My brother lives in Boise. It's a great city. The access to nature is fantastic and relatively unique. I can't say much about the rest of Idaho (I've heard there's not much to see outside the nature and the pockets of affluent little towns), but as someone who has only lived in liberal cities on the east coast their whole life, I can assure you Boise is very nice and pretty progressive.
Of course, the state, itself, is pretty conservative. So if you feel you'll be directly affected by things like abortion bans or poor education, then you'll want to be careful where you end up and how you navigate any of that. But if you're making decent money in a city like Boise and enjoy the amenities of the area and can get over the state-level politics (because, again, Boise is quite progressive and you can get weed easily, etc.), then you'd probably experience a nice quality of life.
One negative thing I’ve heard about Boise and some other smaller western cities is that they have awful air quality due to the geography settling all the exhausts and particles in a sort of bowl. Not sure how bad this is in practice though.
As you said, Boise is in a sort of bowl (more of a valley), in the winter, a cold air system can get trapped in the valley by warmer air in the mountain area. This can lead to some pretty bad air (not nearly as bad as wildfires, just not very fresh). To me, the bigger complaint is about not seeing the sun for days. Idaho has a lot of sun throughout the winter, so it's noticeable. It isn't all winter, just a week or so at a time a few times per winted, depending on weather.
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My brother lives in Boise. It's a great city. The access to nature is fantastic and relatively unique. I can't say much about the rest of Idaho (I've heard there's not much to see outside the nature and the pockets of affluent little towns), but as someone who has only lived in liberal cities on the east coast their whole life, I can assure you Boise is very nice and pretty progressive.
Of course, the state, itself, is pretty conservative. So if you feel you'll be directly affected by things like abortion bans or poor education, then you'll want to be careful where you end up and how you navigate any of that. But if you're making decent money in a city like Boise and enjoy the amenities of the area and can get over the state-level politics (because, again, Boise is quite progressive and you can get weed easily, etc.), then you'd probably experience a nice quality of life.
The two highest grossing dispenseries in the state of Oregon sit off the first I-84 exit in Oregon about 40 min from Boise..
Until Texas tracks your pregnancy with Flock cameras and arrests you for seeking an abortion out of state. OR tells Idaho about it....
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas...
Moving to Idaho, and giving these states a tax base with which to further perpetuate these fascist policies is not a winning solution.
Moving to Idaho and voting on the other hand...
One negative thing I’ve heard about Boise and some other smaller western cities is that they have awful air quality due to the geography settling all the exhausts and particles in a sort of bowl. Not sure how bad this is in practice though.
The main two issues are wildfire and inversion.
As you said, Boise is in a sort of bowl (more of a valley), in the winter, a cold air system can get trapped in the valley by warmer air in the mountain area. This can lead to some pretty bad air (not nearly as bad as wildfires, just not very fresh). To me, the bigger complaint is about not seeing the sun for days. Idaho has a lot of sun throughout the winter, so it's noticeable. It isn't all winter, just a week or so at a time a few times per winted, depending on weather.
But otherwise, Boise's air is quite clean.
Wildlife season does not help either and fires are getting worse