Place influences the way we read and the way we write. Part of the delight of blogging is traveling around the virtual world, gathering an insider’s view of what makes different places tick. I realized recently that I often dwell on the negative aspects of my location. It’s a bit like looking in the mirror and seeing only your wrinkles, zits, or proboscis. In this post, I will attempt to paint a more balanced picture of my locale.
Boise rests on an ancient reclaimed floodplain. Before three damns tamed it, the Boise River ambled over the valley, distributing fine grains of sand, silt, and clay to create an oasis of fertility in the midst of dry sage scrub that fingers off to next range of mountains.
Historically, the Boise River hosted indigenous people who came to hunt and to soak in thermal mineral springs that bubble up from basalt fissures near the river. Later, European fur trappers mined the beaver that flourished in the river and its tributaries. According to legend, the town owes its name to French trappers who referred to the tree and willow rimmed river that runs through the valley as La rivière boisée (The River of Trees). After the beaver were trapped out, waves of starry-eyed miners arrived. Like a horde of super ants, the miners humped into the hills north of the valley and corralled the force of the upstream river to blast hillsides apart in search of gold and silver. Farmers cashed in on the miners who were too preoccupied and too crowded for space to grow their own food. On the heels of the gold rush came wagons loads of dreams headed for the Eden known as Oregon. Stopping to replenish spirit and supplies near the Boise River, some weary emigrants decided they had found their Eden right here.
Aside from an occasional wind storm, Boise is miraculously free of weather extremes or natural disasters. Geological activity sometimes shakes and shudders the ground nearby, but Boise itself has not suffered damage from earthquakes since I’ve lived here. One very hot, dry summer we lost several fancy foothills homes to a voracious grass fire. Most spring flooding is controlled by dams. This a damned pleasant place to live with average year-round temperatures ranging from 22° – 90°F (-5.5° -32.2° C).
Boise, the state capital is the largest city in the state of Idaho. The 2010 census recorded 205,000 people. Small towns that historically huddled near the railroad tracks have been nearly subsumed by the Treasure Valley, driving the larger metropolitan population to over 616,000 people.
When I first arrived in the late 1970’s, Boise was smaller, plainer, and paler. The population was around 90,000; I could have counted the African American families on my two hands. Quite a few Hispanic families were linked to the farming economy. Perhaps the largest ethnic group was Asian—thanks to the importation of Chinese and Japanese laborers who built the transcontinental railroad in the 1860’s—or Basques who had emigrated from the old country to find work as sheepherders in southern Idaho.
In 1976, bland Chinese American fare was the only Asian cuisine available. Near where I currently live was the first Mexican restaurant. One small Basque restaurant had just opened. All other dining centered around Americanized Italian or some version of steak and seafood—particularly strange since Boise is 500 miles from the nearest sea. The explosive growth of Boise during the past 30 years has been bad and good.
The Bad
- Valuable farm land disappeared under a jungle of pavement, non-native grasses, trees, bushes, and too many houses.
- Old farm roads, never intended to carry the daily commute, became plaque-filled arteries threatening a stroke.
- Because land seems infinite in the west, people spread their wings and built homes as far away from each other as possible, meaning that everyone needs a car.
- The rapid expansion of the city limits outpaced establishment of an effective public transportation system.
- A blanket of cold air that lies over the valley during the winter months traps auto emissions coupled with particulate emissions to produce depressing and unhealthy inversions.
The Good
- Along with the influx of people from both coasts, came new manufacturing, mostly centered around the tech industry.
- The tech industry lured foreign labor to our valley, opening the door to exciting new cuisines and cultural events.
- The throbbing economy of the 1990’s marked Boise as one of the premiere locations in the US for refugee resettlement. The restaurant scene blossomed with various types of Asian, Middle Eastern, and central European cuisine. YUM!
- What was once a white-bread enclave of Christian, Catholic, and Mormon faiths was forced to remove the blinders and recognize a variety of imported religions and cultures.
- Boise State University, born in 1932 as a junior college, grew academically and sprinted onto the national college football scene with the Champion BSU Broncos playing on the only blue turf in the nation. In addition, a handful of community colleges and private universities sprang up to feed the growing need for an educated work force.
- There are now more cultural events in the valley than I have the time, the money, or the energy to take advantage of.
With the river running through the center of town, the mountains to the north, and a sage desert stretching to the south, Boise is a unique mixture of culture, sports, recreation, muscle, and intellect. When the fishing is good, business people trade loafers for waders, grab their fishing gear, and head outdoors for a peaceful hour of noontime fly fishing. Come April, skiers hustle up the mountain early Saturday morning to ski for a few hours, then race back down the mountain for a stroll around the golf course or to hop aboard road bikes for an afternoon spin.
Summers are an endless reel of water sports, mountain biking and road cycling, hiking, running, or horseback riding trails in the foothills, outdoor concerts and theater, and endless gardening or farming.
It has been interesting to watch my little community work through its growing pains and garner media attention as one of the best communities to live, to retire, or to start a small business. Aside from political conservatism that makes me want to flee the state each post-election Wednesday, I love living here. I feel like my town and I have grown up together and aged rather well.
All images not otherwise attributed are my own feeble attempts.
Sandra Parsons said:
Sounds like a great place to live. I like the affection with which you describe “your” town with all it’s good and bad sides.
The only thing that would deter me from moving there is the fact that temperatures in winter drop below 0° C. I’m not a fan of the cold as you might have gathered.
I suppose, in the end everyone has to decide what the dealbreakers are for her/him when it comes to quality of life. For the time being I can still put up with living in the UK 😉
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rangewriter said:
Yes Sandra, I think where we grew up has a lot of bearing on what we expect to put up with. I grew up at a much higher elevation [see: https://rangewriter.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/revisiting-wyoming/%5D with horrendous winds and consistently colder temperatures. Therefore, I feel comfortable with cold weather but anything above 32C worries me. Funny, my mother was born in London and she had no kind words for the weather there. She remembered it as cold, damp, and dark. But she was a small child when she left and the country had been ravaged by war. Perhaps she never gave it a proper chance.
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Val said:
There are no kind words for the weather in London! 😉
Though that wasn’t what made me leave there.
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norell208 said:
Having moved here about 10 years before you I can concur. I came here sight right after college, Being from Colorado, I was at first disappointed in the scenery. The mountains couldn’t compare to the Colorado Rockies. Also I wasn’t an outdoor sports person. But I was involved in the symphony from the day I moved here, and symphony, ballet, and opera, have improved so much over the decades. Seems to me there is something here for every one. I agree that the gray winters due to the inversions are a negative part about living here, but at least we don’t have much snow in town, and it doesn’t get extremely cold.
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rangewriter said:
Funny about your first impression. My introduction to Idaho was Mt. Home, the most misnamed town in America. I was married, at the time, to and Air Force guy and he warned me before I arrived that the name didn’t fit the place. Still, I was disheartened and depressed by those bleak looking hills. Even Boise didn’t appear beautiful to me at first. But after you’ve lived here long enough to watch the sun finger those hills before slipping off the horizon, the place takes on its own unique beauty.
Its also interesting to hear from you, an insider, about the cultural improvements. One of the reasons my marriage didn’t work is that hubby dear asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him, an evening in Boise and a night at the Philharmonic. I got underwear instead.
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Nel said:
This post is both informative and enjoyable, RW. I love how you depict the good and the bad equally. I may have to think about that inversion phenomenon you’re talking about before visiting. Otherwise, I think you’re right to say that I’m going to like Boise. I read in a magazine (this was way before I started blogging) that your place is one of the most livable cities in the US. The article cited economic stability and educational institutions as strong points.
Thank you for sharing your place in the world with us. 🙂
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rangewriter said:
Nel, it amazes me that you’d even heard of Boise prior to stumbling across my blog. But, this town has had its fair share of press in recent years. Funny, we who are already here, display an odd schizophrenia when these articles come out. On the one hand, we’re proud. On the other hand we shudder to think a new wave of people will arrive to further clog up our streets. But when I’m stuck in traffic (rare because I live near the heart of things and bike as much as possible) I remind myself of how much more culture and diversity all these people have brought with them.
So…should you decide to up and vacation in Idaho…you know who to call! 🙂
BTW: We have good and bad years for inversions. Last year I think we may have experienced only one day of it. Several years ago it seemed to go on for a month. It may have to do with La Nina, but I’m not sure.
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Terri S. Erdman said:
Flew into your neck of the woods many times years ago when my home was SLC. Uniquely beautiful Idaho is and her people. Always love reading your posts Linda!!!
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rangewriter said:
Thanks so much for letting me know you’re here. Too bad you are so far away.
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Snoring Dog Studio said:
You’re a marvelous walking, writing Chamber of Commerce! Being still a recent transplant, I continue to try to adapt and adjust. I did no research about Boise before moving here; I followed my sister who chose Boise as her place of retirement. Would I have moved here had I known that it’s a bastion of Republican and libertarian voters? I doubt it. Being in public health and working in an extremely Red state is at times awfully painful. I’ve quit reading comments in the Idaho Statesman because they represent the worst of the worst narrow-minded views.
But the weather is fantastic. The seasons are wonderful passages each year. The hiking is marvelous. And, generally, the people are friendly. There’s quite a creative spirit to Boise. I see it getting better in time. For now, I call it a temporary home.
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rangewriter said:
SDS, it helps to have come from a place where the politics were no better…maybe worse than they are here. Let’s face it, I’ve never lived anywhere that my voted counted in a presidential election, thanks to the Electoral College. Let’s not go there…
At least there are pockets of like-minded people here. I’ve also quite reading comments or even Letters to the Editor in the Statesman. It’s depressing to see the lack of reasoning, lack of historical perspective, and programmed dogma of commenters. Shockingly, I am finding some of that same knee-jerk reaction in what I thought was a more highly esteemed environment…High Country News online comments. It makes me wonder if Americans have simply forgotten how to listen carefully, follow a train of thought, and think analytically. Maybe we never did have those skills?
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Val said:
Interesting post. And it certainly is good to have these views of other places than our own. There seems to be a lot going on in Boise than I’d have thought! 🙂
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rangewriter said:
Boise is kind of a little hidden gem in the rough. It’s fun to surprise people who expect to find a totally hick town.
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Jim said:
This was very educational and tempting! It sounds like Boise has a bit of everything to keep it ‘balanced’ and attractive for visitors. I think most places nowadays have their ‘bad’ side mostly due to poor planning or none at all!
You really must love experimenting with food…well it appears you are in the right place!
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rangewriter said:
Oh boy Jim, I didn’t even go there with the poor planning. That has been a real problem here, which I suppose is to be expected whenever a community expands as quickly as this one did during the late 80’s and 90’s. We all bemoan traffic snarls and sidewalks and bike paths that vanish unexpectedly.
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Priya said:
I remember saying this to you before that I envy the cultural events that take place in Boise. This post leaves me generally envious about everything! You have beauty, peace, space (600,000-odd people in an Indian town would be huddled together in 4 sq km. Even if I am exaggerating, you get the picture). Oh there’s so much in Boise! Happy times!
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rangewriter said:
Sorry to touch your green button, Priya. My heart goes out to you. Although much about India intrigues me greatly, the color, the cuisine, the culture, the history, the geography, …I know I’d go stark raving mad after a week or two of those horrendous crowds. It must be very difficult for an introspective person, such as you. Perhaps that’s why you are the way you are? You must mine your own inner geography to find beauty and peace.
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souldipper said:
Your closing says it all, RW. I suspect you have had some hardy challenges, but we do grow with our communities. We sit through endless discussion of disagreements and whittle away at the sharp edges as we learn to live with one another. Hopefully we whittle our own edges…when the knife slips, it can get a little loud! 😀
Your photos are great. They add so much to your message.
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rangewriter said:
That was well put, SD! when the knife slips, it can get a little loud…indeed! Yes, I do think my sharp horns have worn down some. I’m not nearly as defensive and abbrasive as I once was….I hope.
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John said:
I spent one night in Boise in 1988. It seemed like a lovely little city!
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