ptflashback wrote:Next up on my list Boise, Idaho. I've never sat foot there. But it does meet some of my secondary criteria: college football, great mountain views, a unique city atmosphere. Looks good through the rose-colored glasses.
Anyone have any experience in Boise?
I don't expect a real onslaught of people to Boise, but I can say first hand that I really like it. It is a town with 185,000+ people, a university (smurf turf--Boise State), great medical in the town with two major hospitals covering all those geriatric maladies, good snow skiing 15miles out of town, water skiing 8 miles out of town, a trout river through downtown, a greenbelt paved bike path running 20+ miles from below Lucky Peak Reservoir to Eagle, numerous bike paths, a semi pro hockey team, triple AAA baseball team, major airport south of town right off the freeway, relatively mild climate for a far northern city, relatively cheap housing costs, low crime rate (by California standards), numerous rivers to trout fish very close to Boise--my favorite is 37 miles away, cultural stuff with the Morrison Center and Shakespearan open air theatre putting on productions in the summer, a dinner theatre (Knock em Dead), 3-5 fly shops (fluctuates with the economy--Blue Fly Cafe still runs an internet operation out of this area), more restaurants per capita than most towns this size, a vital downtown area with a Basque block and excellent food there, several live venue clubs that bring in name entertainment as well as a lot of "new" bands. Now the downside for anybody who's liberal--it is a bright red state. Expect it when you come and if the town you settle in doesn't have sidewalks, there's a reason. Folks don't want em so leave them in California.
I grew up in Idaho and spent a lot of time all over the USA including nearly 30 years in California spending twenty six years in the Air Force before I retired. Not being a beach person, the state of Idaho fits us to a tee. Oh, the Brown trout fishing on the O is nice, but I can substitute the river to the West of Boise and double the size of the browns caught. I miss my friends in California when I'm in Idaho, but not the state.
"Should you cast your fly into a branch overhead or into a bush behind you, or miss a fish striking, or lose him,or slip into a hole up to your armpits-keep your temper; above all things don't swear, for he that swears will catch no fish."