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.

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* 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

[ericainohio.livejournal.com]

*shyly raises hand*

I hardly dare to suggest it, but.... wanna come visit me in the Cincinnati area for a tour? I think you'd be very, very surprised at how many of your criteria could be met here. There is a lot of diversity here, which is why it upsets me so much that Cincy has such a bad national reputation - it's largely unfair and undeserved.

We have the stuff of big cities - a world-class orchestra and art museum, a glut of restaurants of all types and farmers markets everywhere (people here LOVE TO EAT!), the usual suspects as far as big-box retail. And we have drag clubs, a major university (as well as several smaller ones), nightlife, religious diversity (the majority is Christian/Catholic and Jewish, with a fair smattering of everything else, including pagan), lots of bookstores (including one very large locally-owned one), and a thriving non-hetero community.

The climate is temperate. It doesn't drop much below 20F for more than a handful of days in the winter, with moderate-to-nonexistent snowfall. We get a big snowfall every couple of years or so. Summers can be steamy, but usually that doesn't start in earnest until mid-July (this week is going to be in the mid-90s and humid. Ugh.) Spring and autumn weather here is an absolute treat. I tell people that spring and autumn in Cincinnati make you forgive it for winter and summer.

The housing is amazingly cheap compared to what you're apparently used to. $200K would fetch you a very decent house for two people, in a nice neighborhood. $300K-$400K would be an *amazing* house here - actually, it would probably be FAR more than you guys would want.

Nearest vet school is Columbus, though. There IS square dancing here (although D and I have not danced for several years now), and a lot of it, but I don't think it's ....ah....what you're used to. I don't know anything about the Challenge square dancing potential, sorry.

Hey, there's a swingers' club right around the corner from my house - how's that for diversity? *chuckle*

Besides, you'd be near me and Cyd. ;-P You'd be here for Stitch & Bitch days!

Anyway, consider yourself invited. Just give me a few hours' notice so I can freshen up the bathrooms and sweep up most of the cat hair. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Stitch & Bitch might make up for summer humidity... well, for me, anyway. An hour to the Dayton air show... might that convince Rob? I doubt it but you never know!

Regardless of where we wind up, I would so love to come visit you for a S&B some day. That would be most excellent. *wistful sigh*