Places you would considering living 'if' moving out-of-state (Berkeley: eat, housing market)
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Wait, are you really comparing Jackson Hole (30k metro) to Boise (800k metro)?! Ahahahaha!
Huh? I made no comparison whatsoever in terms of amenities/infrastructure-- I just pointed out that Jackson is geographically cut off/isolated from the rest of the country because it is. Wyoming ranks dead last in population, and only Alaska has a lower population density. Idaho's entire state population is dwarfed by even the Bay Area's (Santa Clara county alone is more populous), so I'm not sure how this is even an argument. I've literally made the drive from the Bay to Boise several times, and once you get past Reno, best of luck to you if you run out of gas or have car trouble because there's just not much in between.
Are you're confusing/conflating geographic isolation with desolation? Oahu and Honolulu are certainly isolated from the mainland given that they're on an island in the middle of the North Pacific, but most people who like living there don't really talk much about it being geographically isolated in a negative way. On the other hand, people who move out there and get "island fever" certainly complain about feeling isolated because you can only drive so far on the island before you run out pavement to cover. I don't think anyone would ever call Oahu desolate given how densely packed in everyone is, but maybe if you find the right patch of land/beach it can 'feel' that way?
In either Boise or Jackson's case, you're literally hundreds of miles from the next biggest metro, which are all medium-sized and nothing on the level that you can travel to within a few hours of Austin (San Antonio/Houston/Dallas) and to a lesser extent Nashville (Atlanta, Louisville, Birmingham, Memphis, etc). I wouldn't call either place desolate or deserted by any means, but acting as if you've got easy access to the rest of the country when you don't seems a little weird to me. You can't even get from Boise to Coeur d'Alene (2nd biggest metro in Idaho) using an Interstate for the whole trip without leaving the state ...
Huh? I made no comparison whatsoever in terms of amenities/infrastructure-- I just pointed out that Jackson is geographically cut off/isolated from the rest of the country because it is. Wyoming ranks dead last in population, and only Alaska has a lower population density. Idaho's entire state population is dwarfed by even the Bay Area's (Santa Clara county alone is more populous), so I'm not sure how this is even an argument. I've literally made the drive from the Bay to Boise several times, and once you get past Reno, best of luck to you if you run out of gas or have car trouble because there's just not much in between.
Are you're confusing/conflating geographic isolation with desolation? Oahu and Honolulu are certainly isolated from the mainland given that they're on an island in the middle of the North Pacific, but most people who like living there don't really talk much about it being geographically isolated in a negative way. On the other hand, people who move out there and get "island fever" certainly complain about feeling isolated because you can only drive so far on the island before you run out pavement to cover. I don't think anyone would ever call Oahu desolate given how densely packed in everyone is, but maybe if you find the right patch of land/beach it can 'feel' that way?
In either Boise or Jackson's case, you're literally hundreds of miles from the next biggest metro, which are all medium-sized and nothing on the level that you can travel to within a few hours of Austin (San Antonio/Houston/Dallas) and to a lesser extent Nashville (Atlanta, Louisville, Birmingham, Memphis, etc). I wouldn't call either place desolate or deserted by any means, but acting as if you've got easy access to the rest of the country when you don't seems a little weird to me. You can't even get from Boise to Coeur d'Alene (2nd biggest metro in Idaho) using an Interstate for the whole trip without leaving the state ...
Then why on earth are you bringing up Jackson? For reference, here's your quote again:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 04kL4nD
I've been to Jackson, WY several times and it's lovely, but it's isolated, too. You may not feel that way, but ask anyone who regularly travels across the country via plane for work (or leisure) and they know exactly what I'm talking about. Enjoy not feeling isolated, when in all practical terms you are. Hey, it's one of the perks of country/rural living. Why deny it?
When you write "you" you're addressing me, correct? Jackson is small town/rural living. I grew up in a rural setting, have nothing against it. But this is a wildly inaccurate characterization of Boise. It's so far off that I wonder if you've actually been here and explored the city.
Indeed, Idaho is relatively sparsely populated, with most of the state's population in the south. I've done the drive from CA to Boise many times. There really is almost nothing between Winnemucca and the Treasure Valley, but that doesn't mean Boise is surrounded on all sides by nothing. There are many smaller cities in the Treasure Valley. If you keep driving east: Mountain Home, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and a bunch of other towns and cities. Relative to the Bay Area they are small, but they form a chain of connected communities throughout the state.
Who cares if there's no in-state Interstate between Boise and CDA?! What a bizarre and arbitrary metric (I'm beginning to think this entire "isolated" thing is completely arbitrary). There are also many places you can't get to in CA via an Interstate. Is Santa Barbara isolated ?
As for access to the rest of the county: I can hop on a plane in Boise and be anywhere on the west coast in under 2 hours and be almost anywhere else in the US in half a day. I dunno, seems pretty darn easy to me. Or I can hop in a car and be in Portland or SLC or Yellowstone in 6 hrs, or the Bay Area or Seattle in 8-10 hrs.
By your definition, Las Vegas is isolated. Same with Minneapolis. I suppose Portland, OR may be as well since the next biggest city is Seattle, hundreds of miles (170) away. It doesn't make sense.
Respectfully, it seems your criteria for "isolated" is really something more like "anything more than a couple of hours from a Megalopolis" (e.g. highlighted areas of this map - interestingly, Boise is listed as a major city in the Cascadia Megalopolis). If that's what it means to you, okay. But this is not the commonly understood meaning of isolated, and it's weirdly confusing.
Last edited by AnythingOutdoors; 02-22-2022 at 09:25 PM..
Then why on earth are you bringing up Jackson? For reference, here's your quote again:
When you write "you" you're addressing me, correct? Jackson is small town/rural living. I grew up in a rural setting, have nothing against it. But this is a wildly inaccurate characterization of Boise. It's so far off that I wonder if you've actually been here and explored the city.
Actually, no. I was responding to a completely different poster which you seem to have missed.
THIS was the post I was responding to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by cleosmom
I'm in southeast Idaho, less than 100 miles to Jackson, WY, bout the same to West Yellowstone, MT and 3 hours to SLC. Not isolated from here, especially since international travel isn't on my radar. Our COL is less than Boise as our population isn't as dense.
Keep your international airport, I'll smile at my blue skies
THIS was my response to THEM, not you...
Quote:
Originally Posted by 04kL4nD
I've been to Jackson, WY several times and it's lovely, but it's isolated, too. You may not feel that way, but ask anyone who regularly travels across the country via plane for work (or leisure) and they know exactly what I'm talking about. Enjoy not feeling isolated, when in all practical terms you are. Hey, it's one of the perks of country/rural living. Why deny it?
I never claimed Boise was rural/country-- I said Jackson, WY was. And it is...
At any rate, you clearly want to die on this weird hill insisting that Boise, Idaho isn't geographically isolated from other major US cities and I'll just let you have the last word since it's so important to you.
Enjoy your 5 hour drives to Salt Lake City, and I'll enjoy being a 12 min BART ride into SF, a 45-60 minute drive from Napa/Sonoma, less than 2 hours to world class diving in Monterey Bay, under 4 hours to Tahoe if I time it right, and about 5.5 to LA
Actually, no. I was responding to a completely different poster which you seem to have missed.
THIS was the post I was responding to:
THIS was my response to THEM, not you...
I never claimed Boise was rural/country-- I said Jackson, WY was. And it is...
At any rate, you clearly want to die on this weird hill insisting that Boise, Idaho isn't geographically isolated from other major US cities and I'll just let you have the last word since it's so important to you.
Enjoy your 5 hour drives to Salt Lake City, and I'll enjoy being a 12 min BART ride into SF, a 45-60 minute drive from Napa/Sonoma, less than 2 hours to world class diving in Monterey Bay, under 4 hours to Tahoe if I time it right, and about 5.5 to LA
Ah, I see where the disconnect happened. Thanks for the clarification.
To each their own. Glad you found your happy place. I grew up there and don't dislike it, but found my slice of paradise here.
Agree to disagree when it comes to isolation and having a convenient airport. I don't think being 5 hours from Salt Lake City or 6 to PDX helps your argument at all, and I certainly wouldn't call the airport's ACCESS decent, unless you only want to stick to places west of the Rockies. One of my brother's biggest gripes is not being able to get back East without either spending a fortune for a connecting flight, or he has to put up with 2-3 connections. I guess if regular travel across the country isn't important, this may not matter, but it's the same huge knock I have on the Bend, OR area, despite it being a lovely place to visit and vacation.
Isolation is a big thing here in the PNW and Bend is a prime example of that. Interestingly, especially to me, it's also one of the fastest growing towns in the PNW with many CA transplants. So, go figure.
I think there are 'degrees' of isolation that are acceptable or even preferred by many for various reasons. For us, Bend would be too isolated even though we enjoy visiting it quite a bit. The same is true with the rugged and gorgeous Oregon coast. It's ~ two hours to the nearest big city in most places.
However, when we lived in Monterey which is ~ 1 hour to San Jose, we never felt isolated at all. And I traveled for work from that little Monterey airport which I ended up loving. It's got to be one of the easiest airports to just roll up to and catch a flight. In fact, it was just the opposite for us. We felt removed from all the big city cr@p while living in the beautiful Monterey Bay right at our doorstep. Then, if we ever needed to catch an international flight, driving to SJ was not a big deal especially compared to all the upsides gained which were huge! After growing up in LA, I was done with impacted metros and all that came with them including traffic, crime, smog, graffiti, crowds, trash/pollution, over development, lack of wide open spaces, paying for parking everywhere, noise, billboards, etc..
There is still a point of feeling too far 'out there' for us. Here in Vancouver, WA, we're an easy 20 minute drive to PDX and yet we live on the boarder of the country and suburbia. So, its removed just enough for us. However, when we visit Bend, the Oregon Coast or mountain towns in Colorado like Aspen, you can see the appeal. Its just not for everyone, obviously. If you were to think about the (near) perfect place to live for you, what would it have? I mean, Seriously? Would it be urban, suburban, country, mountains, coastal or <fill in the blank>? Would you be crammed in with other people (top, bottom, sides) or a little more spread out? If you could gain a much better daily QOL overall, wouldn't it be worth some minor inconveniences on occasion? I think that answer is different for everyone. But it's also important to consider within context of your day to day life and what that actually equates to overall. Then, it helps to make a more realistic assessment of what it might be like living in a place day to day.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 02-26-2022 at 05:53 PM..
Considering moving to Boise, Idaho soon: dislike the extreme leftist culture, slim pickings of desirable women, and COL here.
From one Bosean to a future one, welcome! We moved from CA a couple of years ago. Other than loved ones we left behind, we don't miss it one bit. From our perspective, our quality of life has improved dramatically. Boise isn't perfect, no place is, and there are some pros and cons. One of the downsides, for newcomers, is the extremely competitive housing market. Feel free to Direct Message me if you have questions (for the record, I'm a retired software engineer, not in real estate or anything like that).
Idaho is the hotbed for desirable women? (said nobody ever)
Maybe he likes potato shape women.
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I made no comparison whatsoever in terms of amenities/infrastructure-- I just pointed out that Jackson is geographically cut off/isolated from the rest of the country because it is. Wyoming ranks dead last in population, and only Alaska has a lower population density. Idaho's entire state population is dwarfed by even the Bay Area's (Santa Clara county alone is more populous), so I'm not sure how this is even an argument. I've literally made the drive from the Bay to Boise several times, and once you get past Reno, best of luck to you if you run out of gas or have car trouble because there's just not much in between. 
