Boise Travel Guide, Idaho

Boise, Idaho is not only the capital city of Idaho State in the United States, but is also the largest city between Portland in Oregon and Salt Lake City in Utah. Due to this reason, Boise had become an important center in that area for government, cultural, economic, and transport activities. Boise city is the county seat of Ada County in Idaho. The population of Boise was nearly 199,000 in 2006 and the Boise City - Nampa metropolitan area had a population of about 635,500. Boise is situated in the southwestern part of Idaho, about 180 km north from Nevada border and nearly 66 km east from the Oregon border. The city is sprawled on an area of around 165.7 square kilometers. 

Boise City - an overview 

The climate of Boise could be termed as semi-arid with 4 separate seasons. The summers are quite hot with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees Celsius, while the winters are relatively colder with a good amount of snowfalls. Rainfall is very meager at an average of only 25 mm a month. The population density of the city is about 1,125 per square kilometer. The city residents include 92% White people, 4.53% Hispanic or Latino, 2.08% Asian, 0.77% African-American, 0.16% Pacific Islanders, 0.70% Native American, and 1.74% from other races. 2.39% are of mixed race origin. 

Business environment and economy 

Boise is the recipient of several national awards for the quality of life and the climate conducive to business. In 2007, the Forbes Magazine elected it as the best place for careers and business. In 2006, Farmers Insurance declared that Boise is one of the most secure places to live in cities of 500,000 residents are more. In 2007, Inc.com announced that Boise is one of the boomtowns and hottest of midsize cities for entrepreneurs. In the same year, Earth Day Network presented an urban environment report card rank 6 for Boise. Several major commercial organizations had selected Boise as their headquarters. Some of them are Hewlett Packard’s Printer Division, J.R. Simplot Co., WinCo Foods, URS Corp., Idaho Pacific Lumber Co., Boise Cascade LLC, Albertsons LLC, and Idaho Timber Corp. The largest private employer in Boise is Micron Technology, an NYSE listed company. Other NYSE and NASDAQ listed companies include IDACORP, parent company of Idaho Power, Boise, Inc., PCS Edventures.com Inc., American Ecology Corp., and Idaho Bancorp.

 Boise City areas and transportation

 Boise has got several neighborhoods that include the North End, Downtown, the Bench, and West Boise. Downtown is a cultural center with several high-rise buildings and small business houses. The centrally situated 8th Street is full of restaurants and streetside cafes. The bars, boutiques, clubs, and restaurants in this area are the main support to night life in Boise.

The North End is full of old homes with tree-lined driveways and boulevards. In 2008, North End was designated as one of the 10 Great Neighborhoods of the US by the American Planning Association. Southwest Boise was sparsely populated till the 1980s due to a moratorium on any new construction. Only recently the area is witnessing growth with the construction of new homes. Northwest Boise is an assorted mixture of old and new neighborhoods.

The Bench is the area south of Downtown due to the sudden elevation of about 18 meters. The Boise Airport is situated south of the Bench at a still higher elevation. The public bus transport in Boise is by the Boise Urban Stages (BUS) and ValleyRide. A streetcar operation, called Downtown Circulator, is being planned. The Interstate I-84 serves the city and Highway 55 branches towards the northeast.