I grew up in Idaho Falls and have lived in New York City for a few years. Each has their attractions: NYC is very large and busy. It provides a very wide range of civic events, and a significant mix of ethnic groups. However, the only nearby outdoor opportunity is in Central Park, where there is still someone within seeing distance at almost all times.
Idaho Falls, on the other hand, is more of a bedroom community: very conservative socially, almost completely caucasian, with a small but growing latino population. It is clean, the roads are good, traffic isn't bad, which hasn't changed much in 15 years. The civic opportunities are few and muted compared to any large city. However, what you loose in civic opportunities you can make up in outdoor activities. There is camping, offroading, hunting (I don't hunt, personally) in the vicinity, with a few excellent parks within reasonable driving distance (Island Park, Yellowstone, Forest land, etc.).
As always with the question "which city/town is best", it depends on what you like.
For those with more civic oriented tastes, Boise, ID may be a good destination. It has more concerts, has a bigger feel (200k people in the valley), and has a variety of tech jobs available. Yet, there are still excellent outdoor opportunities nearby.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), this richness in outdoor opportunities is not lost on Idaho's elected officials. This year, the state will have a Tax revenue surplus. The former governor (Kempthorn, now Secretary of the Interior) pledged to put about $240k into higher education... and $38 million into parks.
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I grew up in Idaho Falls and have lived in New York City for a few years. Each has their attractions: NYC is very large and busy. It provides a very wide range of civic events, and a significant mix of ethnic groups. However, the only nearby outdoor opportunity is in Central Park, where there is still someone within seeing distance at almost all times.
Idaho Falls, on the other hand, is more of a bedroom community: very conservative socially, almost completely caucasian, with a small but growing latino population. It is clean, the roads are good, traffic isn't bad, which hasn't changed much in 15 years. The civic opportunities are few and muted compared to any large city. However, what you loose in civic opportunities you can make up in outdoor activities. There is camping, offroading, hunting (I don't hunt, personally) in the vicinity, with a few excellent parks within reasonable driving distance (Island Park, Yellowstone, Forest land, etc.).
As always with the question "which city/town is best", it depends on what you like.
For those with more civic oriented tastes, Boise, ID may be a good destination. It has more concerts, has a bigger feel (200k people in the valley), and has a variety of tech jobs available. Yet, there are still excellent outdoor opportunities nearby.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), this richness in outdoor opportunities is not lost on Idaho's elected officials. This year, the state will have a Tax revenue surplus. The former governor (Kempthorn, now Secretary of the Interior) pledged to put about $240k into higher education... and $38 million into parks.