upbringing in Boise anytime over the "great place" to raise kids that is Meridian.