Downtown Boise
There is no other word for Boise except adorable.  Absolutely adorable.  I don’t want to to dilute the punch this little town has, but honesty adorable seems to be just the right word.  

The adorable downtown is maybe 20 square blocks of restaurants, coffee shops, interesting stores and boutiques.  Eighth Street is a pedestrian only street for about 3 blocks so that the restaurants could create significant outdoor seating.  I don’t know if the city planners created this before or after covid but the result is a lovely mix of all kinds of restaurants.  We had some extraordinary meals in Boise, including a sandwich shop that I wish I could teleport to where I am living at any time.

For a relatively small town, Boise has some delectable shopping.  One of the more interesting is a pop culture store, the first of many we saw as we drove west from the Mississippi River.  Pop Culture is BIG in the northwest.  We found stores in most cities we stopped in and Seattle actually has a splendid Pop Culture Museum.  We purchased a ton of fun stuff and took lots of pictures with the life-size Dr. Who Tardus and the Hobbit House.  My word, it is FUN!  Then we moved on to other stores filled with inviting things. 

Idaho also had the most beautiful graphic illustrations.  We were completely captivated by gorgeous things as simple as cards, postcards magnets and stickers.  Cups, mugs, tea towels and plates were all illustrated beautifully.  If all you want to do is go shopping, go to Boise for the weekend.  If you are looking for more fun stuff to do, Boise has outdone itself with its museums and parks.  

In one of the city parks, three museums have been tidily built near each other: The Art Museum, The Idaho History Museum, and the History of African Americans in Idaho Museum. Behind the art museum is a rose garden, so fragrant  that you can smell them fifty feet away.  In this same park, you can find the zoo, and if you walk around the park behind the zoo, you come to a lake where you can rent paddle boats.  It’s adorable.   Come on! 

City parks abound.  The river runs right through the town and a bike/hike path runs right alongside it for miles and miles.

One of the best parts about Boise is access to tubing the river.  From one park, people can rent or bring their own tubes, kayaks, rafts, whatever and float down the river, which is moving at just the right speed, past downtown, to the second, ending park, where they can catch a bus that runs continuously between the parks.  Yeah you have to pay, but come on - how civilized is that?

We went to each part of the park on separate days.  IN the early morning we watched a group launch, what was essentially a large blow up couch, onto the river and take off into the stream grinning and laughing.  There were fisherman standing in the river both up and downstream flyfishing.  Kayaks scooted into the river as well as tubes and coolers.  In the early morning cool, the park and river looked immensely inviting.  At the ending park, which was much bigger and included a baseball diamond and tennis courts, we watched people pull their paraphernalia out of the water and wait for the bus back to the first park.  We did not get to go tubing, but one day we will return and do that fun thing.  

All in all Boise is fun!  We had a great time!

We highly recommend visiting before it is ruined by the huge numbers of people moving there from California.  Soon, the highways and streets will be clogged, making it just another Salt Lake City.  Go NOW!

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Anecdotal Stories & Observations

We met a docent at the World Center for Birds of Prey who told us he had retired from the US Forestry Service in Boise. He mentioned that Boise is experiencing a significant amount of growth from people re-locating from other states, but mostly from California and mostly those who self-describe as politically “red”. Property values have escalated, we were told, by $200,000 in the last 18-24 months. And it did seem that way - armed with my trusty Zillow app, I looked up the values of homes in a number of neighborhoods we passed through and was stunned. While we had not planned on re-locating there, the prices would be prohibitive - at least in terms of buying. What’s more, Boise is located in essentially the desert and while there is a river, water is in short supply. Over the summer several people found their wells completely dry. The incoming residents will strain the city’s resources on every level.

Susan talked to the man who runs the African American museum. A long-time resident and well connected to the city political system, he told her that they are well aware of the issues and and working on solutions to manage the growth. As an example, while we found the traffic to be very manageable, the growth in residents has been such that they find it significantly worse. I don’t envy them resolving these issues. But I do understand the appeal - lovely stores, interesting restaurants, many lush parks and cultural attractions - it is truly a gem in the gem state!

Anecdotal Stories & Observations

We met a docent at the World Center for Birds of Prey who told us he had retired from the US Forestry Service in Boise. He mentioned that Boise is experiencing a significant amount of growth from people re-locating from other states, but mostly from California and mostly those who self-describe as politically “red”. Property values have escalated, we were told, by $200,000 in the last 18-24 months. And it did seem that way - armed with my trusty Zillow app, I looked up the values of homes in a number of neighborhoods we passed through and was stunned. While we had not planned on re-locating there, the prices would be prohibitive - at least in terms of buying. What’s more, Boise is located in essentially the desert and while there is a river, water is in short supply. Over the summer several people found their wells completely dry. The incoming residents will strain the city’s resources on every level.

Susan talked to the man who runs the African American museum. A long-time resident and well connected to the city political system, he told her that they are well aware of the issues and and working on solutions to manage the growth. As an example, while we found the traffic to be very manageable, the growth in residents has been such that they find it significantly worse. I don’t envy them resolving these issues. But I do understand the appeal - lovely stores, interesting restaurants, many lush parks and cultural attractions - it is truly a gem in the gem state!