Portland or Boise?

[Nameless Range]

If I were forced to pick between those two I'd pick Montana.

Winner.

I drove through and spent time in both this summer. Rat Races where people are reduced to herd animals. Though if I really had to pick I'd take Boise. An hour drive to the north gives way to some beautiful country and rivers.

 

[airlocksniffer]

If I were forced to pick between those two I'd pick Montana.

Agreed.

 

[MThuntr]

Jeff, I don't know a lot about either. I've only traveled through. Idaho would be my choice over Oregon purely on what I'm familiar with but I've fished parts of Oregon and had a blast. I think both have a strong craft beer culture but the food scene may be better in Portland. Your dietary restrictions may deem Oregon a better option. That being said after the Bear Hunt this spring I'm pretty sure you liked Montana and would definitely fit into a lot of the communities on Western MT.

 

[Firedancer]

I lived in Boise for 5 years. It was a great place to live. There was always something to do, but very outdoor friendly. If he has atv's or motorcycles there is a lot of Offroad areas to play on. Just north of Boise has some great hunting and fishing spots. I have been to Portland many times, i would live in Boise again.

 

[RobG]

The good thing is that you only have to research one city because they are exact opposites in about every way.

 

[RobG]

If I were forced to pick between those two I'd pick Montana.

I lived in Pocatello, ID and also Corvallis, OR. If I were forced to pick I would choose Oregon so I could quickly take advantage of its assisted suicide law.

 

[James Riley]

Dated information (17 years ago):

I lived outside of Boise and commuted to town for 10 years, more or less. I would choose Boise. While I don't know Portland, I do know people and there is a metric shit-ton more of them in and around Portland.

Boise is dry and I'm not too sure about the chemical (read: *invisible* constituents) air quality. Check EPA stats on that. Idaho has the largest Wilderness Areas in the lower 48 and there is a lot of good country outside the Wilderness that is eligible and just as good. You can go from the Owyhee Desert Country down south, all the way through the different western forest types (open to the south, big dark timber to the north). Great whitewater rivers and crystal clear water.

It's not bison country but it's the next best thing.

 

[fowladdict]

Every state has a "rat race" town/city, even Montana. Sometimes I think there is a competition between MT and ID to see which state can grow faster. Having been born and raised in a big city (Sacramento area) and then living in Boise for the last 13 years, Boise would easily be my choice. Going beyond the hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities...skilled workers have a fair amount of job opportunities with decent pay, the weather is great, cost of living isn't too bad, and there are some legit down-to earth and drama-free Hunttalkers that reside in the Boise area. I couldn't live in Portland, my ex-wife lives there now.

 

[choc dogs]

One other thing. In Portland you can't pump your own gas.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

if I were you id pick boise,,,housing market is crazy high in Portland metro area,,Oregons game management is poor,,homeless people camping out all over.idaho has a lot better hunting to offer.im only here cuzz I got a good job.

 

[naturebob]

Drugs are rampant in every city. Big and small .I'm sure Boise has its share of tweekers too. Not as many homeless as i would think its colder The bigger the city the more traffic and Homeless...........BOB!

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

So when is the final descsion date for the choice of a new place to live

 

[brymoore]

Portland sounds nice.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Lib central or Boise?
Hmmm tough question.

 

[LopeHunter]

Portland: Great airport to get nonstop on multiple airlines to about any city in the western 1/3 of U.S. and some overseas cities. NBA team. MLS team. Most concerts stop by Portland if are playing 20 or so U.S. cities on the tour. Some nice eateries if you like to eat out and have the cash laying around for that sort of thing. No sales tax in Oregon but several small payroll taxes in Portland vicinity for the light rail transit and community college. An aggressive state income tax that tops out quickly so no need to be a 1%er to pay the same rate of tax they do. Property tax is higher per $1000 than many places and housing prices have gone up quite a bit so is a larger check to write than in the past. All in all, you probably will pay more taxes (income, sales and property) in Portland than Boise. The social services in liberal Portland are a regional magnet for the homeless and especially for under-25 year olds that tend to have sexual/physical abuse in their recent past and are now heroin addicts and rather are aggressive in Downtown Portland around Pioneer Square and the Pearl District. Portland also has a lot of days with intermittent rain during the October to May period. Lots. A few hundredths of an inch many days which is not much rain but consider 20 or 30 days in a row during winter with measurable rain and that wears down some folks that like some blue sky a couple of times a week. Portland does not get many days with snow on the ground and is not very windy.

Oregon hunting is not very good if you want big antlers. If you want meat in the freezer then is okay and go catch some salmon in that case. I have over 20 points for elk and not one unit in the past decades whispered to me it would be a quality hunt with over 50% success on mature critters. Most elk units which have 350 potential run 100s of spike or cow hunts through the unit before and/or during the bull hunt. I could kill a 260 bull in Colorado on OTC so why bother with Oregon unless want a Rosie? Sure, every year a few nice bucks and bulls are shot but a quick look at B&C entries shows Oregon is okay but not great for big antlers.

Oregon let voters pass a law so dogs were not legal for cougars and bears. Predation rose. Coyotes learned to steal cougar kills so cougars kill larger game more often now. Logging got constrained. Oh, we have wolves and rumor is a breeding pair of grizzly were turned loose in the Blues. Without logging, no grassy meadows for elk the next 5 years and then shrubs for deer for another 10 years until the trees get tall enough there is a deadline down where the elk and deer roam. So, predators up and habitat down is a bad recipe in Oregon the last couple of decades. Oh, fire suppression strategy means fewer "cool" burns to open up the forest for sporadic meadows. Instead you get massive "hot" burns that sterilize the soil and create a moonscape of dust and sand.

Boise is not as diverse as Portland when it comes to large religious organizations. The airport offers few flight options than Portland. No NBA. Many concerts stopping in Portland will skip Boise. Boise is growing and that opens opportunities. And social strain. Want to hunt sheep? As a resident in Idaho, that is realistic in the next 20 years. Goat? In a decade. Moose? In a decade. I know of no other lower 48 state where a resident can expect to draw a Big 3 once a decade or so. Like to hunt out of state? Boise is closer to SLC, Cody, Grand Junction, etc.

I would prefer Boise if career options and pay were in the ballpark with what Portland offers. Of course, I have often driven from Portland through Boise to get to hunts in WY, MT, UT and CO. I will make that drive this Friday and will burn up a day. If I lived in Boise then would be hunting on Friday rather than arriving after dark having driven for around 13 hours.

 

[Rob Allen]

Portland is a great area to hunt and fish. just not a great place to live in my opinion. However i grew up in the area and have seen it change over the years and remember how it used to be. Traffic is terrible, politics are worse. don't talk about hunting wolves shooting guns and don;t use gender specific pro nouns of you want to get along.

That said the hunting in Oregon is very diverse. Elk in the heavy timber of the coast or on the high mountain prairie of the east side. Blacktails in the coast range and cascades Mulies on the east side. black bears everywhere even some draw opportunities for big horns.. good salmon and steelhead fishing if you are careful with regulations and seasons. Good bass fishing on the Columbia and Willamette and some lakes. Trout fishing is scarce. Lots of good hiking if you don't mind hanging out with granola munchers.
Although the politics is very liberal i think there is a lot of opportunity to turn people from no opinion on hunting to pro hunting because of the whole natural food aspect. Another great thing about the area is lots of opportunity to collect wild mushrooms while scouting..

i don't know much about Boise..

 

[Rob Allen]

i actually like the not pumping your own gas.. on that not gas is about 30 cents more a gallon there than MT and ID

 

[jquigley]

We're an opportunity state. Shrinking Elk herds and people around every corner. A three year old Bull is an old timer. If you see a forkie Buck you better shoot. Dink 4x's in Wyoming that get passed are like gold nuggets here. I5 corridor controls all legislative activity. No hounds or baiting for Bears or Cats, passed thru Initiative Petition and efforts to overturn have failed three times.

Thanks for the details, Bob! Apologies for the delayed response, been up to my ears dealing with my little brother's wedding. Sounds a lot like the complaints most guys have about California. Especially the San Diego area I'd be moving from. So probably not much lost of gained on this particular front. Though it would put me that much closer to Montana!

 

[jquigley]

If I were forced to pick between those two I'd pick Montana.

Gotta try and make my money and find my women in Boise or Portland first I'm told.

 

[jquigley]

Jeff, I don't know a lot about either. I've only traveled through. Idaho would be my choice over Oregon purely on what I'm familiar with but I've fished parts of Oregon and had a blast. I think both have a strong craft beer culture but the food scene may be better in Portland. Your dietary restrictions may deem Oregon a better option. That being said after the Bear Hunt this spring I'm pretty sure you liked Montana and would definitely fit into a lot of the communities on Western MT.

You sort of nailed the unspoken variable thus far. I'd move to Missoula in a heartbeat, but until I feel like I've got this auto-immune thing nailed down I'm leaning towards areas with a slightly larger medical pool to pull from. Portland has one of the only decent GF breweries in the country, which also happens to have an entirely GF brewpub attached. All told, I think there are 3 places in town I'd be entirely safe to eat in. Thus far, I haven't tracked any down in Boise

Other than that, I love Boise. Visit at least once a year and my money would go further. The hunting column falls pretty squarely in Boise's favor, though coming from San Diego either would seem like some level of improvement. I don't mind big cities, as long as I can get out of them into the outdoors pretty easily and Portland seems to fit that bill. The only other major plus Portland has is remaining within striking distance of the ocean. I've lived in a lot of places, but they've always been near one ocean or another. Hard to imagine that going away, though it might finally motivate me to learn fly fishing.