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In terms of "feel", the stats above track my personal experiences pretty well. In Raleigh, I've noticed that people tend to assume that others are liberal given no other information (and in Durham even moreso), whereas in Boise, people don't make that assumption due to it being a more politically diverse region.
Lived in both cities so thought I'd update this with my two cents:
Politics
I consider myself moderate. Idaho is very red. Boise is "moderate" in the sense that half of the people in the city are liberal and half are conservative, but it has an overly idealistic "west coast" flavor that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Very polarizing political atmosphere.
NC is moderate. Some of the legislation is passed with bipartisan support, but a lot seems like a power struggle between parties. The Triangle is much more liberal than Boise, and people seem more pragmatic with their political desires here.
Subjective, but I prefer Raleigh.
School district
Both areas have issues with underfunded schools. I might give the edge to Raleigh, which also has much better rated higher ed options.
Scenery
In the winter, the snow-capped mountains of Boise are stunning. In the summer, they are pretty drab as they're covered in dead grass (these aren't very tall for the Mountain West). On the other hand, Raleigh isn't much to look at in the winter, but it's a strikingly green, lush forest in the summer. I'm going to give this one a Tie.
Weather
Both places get very hot in the summer. Boise boasts >100 degree temps frequently in July/August with dry heat. Raleigh is more 80 to 90 degrees with a lot of humidity.
Boise's winters are much colder, 20 to 40 degrees with some snow is typical, whereas a Raleigh winter is more 40 to 60 degrees with no snow to speak of. Raleigh warms up for Spring much faster.
Lastly, Boise has air pollution problems due to fires in the summer and inversions in the winter, whereas Raleigh has lots of pollen which isn't great for people with allergies.
I'm going to go with Raleigh as the air pollution in Boise is really nasty, and I'm a warm weather kind of guy.
Diversity (locals open to minorities, etc)
As a POC, the Triangle is much more minority-friendly due to its demographics. Raleigh and Durham have a relatively high Black population, whereas Cary and Morrisville have a relatively high Asian population.
Boise is very homogeneous, and there are certain establishments in which you will definitely turn heads if you're a POC. Some people here are very ignorant about the POC experience. They usually mean well, though. Raleigh.
Entertainment
The Triangle has a reputation for being a sleepy tech hub without much of a bustling nightlife, which isn't entirely inaccurate, but with its numerous museums, variety of restaurants, plethora of breweries, parks, trails, and lakes, it still has something for everyone. It's much bigger and has more urban area to explore.
Boise feels more "hip" (its small downtown is very lively), and for what it lacks in variety (particularly its passable food scene) it makes up for with its steep foothills, accessible mountain activities, and gorgeous river. Tie, depending on what you're more into.
Strategic location(surrounding cities)
The problem with the West part of the country is that everyone is so isolated from each other. Boise is about 4.5 hours from SLC and 6 hours to Portland, and almost 9 hours to the coast. However, it has fantastic proximity to all sorts of mountains, and it's close to the incredible Sawtooths, Hell's Canyon, Seven Devils, City of Rocks, Bruneau Dunes, etc.
Raleigh is 2 hours from Charlotte, 2 hours to the coast, 3.5 hours from the mountains, 2.5 hours from Richmond, 4 hours from DC, 4.5 hours to Charleston (SC), and a "fairly inexpensive" flight or train ride to NYC.
This one goes to Raleigh for its great proximity to so many places.
Economic future
I'll give this one to Raleigh due to its bright future as a tech hub. Much of Boise's economy revolves around Micron which is in a very volatile business. It's also notoriously difficult to find jobs in Boise in many sectors.
Housing value
As evidenced by Boise's market falling and the Triangle's holding steady, I think you get better value in Raleigh if you can pay the entry free (which is still probably cheaper than Boise's atm). There is a healthy influx of relatively young, well-off people buying houses in Raleigh, and I don't see that changing. Raleigh.
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Overall, I'd recommend Boise to people who want to live in a hip mountain town and don't mind a lack of diversity in people or food, and I'd recommend Raleigh to people who want to live in a warm, progressive tech hub that doesn't have the traffic problems or high costs that most other tech hubs have (and yes, people in Raleigh love to complain about COL and traffic, but it simply does not compare to most other major tech hubs in the U.S.).
I may be the only other person here who has been to both. I worked in Boise for two weeks last September. I live in Raleigh...
Only things you said that I'd disagree with:
Scenery goes to Boise. It is really brown when it's warm but the views are "OMG" status. You can see the mountains all over town, and there are elevated areas of town (including that one area just east of downtown) where you can look down on the city...
It's a ****ing beautiful city, the architecture and landscaping match the natural aesthetic. Certainly when I went to Salt Lake I noticed the Boise/Salt Lake parallels, and Salt Lake is probably the most beautiful city I've seen in my life. Boise was like SLC on a smaller scale...
Also, entertainment isn't truly a tie, this favors Raleigh dramatically...
But I definitely agree with your assessment of race. I'm a black man, in 16 days in Boise I saw 66 black people; I can see 66 black folk getting off the plane and walking into the gate at RDU. It is a stark, noticeable contrast, and I saw even fewer of other minorities except Mexicans, which Boise has a noticeable representation of like most Western cities...
It is an overwhelmingly white city, and you do get stares. For me it felt like, "I haven't seen this black guy here". Topic of race came up in a conversation once and it was clear most people there aren't aware of their own bias, they live in a city they don't really have to be confronted with it...
That said, I enjoyed the city overall. Downtown is small but interesting, and Boise has some cool, interesting neighborhoods...
Raleigh is just a larger, more dynamic city in every way. I certainly can't envision most non-white people choosing Boise if they have equal options between both cities...
Scenery goes to Boise. It is really brown when it's warm but the views are "OMG" status. You can see the mountains all over town, and there are elevated areas of town (including that one area just east of downtown) where you can look down on the city...
It's a ****ing beautiful city, the architecture and landscaping match the natural aesthetic. Certainly when I went to Salt Lake I noticed the Boise/Salt Lake parallels, and Salt Lake is probably the most beautiful city I've seen in my life. Boise was like SLC on a smaller scale...
Yeah, this is probably just me having lived in Idaho for most of my life and being used to it... I don't think Boise is particularly pretty compared to other regions of Idaho, but compared to a lot of flat cities around the country, it's definitely scenic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
Also, entertainment isn't truly a tie, this favors Raleigh dramatically...
I'm factoring in the outdoors here, because the OP didn't really have a section for "Outdoors" besides "Weather" or "Scenery". The Boise river, foothills, and mountains add a good diversity of outdoor stuff to do.
When it comes to indoor activities, it's pretty lacking... but even here, I can see some merits. Their small indie rock scene continues to boom (granted this is probably because it barely shut down for the pandemic) and boasts one of the biggest music festivals by # of featured bands in the country, whereas the Triangle's music scene is struggling. Downtown Boise is much more lively on any given weeknight, whereas Downtown Raleigh and Durham are pretty sleepy unless it's a weekend. Really the weakness of Boise when it comes to entertainment is the utter lack of variety of things to do, which is very much a typical "small city" problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
It is an overwhelmingly white city, and you do get stares. For me it felt like, "I haven't seen this black guy here". Topic of race came up in a conversation once and it was clear most people there aren't aware of their own bias, they live in a city they don't really have to be confronted with it...
Yup, I've heard the same sentiment across the board from people of color there. The Pacific Northwest is the whitest area of the U.S., and Boise is even less racially diverse than Portland or Seattle. Add to that the fact that many Boiseans have a small town mentality, and you are ultimately left with a place that is not nearly as accepting to people of color as other places.
Yup, I've heard the same sentiment across the board from people of color there. The Pacific Northwest is the whitest area of the U.S., and Boise is even less racially diverse than Portland or Seattle. Add to that the fact that many Boiseans have a small town mentality, and you are ultimately left with a place that is not nearly as accepting to people of color as other places.
Right. Though I would suspect Boise is a friendly enough place to minorities but again, just limited exposure to them, compared to other cities. I lived in Denver, which I think is a bit more diverse than Boise and there were definitely a lot of days where I didn't see a Hispanic or black person. =Dnver is very friendly though.
When it comes to indoor activities, it's pretty lacking... but even here, I can see some merits. Their small indie rock scene continues to boom (granted this is probably because it barely shut down for the pandemic) and boasts one of the biggest music festivals by # of featured bands in the country, whereas the Triangle's music scene is struggling. Downtown Boise is much more lively on any given weeknight, whereas Downtown Raleigh and Durham are pretty sleepy unless it's a weekend. Really the weakness of Boise when it comes to entertainment is the utter lack of variety of things to do, which is very much a typical "small city" problem.
Indoor activities and entertainment aren't lacking imo. There is a vibrant live music scene with two new concert halls in downtown which will add even more to the scene. On any given night, there is live jazz, blues, rock, indie, trance being performed at bars, restaurants or coffee houses. The many breweries downtown and around town usually host various activities at night like live comedy, drag king shows, live music. The Boise Contemporary Theatre is such a treasure as are the other theater companies in the city including one of the finest outdoor Shakespeare Festivals in the country. The Morrison Center hosts a myriad of productions including travelling Broadway plays. The fine arts are represented well. New establishments like Western Proper brew pub downtown has a small bowling alley next to the bar. The new Sockeye Brewery in the Northend has an indoor golf course, I still need to check out the new Top Golf in Meridian. There are a few new speakeasy's downtown which are fabulous and so much fun.
Spacebar the arcade bar is a great place to hang. I could ramble on with more. Of course it isn't on the level of a larger city, but for a smaller city, Boise definitely "punches above its weight".
The outdoors scene is what really defines Boise, including what can be experienced in city limits. It's a beautiful city/location, a verdant oasis, adjacent and the basecamp to some of the most scenic mountain scenery in the west.
Right. Though I would suspect Boise is a friendly enough place to minorities but again, just limited exposure to them, compared to other cities. I lived in Denver, which I think is a bit more diverse than Boise and there were definitely a lot of days where I didn't see a Hispanic or black person. =Dnver is very friendly though.
It's a friendly city for sure. Limited exposure is subjective because so many people have moved to Boise from larger more diverse west coast cities.
I mentioned in a previous post about the impressive and growing diverse refugee population in Boise. They have added so much to the city by opening restaurants and shops.
Here are a few of many examples:
This Ethiopian restaurant is delicious and the chef is a semifinalist for a James Beard Award.
It's a friendly city for sure. Limited exposure is subjective because so many people have moved to Boise from larger more diverse west coast cities.
I mentioned in a previous post about the impressive and growing diverse refugee population in Boise. They have added so much to the city by opening restaurants and shops.
Here are a few of many examples:
This Ethiopian restaurant is delicious and the chef is a semifinalist for a James Beard Award.
When it comes to indoor activities, it's pretty lacking... but even here, I can see some merits. Their small indie rock scene continues to boom (granted this is probably because it barely shut down for the pandemic) and boasts one of the biggest music festivals by # of featured bands in the country, whereas the Triangle's music scene is struggling.
Hopscotch had over 120 bands performing pre-pandemic (and hopefully it will get back there as clubs open up once more), the World of Bluegrass routinely draws in over 200,000 people, and Dreamville just broke 100,000 last weekend. And those are just the biggest music festivals in downtown Raleigh.
Of course it isn't on the level of a larger city, but for a smaller city, Boise definitely "punches above its weight".
Yes, and I think this highlights how the comparison between these two cities isn't exactly "fair": the Triangle is much larger than the Boise metro.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
Hopscotch had over 120 bands performing pre-pandemic (and hopefully it will get back there as clubs open up once more), the World of Bluegrass routinely draws in over 200,000 people, and Dreamville just broke 100,000 last weekend. And those are just the biggest music festivals in downtown Raleigh.
I think I poorly stated what I meant to imply... It's the indie music scene in particular of Raleigh that has taken a hit due to the pandemic. I've talked to many people from both the Boise and Raleigh indie music scenes, and from what I understand, Raleigh's is just starting to recover whereas Boise's is thriving. Even so, there is much more to see in Raleigh on any given week due to its size.
No argument that Raleigh's music festivals draw massive crowds, but part of the appeal of Boise's Treefort fest is the 500+ bands that play every year.
I stand by my original post that due to its outdoor recreation (and no "Outdoors" category specified), Boise ties Raleigh for "Entertainment".
Scenery/Weather likely covers most people’s idea of outdoors, but to each their own.
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