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Show _TheSalt Lake Tribune TRAVEL Sunday, March 28,1999 Booming Boise Evolves From Potato Chips to Microchips BY DAN GALLAGHER area in the lower 48 states. Salt IF YOU GO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOISE — Thecapital city of ground and a microchip future, a small town and an expanding ur- ban center. Boise's growing employment and cultural offerings, combined with quick access to four seasons of outdoor recreation, are the rea- sonsits population has more than doubled to 167,000 since 1970. Getting There: Boise is on Interstate 84, the main route through southern Idaho, as well as Idaho Highways 55 and 21, headed to the central Idaho mountains. Boise is 336 miles from Salt Lake City. Seven air- lines serve the Boise Air Terminal. mains a trading post to move products and administer thestate i have been the supplier to those coming across the plains Nowwe'resuppliers with Micron Technology with their chips, or Hewlett-Packard,” says Shirl Boyce of the Area Economic De- velopment office The Boise Riverlined by cottonwoods — after crossing hundreds of miles of sagebrush desert — evoked the description “boissie’ or “wooded” from explorer Peter Skene Ogdenandhis French-Canadian trappers in 1824. The so-called “City of Trees eventually popped up at the crossroads of the Oregon Trail with the supplyroute betweenthe Boise Basin mines north of town to Silver City in the Owyhee Mountains to the south. the 1860s, and federal agents were concerned about the Southern sympathizers coming to Idahoanderecting mining towns like Atlanta and Leesburg, said Arthur Hart, retired director of the Idaho State Historical Soci ety. In 1863, a government fort was authorized to monitor the area and the town started to grow along the river. A yearlater, it was declared the capital of the Idaho Territory. Boise languished through the recession of the early 1980s. The center of town had been razedfor AMIGO TRAVEL Mound-trip Ticket Prices from Salt Lake City to Idaho is a magnet for people who want to escape the crowds. The heated in-migration has morningandplaygolf orfish in the afternoon. Mountain bikers can viewtheentirevalley from the Boise foothills. Someof the best whitewaterrafting around than an hour away on the ayette River, or you can join the flotillas of thousands of people who cruise down the gentle Boise River on their inner tubes in the summer. shopping, entertainment and pro- fessionalservices. As with other Western states, sizeable spectrum of restaurants for a town its size, from coffee houses such as the Fiying M to upscale continental Schott's. The TableRock Brewpub and the Harrison Hollow carry. It’s possible to ski at Bogus Basin Ski Area on a spring and Oregon Trail, the gold fields. Dining: Boise features a reational equipment they can are advised to bringall the rec- gon and northern Nevada drive substantial distances to Boise for eateries such as the Gamekeeper Restaurant and Peter slowed a bit from the mid-1990s, but the metropolitan areahasstill been growing at nearly 3 percent a year. Boise has been a bargain for newcomers, butthepriceis climbing. The average cost of a homeis $109,000. That compares with a nationwide average $129,000, according to Standard & Poors. Brew House feature microbrewed beer and food. Outdoor dining is the keyat severalrestaurants in the neighborhood. Hyde | Residents from central Idaho, eastern Ore- commodations ranging from bed-and-breakfasts to all the major chain lodgings to thehistoric Idanha Hotel. Great Outdoors: Visitors Boise has never depended en- tirely on anyoneindustry but re- closest metropolis. rooms in about 50 different ac- Idaho is in between things: the Great Basin high desert and the Northern Rockies, a rural back- LakeCity, 330 miles away, is the Lodging: Local hotels and motels have more than 4,000 Park Annual average taxes in 1996 totaled $10,133, making Boise the 3lst lowest among 50 selected larger cities around the country. The average income is about Information: The Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau is located at 168 N. 9th. Suite 200. It can be reached at 1-800-635-5240, locally at 208344-7777 or on the Web at $27,000. Those seeking a respite from work have any numberofoutdoor www.boise.org sports awaiting them. The river through town is a thriving trout stream. The Greenbelt along both redevelopment, but no one want- invented frozen french fries and ed to take the plunge and rebuild there. That eventually changed with the advent of several corporate s rapers, hotels and a convention center. Hart says Boise was settled so his cattle herd was in the top 10 recently that most people didn’t top mansionand a huge American flag flapping in the wind. He went from potato chips to microchips when he put up much of the investment moneyto create Boise remains a good place to do business. It is the corporate headquarters of computer chip maker Micron Technology Inc., agribusiness’ J.R. Simplot Co. Hoover Dam builder MorrisonKnudsen Co., Inc., and the Albertson's Inc. supermarket chain. It also has a Hewlett-Packard elec- tronics plant involved in research and development J.R. Overlooking Boise from 16 miles away is the Bogus Basin Ski The potato baron makes his toric value. That has changed as residents renovate older build- miles of paved and graveled paths for walking, running or bicycling. Boise presence knownwitha hill- consider the architecture of his- ings into residences andoffices. shores provides more than 25 largestin the country. Micron Technology, Idaho's largest private employer with 8,500 hundred workers. California- based Hewlett-Packard employs 3,700, and there are about50 oth- er small electronics firms producing high-tech gear. Albertson’s Inc.’s pending merger with American Stores will make it the second-largest grocery chain in the nation. It employs about 3,000 people. Boiseis the most remote urban Area, whichfeaturesa half-dozen A swinging town: Dean Young a into the BoiseIRiver be there wereonly a few things to do. Now you end up with more things than you can do.” largest enrollment in Idaho at more than 15,000 students, is the venue for concerts andcollegiate athletics. The Idaho Stampede of fer some of the best whitewater league baseball and the Idaho Steelheads hockey team are the local professional, albeit minorleague, organizations. And an indoor football league team is rafting in the nation, and not much farther away is the famed Salmon River. If there was any complaint about Boisein the past, it was that the city offered few entertainment and cultural options. STSTRAINS SUMFALTOASP. SAT IRAP EST i 75 (7283) 15 Amsterdam ki Last ™M NUTEATES that neversleeps, it boasts a growing number of ways to work and play. “The community is certainly evolving,” Minskoff says. “Boise has become a much richer place scheduledto debutthis spring. In thefirst half of the century, thousands of Basques came from tor of Boise Magazine. “It used to Asia Ticket ‘Tour Specialist $1499 ge The Best of China 16 days (May 28) $2498 siolden China 11 days (Sep 3) sinspiration of China 11 days (Oct 15) Sie formances. While Boise maynot be a town to be.” “It's turned 180 degrees www,easterntravel.com seChina Focus 9 days (April 24) spectators for a night parade, hot- | air balloon rally and musical per- around,” says Alan Minskoff, edi- stern Laval RERE 466-8811 2906 S. Stat Toll Free 1-888-682-7035 his fortune with horse sense. He North America. The city’s showcase event is the Boise River Festival in late June, which drawstensof thousands of the Continental Basketball Association, the Boise Hawks in A- VISIT OUR CRUISE AUCTION WEBSITE PRELUE OR At LilaUlaReQk b+)BetQl FRegwat way a ue 60 penavar THE Simplot, one of the 100 richest people in America, made has the largest Basque enclavein § Boise State University, with the chairlifts and one of the largest night-skiing operations in the Northwest. About 120 miles to the east is the venerable Sun Valley resort. ‘The nearby Payette Rivers of- Spain and France to Idaho to work as sheepherders. 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