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For all of you contemplating a move to the Boise area I thought I would provide another list of the positive and negative aspects to living here. Although some of the following points have been mentioned before, others have not. This is not to dissuade anyone from relocating here, it is more to provide some additional information to consider, along with the insight from others contributing to this forum.
PRO:
---Low crime rate
---Clean looking downtown area, no urban blight
---No red light cameras!
---Plenty of outdoor activities - Boise river, the greenbelt, and foothills
---Good place for families
---Affordable housing
---More new places are opening up for shopping, dining, and entertainment. A big improvement compared to what was here just 10 years ago.
NOT EXACTLY PRO OR CON - just some observations...
Yes, most people around here are friendly and easy going, but so are many people in Montana or Nebraska. It is one of the things everyone comments on when they are visiting from the large cities on the east or west coast. However, some of the people who live here seem kind of oblivious to the world around them.
Another thing I've noticed is many of the online reviews of restaurants or businesses for this area (mainly on Yelp, but also on a few other websites) tend to be very overrated. I guess the people here just have very different tastes or standards, or are easily impressed by something a notch above mediocre.
CON:
---Low wages, with many jobs paying at or near the minimum wage. As others have said, you'll do better if you have secured employment before relocating here.
---Boise is isolated and a long distance from Portland or Salt Lake City, the closest large cities.
---No Amtrak train service
---Hot summer months, averaging 95-100 degrees. July 2013 had a record day of 110 degrees.
---Doesn't start to get dark until around 9:30PM in the summer due to the Mountain Time Zone. Why isn't Boise in the Pacific Time Zone, since it is located at the far western side of the state. Mountain Time makes more sense for places like Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
---If you're looking to buy a house under $200,000, know that some neighborhoods or subdivisions have a high percentage of non-owner occupied (rental) houses, therefore HIGHER TURNOVER. Now, some renters can be great neighbors, and maintain their property just as well as any home owner, BUT - when they move out who knows what the next tenant will be like?
---Boise is a designated REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AREA, with many more refugees expected to come. There are at least three agencies here dedicated to bringing in and resettling new refugees, and numerous other non-profit organizations providing refugees various types of assistance.
---Boise is a designated REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AREA, with many more refugees expected to come. There are at least three agencies here dedicated to bringing in and resettling new refugees, and numerous other non-profit organizations providing refugees various types of assistance.
Do you know if any other cities or towns in Idaho are a designated refugee resettlement area?
---Boise is isolated and a long distance from Portland or Salt Lake City, the closest large cities.
---Doesn't start to get dark until around 9:30PM in the summer due to the Mountain Time Zone. Why isn't Boise in the Pacific Time Zone, since it is located at the far western side of the state. Mountain Time makes more sense for places like Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
---Boise is a designated REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AREA, with many more refugees expected to come. There are at least three agencies here dedicated to bringing in and resettling new refugees, and numerous other non-profit organizations providing refugees various types of assistance.
---Doesn't start to get dark until around 9:30PM in the summer due to the Mountain Time Zone. Why isn't Boise in the Pacific Time Zone, since it is located at the far western side of the state. Mountain Time makes more sense for places like Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
quote]
The geography of the state and the mountains that cut it in half have a lot to do with it.
For all of you contemplating a move to the Boise area I thought I would provide another list of the positive and negative aspects to living here. Although some of the following points have been mentioned before, others have not. This is not to dissuade anyone from relocating here, it is more to provide some additional information to consider, along with the insight from others contributing to this forum.
PRO:
---Low crime rate
---Clean looking downtown area, no urban blight
---No red light cameras!
---Plenty of outdoor activities - Boise river, the greenbelt, and foothills
---Good place for families
---Affordable housing
---More new places are opening up for shopping, dining, and entertainment. A big improvement compared to what was here just 10 years ago.
NOT EXACTLY PRO OR CON - just some observations...
Yes, most people around here are friendly and easy going, but so are many people in Montana or Nebraska. It is one of the things everyone comments on when they are visiting from the large cities on the east or west coast. However, some of the people who live here seem kind of oblivious to the world around them.
Another thing I've noticed is many of the online reviews of restaurants or businesses for this area (mainly on Yelp, but also on a few other websites) tend to be very overrated. I guess the people here just have very different tastes or standards, or are easily impressed by something a notch above mediocre.
CON:
---Low wages, with many jobs paying at or near the minimum wage. As others have said, you'll do better if you have secured employment before relocating here.
---Boise is isolated and a long distance from Portland or Salt Lake City, the closest large cities.
---No Amtrak train service
---Hot summer months, averaging 95-100 degrees. July 2013 had a record day of 110 degrees.
---Doesn't start to get dark until around 9:30PM in the summer due to the Mountain Time Zone. Why isn't Boise in the Pacific Time Zone, since it is located at the far western side of the state. Mountain Time makes more sense for places like Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
---If you're looking to buy a house under $200,000, know that some neighborhoods or subdivisions have a high percentage of non-owner occupied (rental) houses, therefore HIGHER TURNOVER. Now, some renters can be great neighbors, and maintain their property just as well as any home owner, BUT - when they move out who knows what the next tenant will be like?
---Boise is a designated REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AREA, with many more refugees expected to come. There are at least three agencies here dedicated to bringing in and resettling new refugees, and numerous other non-profit organizations providing refugees various types of assistance.
The long summer days when it gets dark around 10 pm are fabulous, one of the best things about Boise during summer and I bet most in Boise would tend to agree. Also, I consider it a PRO we are as far away from SLC as we are, there's nothing really more to there then here. I used to live in SLC and it is just as "isolated" as Boise is, if you live in SLC it is hours to drive to Boise or Denver or Las Vegas. In fact, I feel SLC is more isolated then Boise because that city isn't as close to Portland and Seattle and the coast as we are in Boise.
Last edited by Syringaloid; 07-16-2014 at 10:18 AM..
I agree that the long summer evenings are a huge pro, not a con at all. I wonder why anyone would call it a con. Also, it gets light at like 5:30 AM in the summer. If we were in the Pacific time zone, that means it would start getting light at 4:30 AM. I'd much rather have the long evenings than mornings that early.
I would also add "low cost of living" to the Pro list.
---Doesn't start to get dark until around 9:30PM in the summer due to the Mountain Time Zone. Why isn't Boise in the Pacific Time Zone, since it is located at the far western side of the state. Mountain Time makes more sense for places like Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
[quote]
I think this is a PRO. I love the light summer evenings!
Late summer evenings are easily a pro, I guess unless you have young kids or you hate freedom.
It's funny to see people try to do pro/con lists. Those are inherently personal and subjective. Moreover, your list isn't even close to exhaustive. Lots more pros and lots more cons I could list.
It's far easier if people were to ask a certain question... eg, "does it get hot in Boise for long" to which we could answer "yes, it stays at or near 100* for many weeks" at which point the OP could then decide for herself whether that would be a con or not.
There are things I dislike here that others like, and vice-versa.
I agree on the late summer sunsets as being a pro. Another side to that is it doesn't get dark quite so early in the dead of winter. If we were PST, it would get dark around 4:00pm in December.
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