DH is working in Boise two weeks a month until retirement (2 years). We like it here, so far and are thinking of possibly retiring here. DD (single mom with a 10 year old daughter) is thinking about possibly moving here as well. What are the pro's and con's for a family of nevermos.

Pros:
Relatively affordable housing costs. Lots of great scenery and outdoors activities nearby. Not too "mormony," though a bit more than most places outside Utah. Lots of diversity.

Cons:
Damn cold in the winter, quite hot in the summer (interestingly, the mayor of the town says it's "mild all year." Hmph.) A bit "mormony," though not like Rexburg or Provo.

Thanks for the reply. We are living in the valley of the sun aka Arizona and the weather up here is glorious (here right now).

From last month.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1823214

Boise's a nice place to live. Forbes listed it as one of the top places to retire last year. It didn't make the list this time, but that's because Forbes likes to keep us guessing by trotting out names from all over the map.

The weather is milder than southeastern Idaho by several degrees. Winters aren't as harsh (it isn't high in the Rockies.) and it isn't desert country like the other side of the state. It's actually in a fruit belt and a near temperate climate. Hence, there's quite a few vineyards and wineries nearby in Nampa area and closer to Payette.

Housing is not too bad. State tax won't gobble up what's left after bills are paid. It has lots of outdoorsy things to do if you like outdoors, and theater, opera, symphony, shopping galore.

You'd probably like it there. It isn't as busy as Phoenix, or as congested. Certainly not as hot in the summer. Winters have gotten milder overall in Idaho since global warming, like everywhere else.

When I went to university there I was TBM. There is more non-LDS influence there though than there is LDS. The seminary at Boise State closed its doors recently due to lack of interest or activity. That was unthinkable when I went there in the 80's. We had our own singles ward too. Not so much anymore.

The times are a'changin. My relatives that live there are Jack Mormons. And unapologetic about it. Two out of three of them are now retired and have made Boise their retirement home.

The quality of specialty doctors in Boise is not high, nor are there highly rated teaching hospitals in the state, with up to date training and state of the art equipment. Idaho is backward regarding healthcare for the elderly as well.

There are plenty of good doctors, speaking from experience when I lived and worked there. The university doesn't have a medical school, but the area in general is a high tech one. We had sports doctors on campus for the students, and primary care doctors for the student body that were fine. And that was included in our student fees.

Hewlitt Packard, Boise Cascade, Ore-Idaho, Micron, Morrison-Knudson, & JR Simplot (plus what's left of Albertsons,) have headquarters or regional offices there. Boise has the largest concentration of corporate employers in the state. Because of it being a high tech metropolis, quality doctors are drawn there to live and work.

One of my cousins lives in an area on the other side of the state that's much smaller than Boise. He told me though he doesn't know of any Jewish people in his community per se, his surgeons and physicians are Jewish where he lives. And they are tops in their field. So top talent is drawn to places like Idaho, even if it isn't as populated and congested as elsewhere.

My doctors were excellent when I lived there in the 80's. There was a slew to choose from too. It's been a generation ago, but Boise has become more progressive since I moved away, not less. After college I worked for a time there and had a really good health insurance plan so I could go to pretty much any doctor I wanted to. I was able to pick and choose among the best, and specialists.

Southeastern Idaho is more backwards than Boise in terms of state of the art doctors and medical facilities. When my brother had to be airlifted by helicopter from Twin Falls to a top area hospital, it was Boise he was flown to and its specialists.

From there, Salt Lake City is a top choice for the region. Univ of Utah Medical Center draws many from Idaho when they need delicate surgeries, depending on the specialty.

Really not a bad place to live, but it gets cold!!

If you are there at Christmas time, drive up to Baker, Oregon. Not too far. They have horse drawn sleigh rides in the evening. There's a place on main (corner, fogot the name) that has the best flat iron steaks, ever.

Watch out for the Boise Police Dept. Well, not all of them, but some are quite aggressive.

A few years ago, the graduating class of their police academy (or perhaps it was the state police academy - I don't recall exactly which), got into hot water for their 'official motto' that year. It was something like: "We don't treat PTSD, we CAUSE it!" They had it printed on their graduation program.

If it was the State Police Academy, I believe it.

The Idaho State Trooper who wrote me a traffic citation last weekend showed zero mercy. I had just left a cousin's funeral, traveling from out-of-state. And heading to a country cemetery trying to make it before nightfall to place flowers on a deceased ancestor's grave.

He could have let me off with a warning. He was heartless.

When I spoke to a lawyer's office last week inquiring about plea bargaining the ticket down to a lesser offense, the legal secretary told me it's a known speed trap there. So I guess no surprises. A tiny country town with a trigger happy State trooper handing out traffic citations all day. It brings in lots of state revenue. They don't care that's another reason why Idahoans leave Idaho!

So their motto is "they cause PTSD?" And it's us they're supposed to be protecting.

The piece of road was wider, straighter than the interstate is, and straight through driving. It was ten times better than the interstate where the state speed limit is 80 mph. Where I got the ticket the speed signs are maybe 10-20 miles apart (I noticed afterwards, not before.) So you only think it's safe to go interstate speed limit. There's less traffic on that road than the interstate is too. Makes no sense at all why it's 15 mph slower, other than it's designed to bring in more revenue for traffic citations.

I paid it - no use contesting it.

My nevermo friends, who had been life-long Southern Californians, ended up moving to Boise to be near a daughter. They ended up loving it. Coincidentally, the pastor at the New Age-ish church they go to is an exmo.

Likely I would not have chosen the Boise area to live in my younger days but at this point of my life it is great. Not as cold or snowy as Salt Lake in the winter...earlier spring. Terrific sense of community and I have virtually no awareness of Mormonism outside the church building I pass almost daily. Property, in surrounding communities especially, is quite low. Downside from my perspective is a state dominated by Republicans and though I don't have children in school education does not rate very highly with state leadership. More miles of running rivers than any state in the union which is perfect if you like to fish.

Boise State University, absent the LDS influence when I went there of a seminary institute across the street and a singles ward, had no LDS influence on campus. The professors there were/are typical of the liberal mindset you get in most academia today. That's markedly different than any church college and was one of my deciding factors on going there over Ricks or BYU at the time. I didn't want the Mormon indoctrination even as a TBM while in college.

I had all of 2-3 professors who were even remotely LDS. They didn't let their ties to Mormonism influence their teaching or cloud their judgment.

Where I worked, likewise, there was also no real LDS influence to speak of. It was a far cry from working on the other side of the state where I grew up - nearly everyone in southeastern Idaho was or knew someone LDS. Boise is way more diverse than the Morridor.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2016 06:07PM by Amyjo.

Think about it before you do it. If you are planning on entering certain business ventures or civil service, be aware that majority of your bosses or co workers are LDS. Doesn't sound like an issue until it becomes one. Then you will be shunned, backstabbed and humiliated as the majority attempt a campaign of personal destruction for whatever reasons they deem worthy. A rough estimate is that Boise is 60-70 percent LDS and that doesn't include relatives of or jack mormons. If you do not have to depend on a paycheck that requires you to enter their domain here, Boise is a beautiful place. Relatively crime free ( the local keystone constables in the city are a joke) but because of the lack of crime at this point they are not an issue. Nampa is a different story and the violence there keeps the very professional department on their toes. Housing is very affordable and many California residents are fleeing their 900 square foot million dollar homes for a better buy in Boise. For anyone not accustomed to a religion that totally dominates a city, it can be quite a shock. Be careful.

Mormon population in Boise is about 15 percent and likely half to 2/3 of them are inactive or do not identify as LDS. Your estimate of 60% mormons is true for Idaho (whole state) but not Boise.

Global warming? Boise and surrounding areas such as Nampa just had the highest snowfall ever recorded in any winter.Lots of roofs collapsed. Worst winter in over one hundred years.

The other side of Idaho had a sh*tload of snow this winter likewise.

Boise is known for its milder winters overall. So if it got that much that roofs were collapsing, that's a lot of snow.

Demographically, Kenc is closer to the target than the Bishop is.

"After Utah (which is more than 60 percent LDS), Idaho is considered to have the second highest Mormon population. More than 26 percent of the state's religious population affiliates with the LDS religion—although only 15 percent live here in Boise and neighboring metro areas.

But that's not to say that Boise isn't a melting pot of religions. About 43 percent of Boise's population affiliates with a religion of some sort. Of that 43 percent, LDS tops the list, but Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist aren't far behind (6 percent, 3 percent, and 3 percent respectively). Like any city, you'll find more concentrated pockets of religion (or lack of religion) in different areas and neighborhoods, depending on self-perpetuating microcultures and nearby churches, seminaries, and schools."

https://www.tsheets.com/living-in-boise/population-demographics

A good friend of mine recently relocated (about six months ago) from the SF Bay Area to Idaho. She is a neverMo Catholic, as is her husband. The reasons for their move were financial, to have a lower cost of living.

So far they are really enjoying the area, but my friend has already experienced some *extremely* rude behavior from a few Mormons there. The worst instance so far is a guy who came over to pick up his child who'd spent the afternoon at my friend's house at a playdate. My friend did what any normal person would do when she answered the door--"Hi, nice to met you, I'm so-and-so. Really enjoyed having your daughter over," etc. The father utterly ignored her--would not even make eye contact and just stood waiting for his kid to come to the door, then left without a word. Indefendible rudeness if you ask me.

One of their daughters, whose class is majority LDS kids, has also had some trouble being accepted by her classmates, although she is a very outgoing and normally popular little girl. The other daughter has done fine, despite being a bit socially awkward, in a class in which LDS students are not the majority. Of course, that could simply be a coincidence.

I don't believe they regret having moved to Boise; however, I do believe they wished they had not moved into such a heavily LDS neighborhood. I would recommend researching neighborhoods on City-Data, etc.

Someone I know from a different website moved her family to Kuna, Idaho when her children were small, from California.

They didn't last very long in Kuna (a country town not far from Boise.)

Being non-LDS, her children were shunned by their classmates. When her son signed up for the Boy Scouts, it was held at the local Mormon ward meeting house. Where, my friend said they tried to convert her son and would make him swear not to say anything to "mommy or daddy" about it.

The townsfolk were very snobby and clannish she told me, most of them if not all of em were LDS.

They quickly decided to move their family to Nampa, where it was decidedly less Mormon, more friendly and where their children had a fighting chance at a normal childhood.

That came up because my birth son was adopted to a farming family in Kuna. When she heard that, and how snobby his adoptive family was to me, including downright cruel after I found him (well after he was grown up,) is why she explained to me how shunned her whole family had been living there, and why they had to move away.

His [adoptive] family was a large part of that population. It didn't surprise me to learn that, but it was disheartening to get confirmation of their bias.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2017 02:38PM by Amyjo.