When you ask most people which places in the Northwest they find the most exciting, chances are you’re going to hear a lot of “
Portland” or “
Seattle.” The point is, you’re probably not going to get a lot of people mentioning cities in Idaho.
In fact, sometimes people don’t even remember it’s in the Northwest. (Iowa is the one in the Midwest, people.)
But at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, we know a thing or two about Idaho. Not only do we know that, yes, it’s in the Northwest, but we also know that it has some pretty exciting places—Pocatello in particular.
The thrills don’t end there, though. Here are the 10 most exciting spots in Idaho:
1. City of Pocatello
2. City of Boise (tie)
2. City of Hayden (tie)
4. City of Idaho Falls (tie)
4. City of Mountain Home (tie)
6. City of Coeur d'Alene
7. City of Jerome
8. City of Garden City
9. City of Moscow (tie)
9. City of Eagle (tie)
How exactly did Pocatello beat out Boise—and what’s with all the ties? As far as the latter goes, apparently Idaho just has too much awesome to go around.
Keep reading to find out just how we came up with this list and why each of these places are so very exciting.
Our Methodology
Just as with our other
Big Deal Lists, we started out by compiling a roster of all the places in the state with populations of 10,000 or more. This left us with a total of 22 places to analyze.
From there, we used business listings and the 2010 U.S. Census to research each place in terms of the following 10 criteria:
- Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
- Live music venues per capita
- Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
- Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
- Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
- Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
- Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
- Population density (the higher the better)
We ranked each of these places in the above criteria with a score from one to 22, with the lowest score being the best.
Then, we averaged these rankings into one overall Big Deal Score, again, where the lowest number was our most exciting, Pocatello.
To see how each of the 22 places we looked at ranked, head to the bottom of the post. Otherwise, we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 immediately below.
1. Pocatello
For those of you who don’t actually live in Pocatello, its No. 1 ranking might come as something of a surprise. Residents know all about this city’s excitement.
After all, Pocatello is home to Idaho State University—probably the reason that 30.98 percent of its residents are between 18 and 34—and the third most music venues per capita.
Pocatello also had a lot of nightlife options, from Flipside Lounge to The First National Bar, and don’t even get us started on the food, because there are simply too many restaurant options to mention.
Okay, fine, we’ll mention one. If you haven’t been to Sumisu, go there now. Yes, right now.
2. Boise
As the largest city and the capital of Idaho, we’d have been surprised if Boise hadn’t come in near the top of our list.
With galleries a-plenty, museums like the Boise Art Museum, and theaters galore, Boise had more arts and entertainment than most other places in the state (ranking second in this category).
It had a nightlife that (almost) couldn’t be beat, a rocking music scene, and a ton of active lifestyle options, as it ranked fifth in each of these categories.
To top it all off, with Boise State University in town, it also had a pretty high percentage of young folks (26.81 percent of residents were between the ages of 18 and 34).
2. Hayden
Hayden may be just a fraction of the size of Boise, but it still managed to tie with the capital city. That was mostly because of its active lifestyle options and live music scene.
Of all of the places we looked at, Hayden had the most music venues and active life listings per capita. It also had a good number of nightlife options, like Razzle’s Bar & Grill, Doc Holiday’s, and Rusty’s, just to name a few.
Interestingly, even with all of this excitement, Hayden only had a small percentage of young population (19.22 percent), which just goes to show you don’t have to be under 35 to have fun.
4. Idaho Falls
It’s no wonder why this place ranked so highly, with the Museum of Eastern Idaho and Colonial Theatre to its name, plus several galleries, performing arts centers, and art suppliers.
In fact, Idaho Falls placed among the best for its number of arts and entertainment listings per capita.
It also ranked sixth overall for its nightlife, music venues, and active lifestyle options. So whether you’re into hitting the bars, the galleries, or the gym, this city has something exciting to offer.
4. Mountain Home
Mountain Home ranked well in our analysis for having 29.74 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34. What goes along with a bunch of young people? Well, maybe not exactly what you’d expect.
Sure, Mountain Home had a high number of bars and nightlife venues (the third most in the state) per capita, but it also had a variety of restaurants, like Manhattan Bistro, the German House, and, of course, Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill.
Here’s the kicker: It also had some of the fewest fast food restaurants in the state.
So much for the notion that young people live off drive-thrus.
6. Coeur d'Alene
When Barbara Walters calls your city a “little slice of heaven,” you know you’re doing something right.
Coeur d’Alene ranked third for both its lack of fast food joints and for its high number of restaurants per capita. We’re talking places like Cafe Carambola and Satay Bistro.
It also came in third overall for its population density: 2,835 people per square mile. To put that into perspective, just look at Eagle, a fellow top 10 spot, where there were only 688 people per square mile.
7. Jerome
Jerome, like Coeur d’Alene before it, had a seriously exciting restaurant scene. It ranked fourth for both its lack of fast food restaurants and its number of restaurants per capita.
If places like Garibaldi’s, Choate’s Family Diner, or Burnt Lemon Grill aren’t your thing, feel free to busy yourself by mingling with the 26.38 percent of people between 18 and 34.
You may just have to mingle at a restaurant, however, because you’re unfortunately not going to find much in the way of nightlife here.
8. Garden City
What Garden City lacked in young people (it ranked 20th here), it more than made up for with its art scene, active lifestyle options, and number of music venues per capita—ranking first, third, and fourth in these categories, respectively.
It even had a pretty decent nightlife going on, with places like Boulevard Bar, Ranch Club, and Club Savvy’s dotting Chinden Blvd.
9. Moscow
Remember how we said Pocatello and Mountain Home had young populations? That was nothing compared to the whopping 52.24 percent of people in Moscow between the ages of 18 and 34.
This probably had a little something to do with the fact that Moscow is home to the University of Idaho, as well as New Saint Andrews College.
Like many college towns, the population is pretty densely packed—the most tightly packed in the state, in fact, with a whopping 3,474 people per square mile.
Tons of young college kids plus the 10th most nightlife in the state? Sounds like fun. Or trouble. Either way, it’s exciting.
9. Eagle
Eagle may have tied for the No. 9 spot with Moscow, but their rankings couldn’t be more different.
Where Moscow had a ton of young people, Eagle had the oldest population of the places we looked at. Where Moscow was densely populated, Eagle was… not at all.
What made Eagle exciting, though, were places like Fusions Glass Studio, Cylos Lounge, and, of course, Grinkers Grand Palace.
In short, a high number of arts, music venues, and active life options per capita made this spot pretty fun.
No, we don’t exactly know how Grinkers Grand Palace really fits in there, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Idaho: More Exciting Than You Think
Can somebody put this on a bumper sticker or something? Because if we’ve taken anything away from this ranking, it’s that Idaho is way more exciting than people think.
If you’d like to get in on some of this excitement: A) Look at the table below to see a full list of how each place above 10,000 people ranked, and B) Pick a place, pack your bags, and get in touch.
We’ll take the work out of finding you a home, and leave the exciting stuff to you. Like figuring out what to do with that hideous table your aunt gave you as a housewarming gift.
