Greetings, There's a chance that I might be relocating to Boise for work. I'm curious how "MO" it really is?? With a few young ones in school my concern is that they will experience what I dealt out as a TRUEBLUE, BIC-TSCC member, which is Mormon kids don't play with NON-BELIEVERS. Are there areas that are less brain washed than others? I hear the craft beer scene in Boise is alive and well.

They have a very active downtown, lots of little breweries, coffee shops, and cool restaurants. Stay out of Meridian and you won't even think of Mormonism while in Boise.

Is Star too close to Meridian?

I don't know anything about Star so I can't answer about any Mormon influence there.

Star's a tiny little blip on the map. Not a bad place to live if you like small villages.

It's about ten miles to Meridian. And Meridian is about halfway to Boise from there.

As for religious demographics, not sure how many are LDS there. Countywide the demographics are thus per Sperling, " 44.35% of the people in Ada County, Idaho are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 7.02% are Catholic; 16.28% are LDS; 10.48% are another Christian faith; 0.17% in Ada County, Idaho are Jewish; 0.84% are an eastern faith; 0.24% affilitates with Islam." Hence, Mormons make up the MAJORITY of practicing religions within Ada County, for what that is worth.

Little towns can seem bucolic to visitors. If you aren't comfortable with knowing neighbors business and local gossip, clannishness with some (Mormons are known to be notoriously clannish in parts of Ada county.) Something to be aware of before you get there.

That's interesting.
Even though mormons make up the majority of religious people there, religious people aren't a majority.

I wouldn't have suspected that. But it's been a long time since I've been there, I guess things have changed.
For the better :)

Little towns in Ada county can be enclaves for Mormons however.

My birth son was adopted to dairy farmers through the cult in Ada county. I wasn't supposed to ever find him. How I did was nothing short of a miracle.

When I learned about his upbringing, a woman on a different site lived in his hometown with her husband and young children for a very short time. Her children attended the local school. They were Christian, but not LDS.

Her boys attended the Boy Scouts at the local LDS ward. The troop leaders were of course what else but Mormon elders. Her sons would come home and report they were secretly trying to be converted by the Mormons at the scout meetings, and sworn to secrecy not to tell their parents when they went home.

To make matters worse, as if that weren't bad enough, the town was so much Mormon that they totally froze any outsiders out. They were both snobbish and clannish to the nth degree.

This woman I know from another site is a fashionista, tall, willowy blonde woman who likes sports cars and living an upper middle class lifestyle, and very social. She was still iced out by the local small town Mormon population. So too was her husband and her children.

After learning about what was happening at the scout meetings was the straw that broke the camel's back for her. They quickly up and moved to Nampa, not far away from there. But a world away in terms of being accepted and no more Mormon mind games by the local clan.

To think my birth son's adoptive parents and their clannish Mormon relatives who lived around them there were a part of that snobby clannish environment, and his late dad had been a scout leader at the local Mormon church. Well, it makes me feel very sad for him and me that we were both duped by a cult that would adopt him to such a family and a farce of a religion.

I'm glad he found his way out of the cult after his mission. His adoptive mother refuses to let him have any contact with me at all. She is furious that I found him (it wasn't supposed to happen according to her playbook.) Damn Mormons anyway. She hates me knowing that I'm alive and have found him. Not sure why she finds that so threatening. Her insecurity issues, not mine. It hasn't been good for my birth son. Maybe distance is the best arrangement for now. He got out of there too. Moved away. Lives on the west coast. Moved in with his Jewish girlfriend. (The circle of life going full circle!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2018 10:18AM by Amyjo.

Nampa is uber TBM. My pal is from there....former bish.

yes star is close

I have lived in Boise/Meridian my whole life. There is a large Mormon population in the area. You will see a lot of LDS churches close to most neighborhoods and the new temple in meridian. Most if not all of the dentists are Mormon and a great deal of businesses are ran by them. On the other hand I am seeing many people opening up new businesses in the area that are not ran by them. The only reason I know this is because I work with a lot of small businesses and help them with their networking needs. You will also more than likely work with many of them and have to deal with them everyday.

Beware of people who call snow mobiles "snow machines".

Went to university there in the 80's. It was a fair mix then, and even less so now. You won't have any trouble meeting never mos, ex-mos, and inactive members.

The university and tech companies along w/JR Simplot and Boise Cascade, among other large corporations bring in talent from all over the nation and the world. It's really a world class community in the 21st century.

You'll probably like it. You can find whatever you're looking for there.

The downtown has really gentrified since I lived there. I probably wouldn't recognize it today.

The LDS institute across the street from the college campus disbanded long ago. When I attended college it was an active college institute. There was a separate singles ward back then. Don't know if that's still around, but I doubt it because the church there is shrinking I should think, not growing.

The families wards I attended were middle to upper middle class, young to older professionals. Depending on which ward I attended - one where the bishop was a real asshat (and he was the youngest of the three I recall.) The other ward I had two excellent bishops in succession. They were real mensches. Wish all were like those two men. The church would have a fighting chance were that so.

But they're not. Don't even come close.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2018 08:58PM by Amyjo.

The only place there seems to be a lot of mormons is in politics. Looks like we'll probably have a mormon governor next time judging by the guys who've thrown their hats in so far. Ick.

Lived in Boise for 13 years and travel there for work now several times per month. Boise is awesome, you likely will encounter lds but it isn’t at all like the morridor. Lots of things to do, wonderful breweries, great food and pretty good weather. I wouldn’t be at all hesitant to live there. If and and when you encounter the tbms, firm and simple declarations of boundaries will be sufficient. Seriously a great place to live and work.

I know pocatello is a little over 50% but it definitely feels more than that. Hopefully boise is not like pocatello.

You notice it more in Pocatello because Mormons have been a driving force there in business, politics, community and the single largest group religiously to date.

Pocatello is a very conservative community owing to the Mormon influence.

There are liberals there. I'd look around the university more to find them, and in activities that don't involve Mormon ones.

The Atomic Energy site still employs people to work out on the Arco desert. That brings in people from all over the nation. And highly educated engineers and scientists along with their families that adds to the cultural diversity of the region.

You just have to get more involved outside your home in things that matter to you to find non-LDS activities.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2018 10:31AM by Amyjo.

Meridian isn't too Mormony is it?

I've known some non-Mormon executive types that made their home there and liked it. They had children/teenagers at the time. The husband's work took them around the country. The wife was very finicky about where they set down roots. She chose Meridian as their home base during their Boise years.

I have lived in the area forb13 years and am not even conscious of Mormonism excel perhaps when I drive by the temples. I don't bother them...they don't bother me. It's all about the attitude you bring with you. Boise is a great town with a great community spirit.

My relatives living in the Boise area are either inactive LDS or ex-Mormon. They like living there. No complaints. Moved there to retire in fact. A half-brother has lived his adult life between Nampa and Idaho City (two homes.) Also not an active Mormon, though was raised one.

A close friend of mine (neverMo and Catholic, husband neverMo and of no religion) relocated with her family to Boise from the San Francisco Bay Area about a year and a half ago. She and her husband didn't know anyone in Boise at the time, but they were struggling with the cost of living here, so when his company offered him a job in ID, they made the move.

Anyway, for the most part they are enjoying Boise, but I do know she and her kids have experienced a few issues with Mormons in their neighborhood. Probably the major one is that their younger daughter, who was extremely popular in the school she attended out here, was struggling at school socially because most of the kids in her class were LDS, and she was being excluded and getting some pressure to attend Mormon services (in only the fourth grade!). By contrast, my friend's older daughter, who is a bit socially awkward and didn't have many friends out here, has apparently done very well at the same school in Boise--but as it happens, in that daughter's class LDS kids are not a majority, so that may well be a factor.

My friend has also described a few encounters with Mormons there who have been shockingly rude simply because she is not LDS. On the other hand, she says some other Mormons she's met are pretty "chill," and she's even made good friends with a couple.

So, according to her the Mormon factor there is occasionally a pain but tolerable; for those with school-age children like she has it might be more of a concern. My friend is still debating whether to move her kids to a Catholic school in Boise at some point, even though their neighborhood public school is very good.

If it helps as far as areas you might want to check out, my friend's zip in Boise is 83716.

I live in Meridian...you have no worries..might be some isolated incidents from some uber types but it's not Utah by any means..also there is a huge exmo community in the area...if you are coming post again ..

Lived in Boise. It's kind of like a small Denver. The Mormon church is not a major thing there but it's got regular wards and if you want the church thing it's there but if you don't it's not going to bother you. I personally think it's one of the better places to live out west.