Boise (pronounced /ˈbɔɪsiː/ locally, or /ˈbɔɪziː/ , 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. Located on the Boise River, this is the principal city of the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon. Boise passed Spokane in city population in 2001 census estimates and is now the third largest in the northwest U.S., behind Seattle and Portland. Boise serves as the primary government, economic, cultural, and transportation center for the area.
As of the 2008 Census Bureau estimates, Boise's population was 205,314 with a metropolitan area estimated to have 587,689 inhabitants, by far the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho.
Geography
Boise is located at 43°36′49″N 116°14′16″W / 43.61361°N 116.23778°W / 43.61361; -116.23778 (43.613739, -116.237651), in southwestern Idaho, approximately 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border, and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. The downtown core sits at an elevation of 2704 feet (824 m) above sea level.
Most of the metropolitan area lies on a broad, relatively flat plain, descending to the west. 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 (55 km) southwest of Boise, and about 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Nampa, the Owyhee Mountains lie entirely in neighboring Owyhee County.
According to the census bureau, the city has a total area of 64.0 mi² (166 km²). 63.8 mi² (165 km²) of it is land and 0.2 mi² (0.5 km²) of it (0.33%) is water.
Climate
Boise's climate is characterized as semi-arid with four distinct seasons. Boise experiences hot and dry summers where temperatures can often exceed 100°F (38°C), as well as cold winters with fair amounts of snowfall. Rainfall is usually infrequent and light, averaging an inch (25.4 mm) per month. March is the wettest month with an average of 1.41" (36 mm) of precipitation, and August is the driest month with 0.30" (7.6 mm). Spring and fall are generally temperate.
History
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. An apocryphal version of this story, sometimes mis-attributes this guide as being part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
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 (64 km) west near Parma, 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 (Silver City) mining areas, which were both booming at the time. During the mid-1860s, Idaho City was the largest city in the Northwest, and as a staging area, Fort Boise grew rapidly and Boise was incorporated as a city in 1864. The first capital of the Idaho Territory was Lewiston in north Idaho, but Boise soon won the capital rights in 1865.
The U.S. Assay Office at 210 Main Street was built in 1871 and is a National Historic Landmark.
Demographics
Boise 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 ,Providence And Akron, Ohio.
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 (1,124.7/km²). There were 77,850 housing units at an average density of 1,220.7/mi² (471.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was:
- 92.15% White
- 0.77% Black
- 0.70% Indigenous American
- 2.08% Asian
- 0.16% Pacific Islander
- 1.74% from other races
- 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
- 10.0% 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.
Accolades
Boise frequently receives national recognition for its quality of life and business climate. Some recent national rankings:
- Best places for business and careers: # 3 (Forbes Magazine, 2007)
- Urban environment report card: # 6 (Earth Day Network, 2007)
- Boomtowns: Hottest cities for entrepreneurs (midsize cities): # 9 (Inc.com, 2007)
- Most secure places to live (500,000 or more residents): # 1 (Farmers Insurance 2006)
Economy
Boise 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, and WinCo Foods. 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, Balihoo.com and Microsoft. The call center industry is also a major source of employment; there are over 20 call centers in the city employing more than 7,000 people, including WDS Global, EDS, 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.
Education
The Boise School District includes 31 elementa
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