Maybe you’re thinking you’d like to move to someplace better… maybe you’ve been thinking about moving to Boise, Idaho… but what about other places in our great country?
Cincinnati, Ohio could be one of those places that caught your attention… and why not?! It’s a fun city with lots of things to do and some great people living there. Cincinnati is pretty typical of many Midwest cities… like St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lincoln and many more. So let this post be your introduction into what living in the urban Midwest can be like.
Comparing Cincinnati to Boise, let’s take a look at the vibe and feel of the cities, then explore the layout of the areas, and then a brief look at various statistics of these cities. We’ll wind up with a surprise commentary on the subject from a local celebrity, Kevin Miller on 580 am KIDO radio. To bring it all home, you’ll find my video where I look into all this and share my opinions as well.
Let’s get started!
Life in Cincinnati, Ohio
Personally touring Cincinnati, I found a certain old-school Midwestern charm… particularly in the old part of the original city. There’s a somewhat open-air market downtown (although some of it is inside) with so many goodies to choose from. A local favorite is Skyline Chili with the secret ingredient… spaghetti noodles! Also for an enjoyable meal, a top-notch revolving restaurant providing the scenic ohhs and ahhs to cap off a perfect day.
Life in Boise, Idaho
Boise often has the same vibe as other cities across the country that are of about the same vintage. Plenty of history over the generations that creates an enduring sense of community. Here too you’ll find Farmers Markets and celebrations rooted in tradition. Boise also has some great places to eat… maybe too many!😁
Compare the Layout; Cincinnati vs Boise
Here’s a look at Ohio and Idaho. Both states share a border with Canada. Ohio is far enough to the East that it is in the Eastern Time Zone. Idaho is far enough to the West that PART of the state is in the Pacific Time Zone… the top half of the state is. The bottom half is in the Mountain Time Zone. Weird, right?!
Taking a look at the satellite view, a couple things jump out; Ohio, the Cincinnati area that is, is much more green with a lot more communities. Looking at Idaho, it’s much more brown with only green showing up in the mountains and in the valleys where ag fields and residential lawns are watered. It’s pretty clear too that Idaho is much less populated by cities and towns.
Now we are zooming in to both the Cincinnati and Boise metro areas. What I notice right off is that there are several major highways around and intersecting downtown Cincinnati. The Boise area, on the other hand, has one freeway through it and some smaller highways in the area. Note that the central area of the Treasure Valley has the roads laid out in a grid fashion… making getting around, and not getting lost, pretty easy.
Now looking at the downtowns of Cincinnati and Boise. Cincinnati has several freeway-like roads running through and intersecting with each other. Getting anywhere will likely require a lot of hard-earned experience or a GPS. Boise doesn’t have a freeway-like highway in it… it’s just surface streets laid out in a grid. You’d have to try really hard to get lost in downtown Boise.
As we wrap up this section, just a quick look at where Ohio is… I mentioned earlier that it’s far enough East to be in the Eastern Time Zone. It’s also only about 400 miles, give or take, from Washington DC. It’s not far from several major population centers on the east coast. Ohio also enjoys (?) the “lake effect” snow and freezing chill from Lake Erie making up it’s northern border.
Compare the Numbers; Cincinnati vs Boise
The following are several comparisons of stats and figures comparing Cincinnati and Boise. Most of these came from City-Data.com and this is a resource I recommend when doing your relocation research (I sure did!).
Notice while you check these out the population differences; the city of Boise is about 237,963 people and the Boise metro area is about 876,000 residents. The Boise metro area spans about 11,738 square miles.
The city of Cincinnati has a population of about 314,915 while it’s metro area is home to about 2.3 million residents. Also note that the Cincinnati metro area is about 4,385 square miles in size.
The Boise metro area is about 3 times larger with only about a quarter the population of the Cincinnati metro area. Fun fact; there are more people in the Cincinnati metro area than there are in the ENTIRE state of Idaho!
A couple other highlights are the difference in humidity (and this is a very real quality-of-life issue), natural disaster activity (Cincinnati has almost 3 times the natural disasters as Boise), the crime index (with Cincinnati’s almost 3 times the crime and 3 times the cops), and lastly, the financial health of the two cities (Cincinnati having debt of $1.2 billion… just for the CITY… and Boise’s debt of $163 million).
Speaking of crime… just a little cultural reference here. One picture shows me in Walmart in Cincinnati where some of the basic toiletries are securely held behind the safety of plastic. What a way to live… have to find a clerk and wait for the clerk to open the plastic.
The other pictures are from my Walmart tour around the Treasure Valley… no security plastic treating YOU like a criminal! DVDs, baby formula, and bikes are just out on display! Just look at that… a couple hundred bikes outside with no chain or cable to thwart the criminal element. Isn’t that interesting!
Local Celebrity Weighs In; Cincinnati vs Boise
As luck would have it, I just happened to catch Kevin Miller, the host of a wildly popular local morning radio call-in show comparing Boise to Cincinnati.
This is the same local celebrity whose heart goes out twice a year to raise money and awareness for the Boise Rescue Mission.
Video Discussion of Cincinnati vs Boise
Check out my video where I go through the Cincinnati and Boise comparison in more detail.
Treasure Valley Dave's Thoughts
There are many reasons why people might want to move from one place to another… sometimes those reasons have a name, like Gavin Newsom! But seriously, if you’ve been thinking of places in the Midwest and maybe the Boise area too, I hope today’s quick comparison gives you some good info to consider.
It’s not always just money but also the quality of life that might send you to relocate in one area over another. These are things that I considered when it was our time to leave California… and the Treasure Valley turned out to be a perfect fit and our quality of life is so much more improved.
If Mareen (she also relocated from California) and I can help you get questions answered or if now is your time to start your fact-finding process, we are here to help you have all the best and current information so you can make the best possible decisions for you and your family. That’s where Mareen and I come in… let us help answer your questions about buying a home, selling a home or relocating to the Treasure Valley! Just give me and Mareen a call, text or email… or smash that Contact Us button and let’s get answers for your questions! Maybe we can get a coffee or a nice lunch! 
