Boise

[cjsmith]

Step 1 in figuring out what to do with the rest of our lives: figure out where it's going to happen.*

This weekend Rob and I checked out Boise.

General impressions:
- pretty darn white
- pretty darn hot
- surprisingly un-oppressive about how overwhelmingly Christian it is
- surrounding area just as dead and brown in the summer as where we live now
- fun walkable downtown (if ya have feet)
- close to skiing (good if ya have feet)
- lots of kayaking
- good potential for finding a house we like
- not much aviation community (though there's lots for the population size)
- friendly people (except the guy at Piazza di Vino)
- full complement of the same big box stores you can find in larger cities in America
- significant variety of restaurants
- no Challenge square dancing potential ever
- no veterinary school

Several of these traits will be shared by just about every place we consider. Places with perfect climate and comfortable religious diversity don't come cheap; if the point is to ditch the rat race and move to a far less expensive location, we'll have to accept some changes. Given that, Boise's pretty nifty. It has a Pride parade. lkeele, I found an EGYPTIAN restaurant! It's more cosmopolitan than a coast-dweller might guess a city of 185,000 to be.

I don't know if I can handle summer heat of 103F. weather.com claims the average July high to be 89; that is a sobering reminder that Albuquerque (92) and Austin (96) are probably also hotter than they look.

Could I be happy in Boise?

Probably.

Next stop: Albuquerque. Also on the list: Austin, Boulder, maybe Portland if we forget about cheap or sunny.

______________________
* People of my generation and even a bit older change careers more often than they move from one state to another. Therefore, says Penelope Trunk, pick the location first and then pick the career. The location will last longer.

Comments

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Next stop: Albuquerque. Also on the list: Austin, Boulder, maybe Portland...

Interesting list. I live in Ann Arbor, and love it. Not only the feel of the city, but the fact that it's an easy drive to Chicago, Nashville, Toronto, and not a terribly bad drive to the East Coast. I had a friend in Albuquerque, and it was beautiful (if you like mountains) and had yummy Mexican restaurants, but I think I'd get tired of it pretty fast. Visited Boulder back in 1988, and it had the same feel as Ann Arbor -- but I've been told since then that it's gone through "completely yuppified" into "way too commercial" -- plus you have to just get used to your windshield always being cracked because of the gravel they put down in the winter. Plus it's way too far from anywhere else.

Drove through Portland at 2:00 am, and want to go back -- what I could see of it had that same feel I love in Ann Arbor. Stayed a few days in Seattle. If you like music, that's an okay choice -- I think I could learn to be happy there. I've heard good things about Austin too... but...

Is there a reason Ann Arbor, Michigan isn't on your list? Ok, it's not cheap, but I'm actually currently residing the next town over where housing is somewhat more reasonable, but if anyone (other than the border guard) asks, I say I'm from A-squared.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Well, really the main reason we're planning to move is to go someplace cheap. But cheap is relative. Can you get a house on 1/2 acre for less than $400K? If so, it's cheap.

Are the summers hot and sticky?

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Ann Arbor itself is _not_ cheap. But when we were house-hunting 10 years ago, we did look at one place nearby-ish (Chelsea?) where there was a house on 19 acres I think for under $150K. I don't remember the prices on the other non-sub-division houses we looked at, but with one exception I think they were all less than $250K. (We weren't in the market for a mansion.)

Summers? Well, they _can_ be hot. I like things warmer than most, so I have fewer problems with heat. Recently we had a hot/dry spell. Several days in a row over 100 is not normal. We don't get "sticky" the way, say, Florida does.

Weather is hard to predict. We've had 65 degrees on Christmas at least once while I've been here. There was on (only one!) winter where it was -17 (-50 with the wind chill). There have been winters when we didn't get snow until April, and those when it started in October.

And we have _water_ around here. 2 miles closer to a lake and the weather patterns are completely different. My coworker today asked me if we had bad weather on Thursday because someone who was 2 miles away from where she lived had huge hailstones that did $3K damage to their car -- but she didn't notice. I didn't either -- I don't think I've seen hail since I've lived here.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mostly for my own reference later: Ann Arbor average highs/lows

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This list is DEFINITELY not complete yet. Anything someone mentions with a "Hey, I love this place" gets thrown in for consideration. Thanks for the idea!

I love the feel of Portland. I think the amount of cloud cover and rain might get me down, but other than the sunshine factor, it's very much my kind of place. I'm guessing you'd be happy there too, albeit a bit far from the East Coast.