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Boise Ranked 4th Best Place to Live, Work, and Play

By Alyson Outen

BOISE -- After all he did to build Boise, J.R. Simplot would be proud to learn his hometown has even more bragging rights.

Today, a national magazine included the city of trees in its top ten cities of 2008.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Boise 4th on this year's list of best places to live, work and play.  That's based on several criteria including Boise’s promising future.

What makes a city great?  That's obviously subjective, but according to the prestigious business magazine -- it's towns with strong economies, plenty of jobs, reasonable living costs and places with fun things to do.

Based on those criteria, the magazine ranked Boise 4th. Online, it's a dream come true for the chamber of commerce as Kiplinger's touts the town. 

One thing editors were looking for in their formula for success, was cities that had people in creative jobs: scientists, engineers, architects, entertainers. According to its calculations, 33 percent of Boise's workforce falls in that category.

"I'm not at all surprised by that because we've received so many accolades over time," said Chris Volk, Kickstand president.

Chris Volk is in the business of trying to inspire those so-called creative careers.

He's the president of Kickstand -- a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Idaho's entrepreneurs and innovators.

The same day Kiplinger's released its rankings, Kickstand was hosting a sold-out event designed to stimulate and sustain homegrown companies.

"Idavation is about inspiring innovation in Idaho.  It's about supporting entrepreneurs in their missions to create new and vibrant companies in Boise and throughout Idaho," said Volk.  "Idaho's had a very rich entrepreneurial heritage with Albertsons, Morrison Knudsen, Boise Cascade, Trus Joist, so many other companies like that.  Obviously Micron and HP's success here, as well.  What we haven't seen until recently is an explosion of young companies growing here and that's happening today."

The magazine sort of lumps Eagle in with Boise – giving it kudos for its burgeoning wine industry.

This story and all its interactive features are online, but the paper version won’t be available until June 10th.  That's when the July issue of Kiplinger's hits newsstands.

We know Boise made the top five, but which other cities are on the list?

Houston, Texas, topped the list at number one.  Raleigh, North Carolina is next.  Omaha, Nebraska, ranked just ahead of Boise in third place.

- Source: KTVB.com May 29, 2008

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