[herr_oberst]

Hugh, I grew up in Boise, and I go back a lot to see my friends and family.

Traffic is a beeyotch. A huge population boom in the last twenty years and with not a lot of urban growth planning, there are oodles of housing developments, far flung and connected by two lane farm roads.

Star is a pretty long way from Boise, so is Emmett, but loads of people make the commute.

If you're retiring there, (especially as a CA. native), the distances would be easy. For an ex denizen like me, well, those are the places we drove a long ways to ride dirt bikes when I was a kid, if you know what I mean.

(Eagle Road has just become a nightmare at 5:00)

I think that politically, you'd fit in well. It's conservative, with a large Mormon population. I make absolutely no judgement with that statement.

If I'm not mistaken, it is also the home of second largest Basque population in the world, and they are proud and have lots of fun community events.

There are lots of things to do, the vibe is sort of, hey, aren't we lucky to be living here?

Boise State Football is played on the Blue (smurf) turf. Lots and lots of support for the team. (Closest thing to a pro team in Boise, and it shows.)

Double A baseball and minor league hockey are real popular too.

Lots and lots of restaurants, but most of the finer dining is in downtown Boise. If I'm not mistaken, they now have Ruth's Chris downtown, among other things. Try Barbacoa out by the greenbelt.

Sizzler, Applebys, Ribs, whatever, lots of that kind of that kind of stuff in the malls, and boy howdy does Boise/Eagle/Meridian/Nampa have malls.

There is a great car culture, but you have to look for it. I believe the Porsche region is Silver Sage.

It's home to all kinds of people, you can easily find a tribe that you'd be comfortable with.

As for the weather, all 4 seasons make their presence known. It can get real cold in the winter, real hot in the summer.

PM me with questions.