Reviews & Comments
Boise City, ID
re: Boise, NOT one of the most livable places
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9/25/2019I wish I would have also mentioned the Mormon thing in my review. Your exactly correct. It's a Mormon state, Mormon owned and Mormon ran and if you've ever tried to work for a Mormon and your not Male and White ...well don't ever expect a promotion or treated with respect. I've worked for several of them and will never again work for a Mormon ran company! They are the worst when it comes to discrimination in the work place and it doesn't matter what you are ...if you not a educated white male then your oust. They are the most judgmental, rude, lying backstabbing type of people I know ...and I know a lot of them!
Boise City, ID
You can have shitti Boise! I'm out! -
9/25/2019I moved to Boise in 1999 and I loved living there ...well up until about 2012. Firstly traffic is horrid and road rage is on the rise and the road construction is the slowest I've seen anywhere and it's everywhere too. It will take a year to widen a less than a mile stretch of road and by the time they are done widening it ...well it needs widened again. What use to be a 15 to 20 minute commute across town now takes sometimes an hour ...back roads or not doesn't matter anymore. City planning and development is a joke (Boise needs a new Mayor and the whole city council replaced as they are not qualified enough to handle the fast growth / size). Crimes are increasing and so is drug use. It seems like everyone hates on everyone in Boise now (Natives vs Newcomers). It's definitely not a friendly small city anymore. Ever since the city passed the "needle exchange" law I have noticed now when I go down by the River near the college and even all the way down to Eagle ...I find used syringes laying all over and under the tall grass. I wouldn't be taking your kids down there with flip flops on as they are hard to see under the brush. Also, I think the River is polluted below the damn and last year the fish I caught had parasites (probably from the homeless crapping in the River downtown because the city fails again to help the homeless with even simple little things like enough port a potties)
The dining and service there has declined as well. I'm not sure if Boise is still a test market for restaurants but I don't think so anymore. All those decent new restaurants chains that opened up in the 90s thru 2010 half have closed their doors ...(TGI Fridays, Fudruckers, Hooters, etc) But there is new ones opening and then closing a year later here and there. But If you really want a decent dining experience now, then your pretty much forced to deal with downtown traffic and spending either an hour and/or $10 to park.
The homeless population is on a fast rise there as well (largely due to the housing market). Rent has literally doubled over the past 5 years but wages have stayed the same. It's very hard to find a rental and by the time you do you've probably nearly already had to spend your savings on rental application fees, hotels or AirBnBs and eating out. It's hard to even find a house to buy and when you do your competing with 5 out of state investor bidding top dollar so they can buy the place and turn it into an AirBnB, STR and then throw a ADU in the once backyard ..(totally ruining the once residential family neighborhoods and helping to drive up housing costs, but at the same time they are lowering property values next door to them.
The schools have always been way below par there but now there's Charter schools around every corner (so are state owned liquor stores). You can't drive anywhere in Boise less than a mile without driving through a dang school zone or past a liquor store or bar. Lastly, yes the air quality is horrible. The Valley or foothills trap in the pollution well. It's better if your up on the Bench towards the airport but then your dealing with Noise pollution with the planes and airbase practicing skirting the city line.
Literally the only good thing about living in Boise, ID now days is the fact that you can at least get out of town and not need to go far to camp, fish, boat etc ...but that's true for all of Idaho. Also, lots of jobs there if your willing to work in a call center or manufacturing plant for $8 to $12 an hr.
I recently moved from Boise to MoHo but I should say I was more forced out because of the housing market and my refusal to pay a $350 a month rent hike (from $850 to $1200) for a dilapidated 70s duplex in serious need of remodeling and fixing. I couldn't find a house for sale in Boise either as I was only approved for a 190k home loan and even a dilapidated dump in Boise goes for over 200k. Plus, I just got tired of looking and trying (investors always win) So now I commute back and forth 90 miles a day for work. It still beats living in Boise now days!