I’ve been thinking the past weeks about nice things in and around Idaho Falls, nice things I like to see or do by myself or with family and friends.
It’s one thing for outsiders to read a list of things to do here.
It’s another thing to read why locals enjoy living here, which will inevitably include some of the items from the previous list.
If there’s something you do not enjoy, I’m sure we already have a topic started on it. For this discussion, let’s hear some of the nicer things that we enjoy here.
It can be healthy to express these things, and it can be helpful for newcomers to discover the things that locals REALLY enjoy.
How would you respond to:
I enjoy living around Idaho Falls because…
Popularity: 9%
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Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
:@:)
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I enjoy living around Idaho Falls because…
…walking and riding bikes around the greenbelt.
…taking kids to local parks.
…dinners at Smitty’s.
…nice quiet neighborhoods.
…occasional plays at the colonial theater.
…free summer kids movies at the Edwards Cinema.
Great place to raise a family! I don’t have to worry much about the children playing in the neighborhood. And there are some very good schools.
I also enjoy the arts, music and theatre. There’s plenty of that here!
TEN TOP REASONS WHY I LOVE IDAHO FALLS
1. If I loose my purse, odds are I’ll get it back – with everything intact.
2. Traffic is do-able. Even 17th street
3. No matter how hot the days, nights are cool
4. State of the art medical care.
5. Entertainment, culture and recreation are abundant and close at hand. If one complains there’s nothing to do here, they haven’t looked very hard.
6. People of faith who in large part, look out for their neighbors.
7. Greenbelt, greenbelt, greenbelt. Where else can you find a beautiful river running right through the middle of town.
8. Housing is still affordable
9. Fireworks on the Fourth (with coordinating music) are spectacular.- no matter who pays for them. If experiencing the show doesn’t infuse you with feelings of patriotism, you’re a robot.
10. People are community minded and not afraid to get involved. People like our own Joe Vandal do what they can, giving of their time and resources to improve what needs improving.
Love to live there if they had jobs for anthropologists.
Yellowstone, Grand Tetons…need I say more?
anthropologist’s can find work here.
What do anthros do there?
Aren’t there plenty of Indian sites to study? Plus isn’t anthropology also about culture, which everywhere has.
I’d like to ask AceOdale where all the “plenty of” Arts, Music and Thearte is in this town. Coming from a big city that’s something I really miss. I mean I love IF and the sense of community, all the parks and outdoor activities, but as far as The Arts, Music and Theatre go, Idaho Falls is severely lacking in that department.
This is just one more reason I think we need a decent sized convention center here. So these types of things can come to town the way they do other towns & cities across the country.
Haven’t you looked at the art council schedule, they have shows and plays about every other week at the colonial theater.
There’s also the virginia theater in Shelley, and the independent arts group on Broadway.
Whatever happened to that BJ’s Bayou north of town that used to do shows, are they still in business or do they not do shows anymore?
A big convention center would be nice to attract those bigger acts that won’t look at us now.
Heh. After growing up here, there has been a major change in arts, music & theater in the last 6 years, since I came back from college. Huge difference. I like it and want to see it keep moving forward.
CR67 – No question the arts scene in IF can’t hold a candle to any major metro. probably not comperable to Boise either. However, for its size, Idaho Falls has a remarkably robust and sophisticated “culture.”
There’s really quite a bit here for those who don’t want to live in the “Big City.”
I was born and raised in a small Idaho town (population less than 1000). Other than school activities, socializing was family oriented or in bars. Family oriented activities were then and still are my favorite activities. I lived for a few years in the Baltimore/DC area, have spent time in Seattle and San Francisco. Idaho Falls is ideal in many ways. Everything that I did in the larger areas, I can do here. The only difference that I have been able to see is that Baltimore had 10 or more places to do an activity — IF has one. We would drive to see an Oriole game and be gone from home for several hours. Here we drive to see a Chukar’s game and are gone for the length of the game plus 20 minutes tops for travel to and from the game. I can go shopping here and spend as much time as I wish in the stores. In Baltimore, more than half of my time was spent in the car (I admit that a lot of the time I was driving around lost.) When I was in the stores, a lot of time was spent waiting in lines. I miss the beaches — but here again, more time was spent driving to them. I don’t miss the traffic — the hordes of people — the crime — the high prices.
The beaches — Ririe Lake, Blacktail, Redfish Lake (and I’m sure many others) are good substitutes. Plus we are close to outdoor summer activities and outdoor winter activities. We just need to take advantage of them — and many of them are FREE. I couldn’t find anything back East that was free.
I guess what I am saying is that everything I did in the large metro areas, I can do here (maybe not on quite as grand a scale, but in actuality it is more fun here). I have always been a believer in that we can make a hell out of heaven, or a heaven out of hell. And, IF is ranking pretty high in my book.
Because its better than living in Boise. Wait, that might be considered faint praise. Ah well.
Idaho Native, can you tell me the diff between Ririe Lake and Blacktail? I always thought they were the same body of water.
Well, here I sit with egg on my face Guest. It’s not Ririe Lake I was talking about, I think it is probably Rigby Lake. Sorry about that. (But they both start with “R” — does that count?)
No worries, I forget my own kids names sometimes.
My wife and I have a saying, used whenever we experience any number of wonderful things about “our town” and usually offered with a big smile and knowing wink; ‘THAT”S, why we live here’. It seems to often represent one of those moments that is hard to put into words. A random act of kindness from a neighbor or stranger for that matter. The beauty of the climate this morning at 6:30 a.m. on my deck under the canopy of ancient trees in our neighborhood after an early morning rain. The people who work to make this spot on the desert so special. The South Fork, the Henry’s Fork, The Middle Fork and the Main.The Parks, big small, national, regional and community. The finest municipal golf courses anywhere. I mean have you ever experienced a full moon rising as you are finishing up a round at Pinecrest or a sunrise at Sandcreek. Then think about what you have to pay. Spectacular!! There are so many other reasons I’ll just close with “THATS, why we live here”
I like potatoes. You know, I really, really like potatoes. I like ‘em with butter, with sour cream, with chili con carne, crushed bacon…
Not just any potatoes. They have to be Idaho potatoes. Ummm. I could just lay here lookin’ at the blue sky and clouds and think about delicious Idaho potatoes all day long…
And ya jes cain’t be shure o’ gittin’ genu-wine Idy-ho taters in sum udder place, know whut ah mean, Vern?
Funny, I just had a crazoid tater craving. I had to rip and tear into taters tonight. The only way I know how to bake them is in a cast iron dutch oven with hot coals top and bottom. I make those taters Steaming MEAN! And then I rip them open as waves of steam gush forth and I slather them with sour cream, chopped green onions, fresh roasted and peeled green chiles, fresh ground black pepper, a huge dollop of real butter and then I dive in. Kinda like the Old Nestea Plunge, only the other way around–face first! I INHALE taters! Yeah, after a couple of Full Dress Inhalations, I can sit back and relax and exhale. Life is GOOD!
Of course, you DO know we ALL live in Tater Nation. And the ruler is: King Tot. Assisted by Queen Curly Fry and Prince Sir Hash Brown.
To know me is to SPUD ME!
Cheers, TV (The Volunteer)
them ain’t no tater tots!
I shouldn’t read those last comments (19, 20) so late at night! Too late to eat but my mouth is watering!