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Welcome to Boise Idaho
Boise (['boy·si] locally, or ['boy·zi] by non-locals, less commonly known as Boise City, is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Idaho. Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho as well as the county seat of Ada County. Boise serves as the principal city of the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon, and thus serves as the primary government, economic, cultural, and transportation center for the area. As of the 2007 Census Bureau estimates, Boise's population was 202,832 with a metropolitan area estimated to have 587,689 inhabitants, making it the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho and the third largest in the U.S.Pacific Northwest. GeographyBoise is located at in southwestern Idaho, approximately 41 miles east of the Oregon border, and 110 miles north of the Nevada border. The downtown core sits at an elevation of 2,704 feet above sea level. Most of the metropolitan area lies on a broad, relatively flat plain. Mountains rise up to the northeast, stretching from the far southeastern tip of the Boise city limits to nearby Eagle. These mountains are known to locals as the Boise foothills and are sometimes described as the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. About 34 miles southwest of Boise, and about 26 miles southwest of Nampa, the Owyhee Mountains lie entirely in neighboring Owyhee County. ClimateBoise's climate is characterized as semi-arid with four distinct seasons. Boise experiences hot and dry summers where temperatures can often exceed 100 °F, as well as cold winters with fair amounts of snowfall. Rainfall is usually infrequent and light, averaging 1 inch per month. March is the wettest month with an average of 1.41 inches. August is the driest month with 0.30 inches of rain. Spring and fall are generally temperate.
HistoryBoise, Idaho sign It is commonly accepted that the area was referred to as Boise long before the establishment of Fort Boise. However, the exact details of how the name came to be applied to the area differ in the available accounts. Some credit a story told of Captain B.L.E. Bonneville of the U.S. Army as the source of the name. After trekking for weeks through dry and rough terrain, his exploration party reached an overlook with a view of the Boise River Valley. The place where they stood is called Bonneville Point, and is located on the Oregon Trail east of the city. According to the story, a French-speaking guide, overwhelmed by the sight of the verdant river, yelled "Les bois! Les bois!" giving the area the name. But the name "Boise" may actually derive from earlier mountain man usage, which contributed their naming of the river that flows through it. In the 1820s, French Canadian fur trappers set trap lines in the vicinity where Boise now lies. In a high desert area, the tree-lined valley of the Boise River became a prominent landmark. They called this "La rivière boisée", which means "the wooded river." The original Fort Boise was 40 miles west, down the Boise River, near the confluence with the Snake River at the Oregon border. This fort was erected by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1830s. It was abandoned in the 1850s, but massacres along the Oregon Trail prompted the U.S. Army to re-establish a fort in the area in 1863, during the U.S. Civil War. The new location was selected because it was near the intersection of the Oregon Trail and a major road connecting the Boise Basin (Idaho City) and the Owyhee mining areas. Both areas were booming at the time. Idaho City was the largest city in the area, and as a staging area to Idaho City, Fort Boise grew rapidly. Boise was incorporated as a city in 1864. The first capital of the Idaho Territory was Lewiston, but Boise replaced it in 1865. The U.S. Assay Office at 210 Main Street was built in 1871 and is a National Historic Landmark.
DemographicsBoise has grown considerably in recent years and is now comparable in size to other mid-size cities at the center of their own metropolitan areas in the United States. Comparable cities are Grand Rapids, Des Moines and Providence. As of the census of 2000, there were 185,787 people, 74,438 households, and 46,523 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,913.1/sq mi. There were 77,850 housing units at an average density of 1,220.7/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 92.15% White, 0.77% African American, 0.70% Native American, 2.08% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 1.74% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.53% of the population. There were 74,438 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,432, and the median income for a family was $52,014. Males had a median income of $36,893 versus $26,173 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,696. About 5.9% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or older. AccoladesBoise frequently receives national recognition for its quality of life and business climate. Some recent national rankings:
EconomyBoise is the headquarters for several major companies, such as URS Corp. Washington Division (formerly Washington Group International, formerly Morrison-Knudsen), Boise Cascade LLC, New Albertsons Inc., Albertsons LLC, J.R. Simplot Company, Idaho Pacific Lumber Company, Idaho Timber Corporation, WinCo Foods and Hewlett Packard's printer division. Other major industries are headquartered in Boise or have large manufacturing facilities present. The state government is also one of the city's largest employers. The area's largest private employer publicly traded and headquartered company in Boise is Micron Technology (NYSE: MU). Others include IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: ida), the parent company of Idaho Power, Idaho Bancorp (NYSE: IDA), Boise, Inc. (NYSE: BZ), American Ecology Corp. (NASDAQ: ECOL), PCS Edventures.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCSV) and Syringa Bancorp. Technology investment and the high-tech industry have become increasingly important to the city, with businesses including Bodybuilding.com, Crucial.com, MobileDataForce, MarkMonitor, Sybase, Kayako, Balihoo.com and Microsoft. The call center industry is also a major sources of employment; there are over 20 call centers in the city employing more than 7,000 people, including Teleperformance, DIRECTV and T-Mobile. Varney Airlines, founded by Walter Varney, was formed in Boise. The company is the root of present day United Airlines, which still serves the city at the newly renovated and upgraded Boise Airport.
EducationThe Boise School District includes 31 elementary schools, 8 junior high schools, 5 high schools and 2 specialty schools. Part of the Meridian School District (the largest district in Idaho) overlaps into Boise city limits. The city is home to six public high schools: Boise High School, Borah High School, Capital High School, Timberline High School as well as the Meridian district's Centennial High School and the alternative Frank Church High School. Boise's private schools include Bishop Kelly High School (Catholic), Foothills School of Arts and Sciences and Baccalaureate accredited Riverstone International School. Post-secondary educational options in Boise include Boise State University as well as a wide range of technical schools. University of Idaho and Idaho State University each maintain a satellite campus in Boise. Boise is home to Boise Bible College, an undergraduate degree-granting college that exists to train leaders for churches as well as missionaries for the world. Nearby Meridian is home to a campus of the University of Phoenix and neighboring towns Nampa and Caldwell boast Northwest Nazarene University and The College of Idaho respectively. Boise is one of the largest cities in the United States that does not have a community college. The issue has received a fair amount of attention from city and state officials in recent years. As of May 2007 a community college special district was formed, with the intention of starting a community college in Nampa, Idaho. CultureBoise's Basque Block Numbering about 15,000, Boise's Basque community is the second largest such community in the United States after Bakersfield, California and the fourth largest in the world outside Argentina, Venezuela and the Basque Country in Spain and France. A large Basque festival known as Jaialdi is held once every five years (next in 2010). Downtown Boise features a vibrant section known as the "Basque Block". Boise's mayor, David H. Bieter, is of Basque descent. Boise is also a regional hub for jazz and theater. The Gene Harris Jazz Festival is hosted in Boise each spring. The city is also home to a number of museums, including the Boise Art Museum, Idaho Historical Museum, the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, Idaho Black History Museum, Boise WaterShed and the Discovery Center of Idaho. Several theater groups operate in the city, including the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Little Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theater, and Prairie Dog Productions. On the first Thursday of each month, a gallery stroll is hosted in the city's core business district by the Downtown Boise Association. The city also has an Egyptian Theatre. In the Fall season, Downtown Boise hosts a film festival called Idaho International Film Festival. The Boise Centre on the Grove is an 85,000-square-foot convention center that hosts a variety of events, including international, national, and regional conventions,conferences, banquets, and consumer shows. It is located in the heart of downtown Boise and borders the Grove Plaza which hosts numerous outdoor functions throughout the year. The Morrison-Knudsen Nature Center offers water features and wildlife experiences just east of downtown. It is located adjacent to Municipal Park. It features live fish and wildlife exhibits, viewing areas into the water, bird and butterfly gardens, waterfalls, and a free visitor's center. The Jewish community's Ahavath Beth Israel Temple, completed 1896, is the nation's oldest continually-used temple west of the Mississippi. Boise (along with Valley and Boise Counties) hosted the Winter 2009 Special Olympics World Games. More than 2,500 athletes from over 85 countries participateed. Famous residents
Major AttractionsThe State Capitol in Boise, Idaho
A number of recreational opportunities are available in Boise, including extensive hiking and biking in the foothills to the immediate north of downtown. Much of this trail network is part of Hull's Gulch and can be accessed by 8th street. An extensive urban trail system called the Boise River Greenbelt runs along the river. The Boise River itself is a common destination for fishing, swimming and rafting. In Julia Davis Park is Zoo Boise, which has over 200 animals representing over 80 species from around the world. An Africa exhibit expected to include lions and giraffes is currently under construction, slated to open in late 2008.
Bogus Basin Mountain Resort hosts several winter activities, including cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing. “Bogus” is just 16 miles (26 km) outside city limits (less than an hour drive from downtown). Minor professional sports teams in Boise include the short-season Class A Boise Hawks (Minor League Baseball), the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, and the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. An arenafootball2 franchise, the Boise Burn, began play in 2007. On the sports entertainment front, Boise is also the home of a DIY all-female, flat track roller derby league, the Treasure Valley Rollergirls. The Boise State University campus is home to Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, which hosts local and national fine arts performances; Bronco Stadium, the 32,000 seat football stadium known for its blue Field Turf field; and Taco Bell Arena, a 12,000 seat basketball and entertainment venue which opened in 1982 as the BSU Pavilion. Boise State University is known primarily for the recent successes of its football team, although it is also a fairly well regarded commuter school for undergraduate students. The Roady's Humanitarian Bowl football game (formerly known as the Humanitarian Bowl and later the MPC Computers Bowl) is held in late December each year, and pairs a team from the Western Athletic Conference with an Atlantic Coast Conference team. The World Center for Birds of Prey is located just outside city limits, and is a key part of the re-establishment of the Peregrine falcon and the subsequent removal from the Endangered Species list. The center is currently breeding the very rare California condor, among many other rare and endangered species. The city has been cited by publications like Forbes, Fortune and Sunset for its quality of life. The cornerstone mall in Boise, Boise Towne Square Mall, is also a major shopping attraction for Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, and surrounding areas and has recently been through an upgrade along with adding new retailers.
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