I'm applying for a federal job that has postings throughout the country. Two possible locations are Salt Lake and Boise. I've pretty much eliminated Salt Lake as a possibility because I think the Mormon culture would drive me crazy. What is Boise like?

There are enough non-Mormons to keep the sanity level pretty good. There are a still a lot of Mormons, but the ratio is manageable. I think the stats are around 25%.

That's about the same as in Salt Lake.

Edit: later on in the thread some folks are estimating that Boise is more like 10-15% Mormon. That would be different than SLC for sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2014 02:03PM by snb.

34% mormon. You can probably assume that about half of those are on the record, but not practicing.

Boise is in what I like to call "The fringes of Zion." It would be tolerable.

I was born there -- went to Boise State. At that time the
city itself was about 1/4 Mormon -- greater Ada County, maybe
something like 1/3 -- the local political officers -- ~1/3.

I used to correspond with the late Ted Chandler who lived
there. He felt it was becoming more LDS, but without the
old fervor of a few decades past.

If you work in an office with 9 others, count on 3 of them
being LDS, and one of them being a real TBM.

UD

Boise is great! Not too mormony, especially if you live in the "North End"

They have one 'temple' that is right at one of the freeway exits, and now they have another one scheduled for Meridian (a contiguous city on Boise's west side). Nevertheless, you can survive there as a non-mo or an ex-mo; there's enough of both to keep the place interesting.

What bothers me more about Boise is the rabid political conservatism there, and especially in the governor's office and state legislature. There are some crazies that are entrenched in the political system in Idaho, and it negatively affects daily life there. For example, if you have children, be careful. The politicians hate public schools and teachers, and do everything they can to undermine the public education system.

+1 on the conservatism re: schools. The Boise school districts aren't quite as bad as S.E. Idaho (Pocatello) where I am from. My mother taught school for many years (one of the few acceptable professions for women in The Morg) and finally retired early because of the B.S. Pay cuts standard rather than raises (even cost of living raises). Required to clean their own classrooms because there is no real custodian. The mentality of the populace as a whole is "A High School degree was good enough for me, it should be good enough for these kids" and "If I don't have kids in school, why should I pay for others' education?" Blah blah blah. Very much a mirror to the LDS view of their members.

My mother had no problem running from that oppression but can't see the same attitude inherent in The Morg. Sad.

Last side note: Mormonism and Education will never go together (they often oppose each other) no matter what the church says. Eventually, I predict that the whole of Moridor will have lower educational rankings than those of places like backwater Alabama.

</rant>

It's my understanding that the Boise School District is an "Independent" school district, and therefore is not as dependent as the other 112 school districts in Idaho on the state legislature for its funding (e.g., it has other revenue streams not available to the average school district). It's also my understanding that the Boise School District has the best teacher salary schedule in the state, and can therefore attract the best teachers (it's funny when the the rabid conservative legislature complains about the quality of teachers in the public schools, and then regularly freezes or reduces funding for teacher salaries, so the best teachers go elsewhere).

Idaho just took over last place in education funding (We're number 51! We're number 51!). Utah is pissed. The politicians in Utah thought they'd have that place forever.

They became great friends with our family at the time, particularly my mother. To be fair, they were a kind and considerate and seemed to be quite moderate in their TBMness. I became very fond of them but this had nothing to do with the church - I'd have liked them anyway. I do believe their kids had either left the church or were inactive. They would talk about their sadness but spoke lovingly of them just the same. I doubt they'd be the shunning type.

They were a very intelligent and lovely couple.

Briggy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2013 09:26AM by brigantia.

I live in Northwest Meridian aka "Little Provo." We moved here out of state about 7 years ago. We are never-mos that have seen this area become more and more Mo every year.

I think since the new Temple is going in it will go get worse out here.

With that said, Boise proper and Boise Schools are the best and much less Mormon. Definitely try to buy in Boise and make sure that it's Boise School District too.

We leave our "Bubble" and go to Boise all the time. It's cool, hip, and not the Mo influence like out here.

I talk with friends in Boise and they can't believe how Meridian is. They talk of LDS friends growing up. I tell them how we are treated and they can't believe.

Boise is awesome! Skiing at Bogus Basin, the outdoors, Saturday Market, Microbreweries, Brewforia, hiking, the greenbelt, etc.

We love here (except for our close minded neighbors).

I lived in Meridian, Idaho through the 1970s, and it was about 33% Mormon. It was all farm land back then. I've kept in touch with my friends there, and they're saying the same thing you have. The Mormons become bolder and more numerous every year. Actually, I lived within walking distance of Capitol high school, and they used to bus us out to Meridian schools.

I loved Boise, and I would live there again given the chance, but I would live in Boise proper.

Ahh . . . you were one of the ones that was bused to Meridian living right next to Capital High? I always thought that would suck :-) Capital is where I attended high school too . . . 1982 grad!

I imagine the type of Fed job effects it too. For example, if you work for the FBI or Marshal's office, most of your coworkers are going to be guys from all over the country. If it is an agency that hires most of its rank and file locally, you'll probably get a good bit of Mormons in your life.

Steer clear of Meridian! Truely sucks there! As stated the North End is awesome, and Hyde Park is truely unique. As stated above, those who think their calling and election is made sure live in Meridian. The weather is very temperate and you are ten minutes away from the desert and ten minutes away from the mountains. The foothills are beautiful and Boise as a whole is really nice. You would like it, but you will run into TBM's, but it depends on where your federal job takes you.

In Boise Mormons are quiet and stay in thier little cliques. I think Boise city is actually only 12 percent Mormon. While meridian is probably 30 percent. But seriously here if u don't seek out Mormons u won't even know they are around. Most are jackmormons anyway...Catholic is the most prevalent religion in boise..that's a fact.

and half those aren't active.

Boise city limits is less than 10%. But the metro Boise area is around 10 - 15%

Boise has some Mormons but not much Mormon influence - I have lived here 30 years - If you go outside of town (Meridian, Eagle, Start etc) you will find a higher concentration and marginally more influence but nothing like Utah. With my wife in the church I gnerally lead a NOMish life which is pretty easy in the Boise area - not sure i could split the divide in Utah -

Boise High school has an enrollment of about 1264 students. (10-12 grade) Each year they graduate about 30 seminary students. (I'm just eyeballing that number...I've been to four of those ceremonies) So the ratio there is pretty small. Timberline ( also East Boise) seems to have a higher concentration. Then as you get further west, the ratio gets bigger.

Boise city even recently passed a non-discrimination ordinance for housing and employment. The rest of the state legislature is full of blathering, arrogant, conservative white men and women. Not much good there.

East And North Boise are about the only districts that elect democrats to the state legislature. Everyone else votes for the guy/gal from their stake who decides to run for office.

I live in Boise, and there are many more people who are not mormon then there are. Boise happens to be pretty liberal, well as liberal as it gets in Idaho and Utah. I have lived here a full year, and I very rarely have to associate with a mormon.

The one BIG thing that has kept me from moving to Boise is the burning question of: "How Mormon is this city?" At times, it seems as if the mormons are as much a group to be avoided & despised as are radical muslims, even if mormons don't necessarily terrorize people with gun violence. They do, however, "terrorize" people with their self-righteousness, arrogance, and superiority complex. It appears that their whole "schtick" or modus operandi is to shame and/or to intimidate, as well as SCORN those who criticize and/or reject their religious beliefs. To say that mormons are zealots is definitely an understatement, otherwise, why would people try to avoid them like the plague!!!

CAN YOU TELL THAT I AM not A "FAN" OF MORMONS, a.k.a.: morons.

I lived in Boise from 1979 -1981, when I went to Boise State U. So conservative and so mormon back then that I was gone within a week of graduating from BSU. Never looked back. Back then, the mormon culture controlled the society ..... many "jack" mormons, that is mormons who belong, tithe their 10%, and pretty much still smoked and drank (against mormom "rules" back then), but belonged as it was a required membership for entreprenuers back then to get business. Mormons take care of mormons .... more important than the actual quality of product/service that the businessmen provided.

Joe Pocatello

Don, that reminds me of an experience I had many years ago as a child.

We were driving on the highway between American Falls and Pocatello when our car overheated. We tried to flag someone down to help us, and most cars did slow down as if they were going to stop, but when they got close they sped up and passed on by.

Finally a state trooper stopped, and when we mentioned all of the cars that had passed by, he said matter-of-factly, "It's your 1/A (Ada County) plates."

I live in Boise and have for the past 7 years. Boise isn't bad, actually fairly liberal (as Idaho goes.) Meridian and Nampa are fairly Mormon. Boy Scouts are heavily controlled by the morg here. The biggest issue with Idaho is the rabid conservatism, to the point of the rest of the nation thinking we are wacko. When I moved from Seattle, that was the biggest change.

The good things are the outdoors here, the Green Belt and Boise River.

The Bar Gernika;

http://www.bargernika.com/

That alone rates Boise as alright in my book.

I have family there and they say that it's so Mormon that nobody uses the temple.

Yes, SLC is in Utah and the Church is there, but it's also a large city with a lot to do. Boise is in Idaho, where it is colder and more remote. SLC itself is twice the size of Boise, and so is its metro area.

You would find a large exmo community in SLC and the voters there are relatively liberal. Boise is very conservative, Mormon or not.

Just to clarify some facts comparing SLC to Boise:

1) Boise population: ~205k. SLC population: ~191k. Technically, Boise is a larger city. SLC metro area is a much larger population, but still, the Boise metro area (called Treasure Valley) has about 600k.

2) regarding the assertion that SLC's weather is better than Boise's: climate data shows the two are nearly identical (average high, average low). The one significant difference is that SLC gets way more snow than Boise. Although Boise is further north than SLC, it is significantly lower in elevation (around 2500 feet).

Perhaps the misconception people in Utah have about Boise is that it is in Idaho and their perspective of Idaho corresponds to eastern Idaho. Western Idaho is dramatically different than eastern Idaho. The eastern side of the state is essentially a northern extension of Utah and is extremely "mormony." The western side of the state is not so much. I lived on the east coast for many years and being in western Idaho is tolerable regarding not having to deal with too many Mormons.

I was in north west Meridian for a while. Any estimate above 30% is too high, IMHO. My old ward was an area of about 20% Mormon (I literally counted the homes in the ward boundaries on google maps and compared that with the number of households (active and inactive) in our ward directory). I think Boise would be much less than that.

The commentary on political opinions is accurate. Idahoans are crazy-conservative. That being said, so are Utahns...so I think politics between the two states are about identical too.

To be honest, although I love the Boise area, I have a harder time dealing with the political attitudes than the small number of Mormons.

While the SLC metro area is bigger and has more to do from an urban or culture perspective, Boise is big enough to offer some of those things as well.

I live in Nampa right on the border with Meridian. The only awareness I have of Mormons is when I pass the Mormon church building nearby. Mormons do not dominate the culture here. Conservatism might but that isn't overtly Mormon.

I live in South Meridian, at least 40% and it makes life pretty tough.

Live in east boise or in the north end, more like 5% Mormon. Life is great there, much better than anything in the west end of the valley.

I think 10-15% Mormon would be a high enough concentration to make life Hell. I think they're 1% where I live (active and inactives combined) and that's enough to be irritating. My vote: Stay the hell away unless you're desperate to feed your family.