From NorCal to Boise
September 13, 2005 1:35 PM Subscribe
I'm moving my family from northern California to Boise Idaho soon. I've never lived anywhere else. What should I know?
Response by poster: Culture, weather, etc... anything relevant.
posted by joseppi7 at 2:02 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by joseppi7 at 2:02 PM on September 13, 2005
Bush approval ratings
Idaho: 59%
California: 32%
'Nuff said?
posted by jasper411 at 2:29 PM on September 13, 2005
Idaho: 59%
California: 32%
'Nuff said?
posted by jasper411 at 2:29 PM on September 13, 2005
Boise itself seems relatively Left-leaning compared to the rest of the State. Lots of Californians. Boise is adorable, and when I was there last week it was about 80 during the day, dry as a bone, and lovely. The downtown is surprisingly upscale, lots of boutiques and nice restaurants, and seemed really friendly and laid back. The real estate prices I happened to see were amazing! There was a 3 bedroom house on the water (what water I don't know) for like $275K.
posted by tristeza at 2:33 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by tristeza at 2:33 PM on September 13, 2005
Response by poster: For instance, your car is parked in the garage, but it's sub zero outside and pretty cold in the garage. Do you start it up, pull outside, then run back into the house while it warms up? Or dress really warmly and tough it out?
posted by joseppi7 at 2:34 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by joseppi7 at 2:34 PM on September 13, 2005
joseppi7, where in California are you moving that has sub-zero temps? I'm about 70 miles south of San Francisco and it gets chilly here but nowhere near below freezing.
Weather, culture, society, points of interest are all really dependent on where in Northern California you're actually moving to since Sacramento is very, very different from Santa Cruz but both are in the north.
posted by fenriq at 3:04 PM on September 13, 2005
Weather, culture, society, points of interest are all really dependent on where in Northern California you're actually moving to since Sacramento is very, very different from Santa Cruz but both are in the north.
posted by fenriq at 3:04 PM on September 13, 2005
Fenriq - he's moving to Boise (I still don't get the garage scenario, tho)
posted by tristeza at 3:31 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by tristeza at 3:31 PM on September 13, 2005
Brush up on your German?
posted by Captain_Tenille at 3:35 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by Captain_Tenille at 3:35 PM on September 13, 2005
I hear Boise is like Salt Lake, but, with stronger beer.
posted by trbrts at 3:40 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by trbrts at 3:40 PM on September 13, 2005
Best answer: About 10 yrs ago I moved from SF to Boise, lived there for two years. I HATED IT! Deep anti-intellectual atmosphere. Very parochial. Lots of small-town boosterism. Very poor service sector (i.e., hope nothing breaks and you need it fixed).
Weather is very hot in the summer (though bone dry), cold but not bitter-cold in the winter.
Worst is the air pollution. It's in a valley so in the winter there's an inversion layer that seals all the car exhaust and woodsmoke into the town. In the summer the wildfires drop smoke and ash like snow for months at a time. Really bad.
Did I mention I HATED Boise?
I parked in my driveway. It never gets below zero there (or didn't those two years).
Boise may be "Left-leaning compared to the rest of the State" but that ain't saying much. Prepare to learn Republicanism.
But, there's a great Basque bar called Guernica, and the synagogue was a wonderful refuge. Also a good alternative cinema. Ski resort half an hour above the town which had great cross-country runs. Get a mountain bike. I could roll out of my driveway and be into serious trails in 10 minutes. It's a very bike-friendly place.
I was miserable, but in great shape.
posted by johngumbo at 4:22 PM on September 13, 2005
Weather is very hot in the summer (though bone dry), cold but not bitter-cold in the winter.
Worst is the air pollution. It's in a valley so in the winter there's an inversion layer that seals all the car exhaust and woodsmoke into the town. In the summer the wildfires drop smoke and ash like snow for months at a time. Really bad.
Did I mention I HATED Boise?
I parked in my driveway. It never gets below zero there (or didn't those two years).
Boise may be "Left-leaning compared to the rest of the State" but that ain't saying much. Prepare to learn Republicanism.
But, there's a great Basque bar called Guernica, and the synagogue was a wonderful refuge. Also a good alternative cinema. Ski resort half an hour above the town which had great cross-country runs. Get a mountain bike. I could roll out of my driveway and be into serious trails in 10 minutes. It's a very bike-friendly place.
I was miserable, but in great shape.
posted by johngumbo at 4:22 PM on September 13, 2005
Best answer: Not in Idaho -- but close, over in Montana, in a town of about 60,000. I'd wager that Boise is closer in culture and temperament to my community than it is to whatever you have in NorCal.
It is 100% opposite what I encountered when living in large cities (San Antonio, TX and Mountain View, CA). The people are unbelievably friendly -- and the customer-service in virtually every place I've been here has been wonderful. The sense of community is strong, but not overbearing.
As far as climate -- yeah, we get some sub-zero days, but not enough to make the place an ice-box. And as far as parking in the garage -- probably wise to get a house that has a heated garage (or install such heater yourself). Doesn't have to be blazing hot -- when it's sub-zero here, we keep the garage set to about 55 degrees or so, so as soon as the car starts, it's warms up just like it would in "regular" outside temps.
Good luck -- I hope you enjoy your new community!
posted by davidmsc at 4:44 PM on September 13, 2005
It is 100% opposite what I encountered when living in large cities (San Antonio, TX and Mountain View, CA). The people are unbelievably friendly -- and the customer-service in virtually every place I've been here has been wonderful. The sense of community is strong, but not overbearing.
As far as climate -- yeah, we get some sub-zero days, but not enough to make the place an ice-box. And as far as parking in the garage -- probably wise to get a house that has a heated garage (or install such heater yourself). Doesn't have to be blazing hot -- when it's sub-zero here, we keep the garage set to about 55 degrees or so, so as soon as the car starts, it's warms up just like it would in "regular" outside temps.
Good luck -- I hope you enjoy your new community!
posted by davidmsc at 4:44 PM on September 13, 2005
Best answer: - start reading the local newspapers now, to get a feeling for the political quicksands and general things that the town is worrying about
- keep up as many of the same activities that you enjoy now - perhaps on a smaller scale, but the effort is worth it
- find some kind of community group - there is one in my town for the rejuvenation of the downtown area that sends out invites to local activities, throws culture crawls, pub nights, etc. It's a good way to meet people and get out of the rut of the four obvious things to do around here.
- get outdoors in the winter
- if you get to travel for work while your partner is stuck at home, make sure s/he gets to have a few vacations as well. It may seem like "just work" to go to LA or Seattle, or wherever, but if the partner feels stuck with no outlet in the new city, it'll be bad news.
- take time to take stock. Lower rent/housing/entertaintment prices will likely translate into a bit more disposable income (if you're not changing jobs entirely), so make sure that a few of the creature comforts that you're used to aren't entirely ignored [I went into serious sushi withdrawal living in the south. Even thought it's not great and expensive, I make a point of eating it often so that I don't feel entirely deprived. Sounds silly, but it's the thing that reminds me of home and cities. YSushiMV.]
- keep a better emergency kit in your car - spare tire (checked for leaks and air levels), blanket or two and emergency foil blanket, flares, waterproof matches, flashlights, water, etc. People also carry kitty litter in the winters to help with traction problems; I don't know specifically about the terrain/weather in Boise though.
- even if you're miserable, let the kids have a fighting chance. Don't make your experience be their experience; get them into ice hockey or skating, mountaineering, bouldering, skiing, whatever. Just because you miss the lattes, art house cinema or vineyards or whatever, doesn't mean that the great outdoors and a small town/city has to be a bad time for them too. If they start getting excited about it, you'll get more involved, which is also a good thing. Don't expect to just fall into everything. Make an effort to join one or two clubs or teams.
- if you went to a college that has an active alumni association, check to see if there are any fellow alums in your area. I've done that a few times, and it's surprising (generally) that it can be a fun time. There may also be an alumni event in your area that the connection can tell you about.
- have fun! It's been a rough road for a northerner (Canadian) to get used to the American south, and I don't think I'll end up settling here (knock on wood) but it has given me an incredibly interesting perspective, set of experiences and understanding of this country, in ways that living in an urban, democratic and liberal areas can't. Don't think the transformation will happen overnight, but don't be afraid when it does change you a little.
posted by fionab at 9:33 PM on September 13, 2005
- keep up as many of the same activities that you enjoy now - perhaps on a smaller scale, but the effort is worth it
- find some kind of community group - there is one in my town for the rejuvenation of the downtown area that sends out invites to local activities, throws culture crawls, pub nights, etc. It's a good way to meet people and get out of the rut of the four obvious things to do around here.
- get outdoors in the winter
- if you get to travel for work while your partner is stuck at home, make sure s/he gets to have a few vacations as well. It may seem like "just work" to go to LA or Seattle, or wherever, but if the partner feels stuck with no outlet in the new city, it'll be bad news.
- take time to take stock. Lower rent/housing/entertaintment prices will likely translate into a bit more disposable income (if you're not changing jobs entirely), so make sure that a few of the creature comforts that you're used to aren't entirely ignored [I went into serious sushi withdrawal living in the south. Even thought it's not great and expensive, I make a point of eating it often so that I don't feel entirely deprived. Sounds silly, but it's the thing that reminds me of home and cities. YSushiMV.]
- keep a better emergency kit in your car - spare tire (checked for leaks and air levels), blanket or two and emergency foil blanket, flares, waterproof matches, flashlights, water, etc. People also carry kitty litter in the winters to help with traction problems; I don't know specifically about the terrain/weather in Boise though.
- even if you're miserable, let the kids have a fighting chance. Don't make your experience be their experience; get them into ice hockey or skating, mountaineering, bouldering, skiing, whatever. Just because you miss the lattes, art house cinema or vineyards or whatever, doesn't mean that the great outdoors and a small town/city has to be a bad time for them too. If they start getting excited about it, you'll get more involved, which is also a good thing. Don't expect to just fall into everything. Make an effort to join one or two clubs or teams.
- if you went to a college that has an active alumni association, check to see if there are any fellow alums in your area. I've done that a few times, and it's surprising (generally) that it can be a fun time. There may also be an alumni event in your area that the connection can tell you about.
- have fun! It's been a rough road for a northerner (Canadian) to get used to the American south, and I don't think I'll end up settling here (knock on wood) but it has given me an incredibly interesting perspective, set of experiences and understanding of this country, in ways that living in an urban, democratic and liberal areas can't. Don't think the transformation will happen overnight, but don't be afraid when it does change you a little.
posted by fionab at 9:33 PM on September 13, 2005
I have traveled in Idaho as a California and would like to second johngumbo above. If you want to make friends with the locals (why?) lie about being from California. It is one of the most backwoods, redneck, whiteboy places I have ever been. And I've been to Texas.
posted by slimslowslider at 10:29 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by slimslowslider at 10:29 PM on September 13, 2005
Californian
posted by slimslowslider at 10:30 PM on September 13, 2005
posted by slimslowslider at 10:30 PM on September 13, 2005
Response by poster: Thanks for the great advice. I do love to mountain bike, so I'm looking forward to that and the skiing. I'm going to be living in the hills above the inversion, so that will only affect me during work hours.
I will get Idaho plates asap after moving because there does seem to be some anti California sentiment.
Thank god for the internet, which allows you to quickly find like minded people in a new city.
posted by joseppi7 at 12:04 AM on September 14, 2005
I will get Idaho plates asap after moving because there does seem to be some anti California sentiment.
Thank god for the internet, which allows you to quickly find like minded people in a new city.
posted by joseppi7 at 12:04 AM on September 14, 2005
Make sure you pronounce the town name right. It's "boy-see" not "boy-zee".
posted by pmbuko at 10:24 AM on September 14, 2005
posted by pmbuko at 10:24 AM on September 14, 2005
Best answer: A response from a friend of mine without a MeFi account. His e-mail address is at the bottom:
"I grew up right outside Boise, in Meridian (it used to be ten miles away but it's significantly less now). I moved to Jerome to live with my dad for two years (`00-`02) and then I went to college for a year in Moscow, home of the University of Idaho (go Vandals), then kind of did poorly, then went back to Jerome for a while, and now I'm back up in Moscow again.
Absence, heart, fonder, etc., but I really love Boise. I'm a political science student and I don't like Bush at all and I voted Kerry and I'm more or less a Democrat I guess. Boise's mayor is a Democrat. Most of the state's Democratic representation (in the state legislature--both our Representatives and Senators are Republican tools) is from Boise.
Democrats have an easier time getting elected than a snowball surviving in Hell, but only just. No, it's not that bad; the state's education head is a Democrat, some of the Republicans in the legislature aren't so crazy, and locals are generally pretty nice regardless of party and regardless of your party. (I interned in the Capitol for a couple months for my US Gov't credit in high school.)
Let's see, besides that... Public transportation exists but isn't the best ever. It's tolerable, though. There's a crapload of awesome stuff in downtown Boise, and I love walking around there. Moon's has great milkshakes, the Egyptian is a great old theater that plays first-run and classic films, Flying M is a nice local coffee shop featuring an Artomat[.org], the Co-Op will do decently as a replacement for Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, Eyes of the World is a nice little importer, Record Exchange is a fantastic new and used record store, coffee shops are abundant besides, there's lots of great restaurants for domestic and otherwise food (there's sushi, and fondue, and whatever else), Flying Pie Pizzeria is well-loved by everyone and has great, cheap pizza, Le Cafe de Paris has great pastries and is a great place to practice your French, Boise State University is a good urban college that often has forums and art exhibits and whatever else. Boise Weekly is the local alternative newspaper and it's decent. You can find concert listings in it. Don't pick up Thrive!, it's from Idaho Statesman/Gannett and it sucks. Idaho Statesman isn't the worst newspaper in the world. Big Easy is where most of the midsize concerts occur (Ben Folds, They Might Be
Giants, Decemberists, etc.) and most of the concerts are midsize or smaller. (Oh, besides Flying Pie there's Chicago Connection, which I have a soft spot for... try both.) Meridian has a Krispy Kreme now that supplies a lot of local places with fresh doughnuts, but there's also the restaurant there, so if you need a fix it is available. I don't know too much about the highway (still don't have a driver's license) but rush hours are getting worse with each passing year, there's most always some construction going on, but if you aren't going to Meridian/Nampa/Caldwell very frequently it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Oh, there's a big mall, Boise Towne Square, that has your usual mall things: A&F, Bon/Macy's, See's Candies, Hot Topic,whatever else. Olive Garden is in its parking lot. But don't go to Olive Garden, go to Louie's downtown. Oh, Kulture Klatsch is a nice restaurant if you're vegan/vegetarian/into exotic food. I think the best Chinese place in town is the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant.
It doesn't get sub-zero outside, at least as far as I remember. I don't even remember it dipping into single digits much. I'm in Moscow now, like I said, and it gets single digits here, but in Boise it'll get sub-freezing but that's about the lowest it'll get: around 20, or 15
degrees. Don't be fooled, though, it will be ass-cold between about November to about March. You will curse nature basically every time you go outside. Snow will be pretty until you have to do anything in it. But it doesn't get unbearable, generally. So... if your car isn't very new you might want to start it a few minutes before you need to leave, in the winter. Generally new-ish cars don't have a problem. (Unless you want to start the heater early, which is understandable, if a little bourgeois).
The Boise Art Museum is nice and has rotating and permanent exhibits. The Boise Library (or, as the sign says, Library!) is awesome. They don't have the Snake River Festival like they used to, 'cause it went under, but every year they do Art in the Park where local and regional
and national artists sell stuff, and it's pretty awesome, anyway. Boise gets pretty f-ing cold in the winter and pretty f-ing hot in the summer, but it's not unbearable like Austin, TX or Alaska (respectively)... I mean, don't expect nice California weather but for two months of the year, tops. Get some nice knit socks, a Columbia jacket (or equivalent), a beanie, make sure you have pants. And shorts. And comfortable shirts for the summer. Actually, depending on your tolerance, ... well, I wear flip-flops a lot just because I hate acknowledging that the weather really is that bad. But anyway I was going to say, a collection of just standard hooded sweatshirts would do one fine, in the general case. Oh! I was going to say, that Boise has some great parks. Camel's Back, Julia Davis, Ann Morrison are all nice. One of those... I can't remember which, I always had trouble with JD v. AM... but anyway, you can rent paddleboats and it's way fun. You can also tube down the Snake River in the summer with your buddies and put the keg in another tube. Or whatever. We have a Greenbelt that's just great if you like bicycling, which you purport to. The Foothills, above Boise, are nice for that too.
A nice thing about Boise is that you can fly Southwest to Seattle for like $40 each way or something ridiculous like that. The Boise airport is ridiculously small (compared to any real airport, e.g. San Fran or Oakland or Seattle, much less BWI or LAX or anything) but the rates aren't so bad. You can't get JetBlue prices but it is a decent enough airport that you aren't raped on prices like you would be flying from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Outside Boise, there's Sun Valley, where rich people go skiing. The po' folk go to Bogus Basin, about ... I don't know, thirty miles outside? Fifteen? Something. There's some funny resort thing being built or is built that Bush went to recently. Tamarack, I think. Yeah. The Idaho National Laboratory is where the first nuclear reactor, ever, in the world, was built, that's a couple hours out. There's the Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument & Presaerve, where spacemen got to know terrain like the moon has, and Hell's Canyon, the I think deepest gorge in the US, and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, and Shoshone Falls. None of this stuff really does it for me but I'm not much of an outdoorsy type. At all. Preston, where Napoleon Dynamite is set and was filmed, is maybe three or four hours away. There's also some dunes around. I don't know. Ask somebody else about all that. If you want to go four-wheeling or dirtbiking or shooting, though, there's ample opportunity. Coeur D'Alene, six hours north of Boise, is very pretty, and has a golf course with a floating green. Sandpoint's an hour north of that, and it's even more pretty. Canada's an hour north of that, or so. Spokane is about six hours away, as well (Spokane and Coeur D'Alene are not far from each other). You can drive to Seattle in I think eight hours, and Portland in a little more. Salt Lake City takes... six? eight? hours. All of North Idaho is basically astoundingly gorgeous. All of Southern Idaho is basically unattractive desert, Boise excepted. Yellowstone is east somewhere.
Let's see, what else. Well, lemme remark briefly on public perception of Idaho: potatoes and racism. That's what you'll hear, ad infinitum, if you ever go anywhere (besides the standard "hyuck-hyuck, do you guys have indoor plumbing"). Potatoes are a big crop, but so's soybeans, and corn, and mint, and whatever the hell else. You can buy a truck of potatoes for not much money. Idaho potatoes are very good. Farmer's markets and local produce stands here rock. (There is a farmer's market in Boise. It runs through the summer, on Saturdays, from the morning to the early afternoon. Sorry I can't be more specific. Google it, I guess). On the other point, there's some racists up in the north (around Coeur D'Alene, including a suburb called Post Falls). Rumors of racism are greatly exaggerated. Every year, and I'm not sure if it even happens much anymore, a couple dozen racists get together and parade up there. Their number is dwarfed by the number of protesters and counterparaders. The Aryan Nations' compound was lost in a court battle, and now it's being converted to a human rights museum or something equally delicious in its irony. I've never run into much in the way of racism in Boise, besides the kind of normal racism that is prevalent in a lot of places: that is, there's some people that are frank in not caring for a lot of the local Hispanic population. Ultimately, people in Boise are generally just like everybody else in the nation, with the noted caveats (there's less representation that nationally for minorities). That's one of the qualms I had with Napoleon Dynamite... people in Preston, and Jerome, and Boise dress like everybody else, and we're just as politically
unaware and unactive as everybody else, and generally just as boring. (Actually, Boise has a lot of homosexuals, it so happens. There's a number of gay bars in town, and there's a pride parade, and a Planet Out festival thing.)
I regret that johngumbo and slimslowslider had poor experiences. I don't know where slimslowslider went, but Boise is only as backwoods/redneck as anywhere else I've been (and I've been to Texas, and I've been to Oklahoma). It is, however, whiteboy: most of the population is white. There aren't many black people, there aren't many Asian people, but there's a decent amount of Hispanics in the area. There's also a Basque population, as noted, and there's some nice Basque activities and restaurants and whatever. Re johngumbo, maybe eight to ten years ago Boise was less progressive, and more dinky, but I don't share his thoughts. Maybe it's just because I was born and grew up there. Oh, well. I think most places are like this, insofar as it's what you make of it. There IS fun to be had. (Oh yeah, www.angrypotato.com is a site for small venues/bands/shows... mostly punk and hardcore and thrash or whatever, but. Also, check out www.cominginsecond.com).
So I guess that's mostly what comes to mind. I hope you like Boise. I think there's a lot to like. I don't know what kind of housing you're going for or can afford but the North End is a gorgeous district. The bummer is it's filled with hippies. Doug Martsch, of local indie rock gods Built to Spill, lives there with his wife and kids. Email me if you have any questions: dexter@suffusions.net. Hope this helps."
posted by ddf at 12:01 PM on September 17, 2005 [2 favorites]
"I grew up right outside Boise, in Meridian (it used to be ten miles away but it's significantly less now). I moved to Jerome to live with my dad for two years (`00-`02) and then I went to college for a year in Moscow, home of the University of Idaho (go Vandals), then kind of did poorly, then went back to Jerome for a while, and now I'm back up in Moscow again.
Absence, heart, fonder, etc., but I really love Boise. I'm a political science student and I don't like Bush at all and I voted Kerry and I'm more or less a Democrat I guess. Boise's mayor is a Democrat. Most of the state's Democratic representation (in the state legislature--both our Representatives and Senators are Republican tools) is from Boise.
Democrats have an easier time getting elected than a snowball surviving in Hell, but only just. No, it's not that bad; the state's education head is a Democrat, some of the Republicans in the legislature aren't so crazy, and locals are generally pretty nice regardless of party and regardless of your party. (I interned in the Capitol for a couple months for my US Gov't credit in high school.)
Let's see, besides that... Public transportation exists but isn't the best ever. It's tolerable, though. There's a crapload of awesome stuff in downtown Boise, and I love walking around there. Moon's has great milkshakes, the Egyptian is a great old theater that plays first-run and classic films, Flying M is a nice local coffee shop featuring an Artomat[.org], the Co-Op will do decently as a replacement for Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, Eyes of the World is a nice little importer, Record Exchange is a fantastic new and used record store, coffee shops are abundant besides, there's lots of great restaurants for domestic and otherwise food (there's sushi, and fondue, and whatever else), Flying Pie Pizzeria is well-loved by everyone and has great, cheap pizza, Le Cafe de Paris has great pastries and is a great place to practice your French, Boise State University is a good urban college that often has forums and art exhibits and whatever else. Boise Weekly is the local alternative newspaper and it's decent. You can find concert listings in it. Don't pick up Thrive!, it's from Idaho Statesman/Gannett and it sucks. Idaho Statesman isn't the worst newspaper in the world. Big Easy is where most of the midsize concerts occur (Ben Folds, They Might Be
Giants, Decemberists, etc.) and most of the concerts are midsize or smaller. (Oh, besides Flying Pie there's Chicago Connection, which I have a soft spot for... try both.) Meridian has a Krispy Kreme now that supplies a lot of local places with fresh doughnuts, but there's also the restaurant there, so if you need a fix it is available. I don't know too much about the highway (still don't have a driver's license) but rush hours are getting worse with each passing year, there's most always some construction going on, but if you aren't going to Meridian/Nampa/Caldwell very frequently it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Oh, there's a big mall, Boise Towne Square, that has your usual mall things: A&F, Bon/Macy's, See's Candies, Hot Topic,whatever else. Olive Garden is in its parking lot. But don't go to Olive Garden, go to Louie's downtown. Oh, Kulture Klatsch is a nice restaurant if you're vegan/vegetarian/into exotic food. I think the best Chinese place in town is the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant.
It doesn't get sub-zero outside, at least as far as I remember. I don't even remember it dipping into single digits much. I'm in Moscow now, like I said, and it gets single digits here, but in Boise it'll get sub-freezing but that's about the lowest it'll get: around 20, or 15
degrees. Don't be fooled, though, it will be ass-cold between about November to about March. You will curse nature basically every time you go outside. Snow will be pretty until you have to do anything in it. But it doesn't get unbearable, generally. So... if your car isn't very new you might want to start it a few minutes before you need to leave, in the winter. Generally new-ish cars don't have a problem. (Unless you want to start the heater early, which is understandable, if a little bourgeois).
The Boise Art Museum is nice and has rotating and permanent exhibits. The Boise Library (or, as the sign says, Library!) is awesome. They don't have the Snake River Festival like they used to, 'cause it went under, but every year they do Art in the Park where local and regional
and national artists sell stuff, and it's pretty awesome, anyway. Boise gets pretty f-ing cold in the winter and pretty f-ing hot in the summer, but it's not unbearable like Austin, TX or Alaska (respectively)... I mean, don't expect nice California weather but for two months of the year, tops. Get some nice knit socks, a Columbia jacket (or equivalent), a beanie, make sure you have pants. And shorts. And comfortable shirts for the summer. Actually, depending on your tolerance, ... well, I wear flip-flops a lot just because I hate acknowledging that the weather really is that bad. But anyway I was going to say, a collection of just standard hooded sweatshirts would do one fine, in the general case. Oh! I was going to say, that Boise has some great parks. Camel's Back, Julia Davis, Ann Morrison are all nice. One of those... I can't remember which, I always had trouble with JD v. AM... but anyway, you can rent paddleboats and it's way fun. You can also tube down the Snake River in the summer with your buddies and put the keg in another tube. Or whatever. We have a Greenbelt that's just great if you like bicycling, which you purport to. The Foothills, above Boise, are nice for that too.
A nice thing about Boise is that you can fly Southwest to Seattle for like $40 each way or something ridiculous like that. The Boise airport is ridiculously small (compared to any real airport, e.g. San Fran or Oakland or Seattle, much less BWI or LAX or anything) but the rates aren't so bad. You can't get JetBlue prices but it is a decent enough airport that you aren't raped on prices like you would be flying from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Outside Boise, there's Sun Valley, where rich people go skiing. The po' folk go to Bogus Basin, about ... I don't know, thirty miles outside? Fifteen? Something. There's some funny resort thing being built or is built that Bush went to recently. Tamarack, I think. Yeah. The Idaho National Laboratory is where the first nuclear reactor, ever, in the world, was built, that's a couple hours out. There's the Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument & Presaerve, where spacemen got to know terrain like the moon has, and Hell's Canyon, the I think deepest gorge in the US, and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, and Shoshone Falls. None of this stuff really does it for me but I'm not much of an outdoorsy type. At all. Preston, where Napoleon Dynamite is set and was filmed, is maybe three or four hours away. There's also some dunes around. I don't know. Ask somebody else about all that. If you want to go four-wheeling or dirtbiking or shooting, though, there's ample opportunity. Coeur D'Alene, six hours north of Boise, is very pretty, and has a golf course with a floating green. Sandpoint's an hour north of that, and it's even more pretty. Canada's an hour north of that, or so. Spokane is about six hours away, as well (Spokane and Coeur D'Alene are not far from each other). You can drive to Seattle in I think eight hours, and Portland in a little more. Salt Lake City takes... six? eight? hours. All of North Idaho is basically astoundingly gorgeous. All of Southern Idaho is basically unattractive desert, Boise excepted. Yellowstone is east somewhere.
Let's see, what else. Well, lemme remark briefly on public perception of Idaho: potatoes and racism. That's what you'll hear, ad infinitum, if you ever go anywhere (besides the standard "hyuck-hyuck, do you guys have indoor plumbing"). Potatoes are a big crop, but so's soybeans, and corn, and mint, and whatever the hell else. You can buy a truck of potatoes for not much money. Idaho potatoes are very good. Farmer's markets and local produce stands here rock. (There is a farmer's market in Boise. It runs through the summer, on Saturdays, from the morning to the early afternoon. Sorry I can't be more specific. Google it, I guess). On the other point, there's some racists up in the north (around Coeur D'Alene, including a suburb called Post Falls). Rumors of racism are greatly exaggerated. Every year, and I'm not sure if it even happens much anymore, a couple dozen racists get together and parade up there. Their number is dwarfed by the number of protesters and counterparaders. The Aryan Nations' compound was lost in a court battle, and now it's being converted to a human rights museum or something equally delicious in its irony. I've never run into much in the way of racism in Boise, besides the kind of normal racism that is prevalent in a lot of places: that is, there's some people that are frank in not caring for a lot of the local Hispanic population. Ultimately, people in Boise are generally just like everybody else in the nation, with the noted caveats (there's less representation that nationally for minorities). That's one of the qualms I had with Napoleon Dynamite... people in Preston, and Jerome, and Boise dress like everybody else, and we're just as politically
unaware and unactive as everybody else, and generally just as boring. (Actually, Boise has a lot of homosexuals, it so happens. There's a number of gay bars in town, and there's a pride parade, and a Planet Out festival thing.)
I regret that johngumbo and slimslowslider had poor experiences. I don't know where slimslowslider went, but Boise is only as backwoods/redneck as anywhere else I've been (and I've been to Texas, and I've been to Oklahoma). It is, however, whiteboy: most of the population is white. There aren't many black people, there aren't many Asian people, but there's a decent amount of Hispanics in the area. There's also a Basque population, as noted, and there's some nice Basque activities and restaurants and whatever. Re johngumbo, maybe eight to ten years ago Boise was less progressive, and more dinky, but I don't share his thoughts. Maybe it's just because I was born and grew up there. Oh, well. I think most places are like this, insofar as it's what you make of it. There IS fun to be had. (Oh yeah, www.angrypotato.com is a site for small venues/bands/shows... mostly punk and hardcore and thrash or whatever, but. Also, check out www.cominginsecond.com).
So I guess that's mostly what comes to mind. I hope you like Boise. I think there's a lot to like. I don't know what kind of housing you're going for or can afford but the North End is a gorgeous district. The bummer is it's filled with hippies. Doug Martsch, of local indie rock gods Built to Spill, lives there with his wife and kids. Email me if you have any questions: dexter@suffusions.net. Hope this helps."
posted by ddf at 12:01 PM on September 17, 2005 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Wow. Thanks ddf for taking the time to write such a long, detailed post. I'm printing it out.
posted by joseppi7 at 10:31 PM on September 18, 2005
posted by joseppi7 at 10:31 PM on September 18, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tristeza at 1:57 PM on September 13, 2005