Anyone ever been to the east coast and seen all of the thick green trees everywhere? Or to Alaska and seen the massive mountains and glacier waterfalls? Or even to southern Utah and seen the funky other planet looking landscapes? My question to people who have been around this country is, Is Idaho Falls beautiful compared to most of america? Im not saying Jackson, or Yellowstone, or other places you have to drive a couple hours to. I mean Idaho Falls. It doesn’t have any special features that I can see. No mountains looming above it, no thick green treed areas, no rolling hills and valleys. Its flat and desert like, surrounded by farmers fields. Even the fotthills are plowed over and farmed. The greenbelt is alright and is finally being realized as such, after surrounding it by industrial areas. I mention this because some visitors came here and were suprised because they heard this was a beautiful place. I guess if you have only ever lived here then it is beauty in your eyes. I feel there is alot that can be done to make this more of what people expect. Unless im wrong and it is out of the ordinary?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve lived and traveled to many places.
I remember living in the thick trees of the Eastern US and absolutely craving the site of watching a thunderstorm roll in over the desert from a distant vantage point. Not just the rain falling through small patches of sky that I could see through the leafy trees above.
You can not, in most other parts of the world walk upon such spectacular lava flows as Idaho Falls citizens have right out their back door. Nor, see the small beauty of looking down at that same lava rock to see small wildflowers growing straight from that rock after a good rain.
And of course it’s not just that a drive for 2 hours will get you to Yellowstone or Jackson. Rather, 2 hours in one direction will get you someplace geologically completely different than if you drove 2 hours in the other direction. And that is also fairly unique to Idaho.
There are plenty of places I have not been but, consider myself well traveled. I can say that in most places I have lived, there are always people that are unable to see the wonders of their own backyard. I found a special treat in being a tourist in my own home town.
I think Idaho Falls is beautiful simply because it is based around a river.
have you ever noticed that communities that grow around railroad tracks or highway junctions just aren’t as pleasing to the eye?
Nom it doesn’t stand out much by way of the city itself, except that in this region it’s fairly large and central to many amazing wilderness sites within drivin distance.
I too think there is always room to improve though.
sorry about the typos!
PS I also find beauty in the fact that Idaho Falls is a goot place to raise my children… but that is another type of beauty altogether.
good (grief!)
I think we live in a beautiful place. My back yard is stunningly beautiful. What you see depends on what you are looking for.
I’ve had people come to IFin July/August when the fields are turning yellow and are so disgusted. It takes some explaining that it is just the course of the seasons. I think when you live here, you can appreciate, that the crops start off in spring and than go through the natural course. I enjoy watching it each year. I think IF the city has a lot of potential. The Falls (not season, but the actual FALLS) are beautiful, have you seen the tourists that crowd around to just take pictures of them in the summer? Of course there is room for improvement, but there are some nice features too.
I think the beauty is not in individual things but in how far you can see. I love the openness and that on any given horizon there is something worth exploring.
I have lived on the East coast and the while green is beautify it also gets tiresome and claustrophobic for me.
I think we tend to take our surroundings for granted. Watch what the tourists come for, and see that we do have a lot of beautiful places in and around town.
I also agree that the river is a great place.
I currently live in SW Florida but I get back to IF every now and then because of family. I grew up there and moved away just as soon as I could. Whould I move back to IF? No, can’t take the winters. But there are things I do miss. The smell of a freshly mowed hay field. The rain coming in off the desert. Even the smell of sagebrush! I always thought that they city could do more in making it more attractive. IF is billed as the Gateway to Yellowstone, afterall. I suppose it has come a long ways from how it use to look. If they could make Yellowstone Highway more eye pleasing it would go a long way to spiffy up the place. And get rid of those underpasses! Every place has its own uniqueness. In all my moves to other states it has amazed me how the native/local folks never venture out beyond their little town’s or big cities. They have no clue whats out there to see. IF has beauty so close by. I can’t imagine living there my whole life and never going to Jackson, SunValley, Craters of the Moon, or even Bone! True, not much there in Bone, but its cool to say you’ve been to Bone, Idaho. I think those wind generators out that way are cool too! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. Think I’m getting a bit homesick , gotta stop!
last summer i took a trip a week to mesa falls. I like to drive so the hour or so it took me to get there was fun, and then once i got there…..oh it is so divine, so peaceful. I’ve taken lots of photos, but usually i had to go in the evening time so i would like to have taken in a lot of other places. This year i think i might head to a few other places on the same day, if i can stretch having a whole day off in the good weather.
Idaho falls really isnt a bad looking town in general, but the beauty of it is the gateway to the wilderness.
Idaho Falls itself is ugly. You don’t have to drive far to find beautiful scenery but the city itself lies on the edge of the ugly armpit of Idaho that extends all the way across southern Idaho encompassing the Idaho Falls area, the Burley area, the Twin Falls area, and the Boise area.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Idaho Falls is beautiful.
I also say thank goodness for the wind and cold; they keep out the riff-raff!
I never thought of Idaho Falls as a “beautiful” city. It’s just another city. It has small pockets of nice scenery here and there. There are much worse places to live. If you want to see a truly ugly town, visit Battle Mountain, Nevada. If you call a town like that a “1″ and Interlaken, Switzerland a “10″, then Idaho Falls would fall in somewhere around a “5″.
How many cities can you say are beautiful? IF ranks right at the top for pretty cities because of the river and greenbelt. But frankly, I don’t think any city that I have been in is pretty. The tall concrete buildings take away from the “prettiness”, and we have a starting of that with the infamous Marriott Hotel on the river. The surrounding country around IF? No. If you drive a ways, then the countryside gets quite pretty. I guess Driggs and Victor would be considered pretty also. And of course, the winner of all in Idaho would be Stanley in my opinion.
Personally, I think the Craters of the Moon is pretty because of the starkness and lava flows. So I might not be a good one to ask. As you can see, my tastes are all over the place.
You know, part of the problem here is the complaining. I have heard sooo many people here complain about this area be it the dominant religion, the scenery, the fashion sense of the people, nothing to do, etc…. If you think of Idaho Falls as an ugly place and you don’t want it to be then do something to help. If more people that felt that way stayed here and helped instead of complaining, this place could be alot better. Who knows who Kate Curly was???? we’ve all heard of the park but the history is more significant, she was active in helping to plant and organize the donation and purchase of all the trees planted on the numbered streets. Who knows about the lady who donated thousands of dollars to the city in a trust to help plant flowers every year???? Or about the greenhouse the city owns with her name on it at Rose Hill cemetery????? If more people were active in the master gardener program, or the community gardens this city could “green up” with new plantings of trees, shrubs, flower beds, and parks. Unfortunately funding for these types of things are the first to get cut and they rely heavily on volunteers, which are pretty few in number.
If you arent active in making it happen and volunteering, then your just putting pressure on the powers that be to raise taxes to keep the complainers happy. oooooo look at all the weeds in the alley, all the shrubs that need pruned in the parks, the slow snow plows, the weeds in the city flower beds, the trash in the streets, ooooh my. All you have to do is drive up an alley or two and see how people take care of whats on the other side of the fence to see where their efforts stop.
It’s true that there is beauty surrounding Idaho Falls but the town itself is extremely ugly. There is a stockyard in the middle of town and most of the rest of the town is run down and shoddy looking. There is litter everywhere and it stinks most of the time. Anything that is new and clean is total homogeneous corporate expansion with no style or class. Plus, you’re forced to look at the mormon temple the entire time you’re driving in from the south. But, what really makes Idaho Falls ugly are the people. I don’t mean looks either. There is such an epidemic of uneducated, narrow minded ignorance in this town that it’s almost infectious. This is a town that hates intellectualism. People here cling tenaciously to their mythical and archaic beliefs that any type of cultural and progressive thought is shunned. So, no, Idaho Falls is not a beautiful town and neither are any of the towns on the Interstate 15 corridor. And, Kevin, If you do something like plant flowers here, you’re just asking for some redneck to run over them with his jacked up F250 so why waste your time. Get out and go somewhere beautiful and leave these people to wait for the rapture.
Anonymous,
If you really hate the town, people and area as much as you say, do all us religeous zealot, redneck, small minded, homogeneously ugly natives a favor and move to some more enlightened town like San Fransisco or somewhere like it. Won’t miss ya!
Wow Anonymous you should take a chill pill. IMO, there are some beautiful residential areas. When you get in the older established neighborhoods with all the trees, it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that. Some of the areas surrounding Tautphus Park are gorgeous. There is a group (sorry I don’t recall their name) that is responsible for putting flowers around town in baskets etc. I don’t know what group you are talking about, but personally, I find there is quite a group of highly educated people. The Site is responsible for bringing in these people and a number of them decided to stay on after their employment ended. Because of this, there has been quite a dilution of the predominant religion which I believe you were alluding to. If anyone wants to contribute to the locale where they are living, they can can help make it quite appealing. If however, we spend all our time looking for the negative, then it will surely be there as it is in any city.
I have to agree that Idaho Falls is definately UGLY. But the people are great. We recently moved here, and so far 6 of our neighbors made the effort to come over & meet us, and bring something homemade to eat. We have lived in several states, and as far as pretty goes it is not. I need shade trees, hills, and the wind, ugh, always windy. I agree with the trash issue, lots of litter, and most areas we’ve seen are rather run down, A job transfer brought us here, and we are hoping to transfer back to the mountains. But Idaho Falls (at least Rigby) has very nice people.
I would have to say that there are a ton of run down areas of town. It’s sad to see portions of the downtown area look abandoned and decrepit then walk one block and see a beautiful building. I am wondering why, if the building is not being taken care of, it’s not just demolished for parking or a nice grassy area. Downtown is just one area of town that has this problem.
Then there are the housing issues. I know there’s at least one in every neighborhood but shouldn’t the city be enforcing the ordinances to keep your property clean and free of clutter and garbage? Why aren’t they taking care of it? I thought the property owner had to keep the weeds under control and trees trimmed. It does make a lot of places hard to look at.
I may be wrong, but I think the constant wind has a lot to do with the trash problem. Maybe we just need to keep a tighter lid on our trash.
I’m sure that isn’t the only problem, but it may help.
Idaho Falls has some great potential and some parts that make one weep for the lost opportunities. It is what it is – a regional rural center finding itself as a 21st century community. We aren’t a wealthy community – but we could use a little more civic pride. The Mormon temple is actually a lovely structure, but so is the Trinity United Methodist church on Water, and the Presbyterian church on Elm.
Churches usually bring out the best in our architectural efforts, and do not detract from the community. The river is the most significant natural feature of our town that we can utilize, and needs more such utilization – but not necessarily by more commercial development – more public access/parks would aid the beautification of our town.
Who has the money though? I’m afraid I don’t know where we can get revenue sufficient for the improvements, unless we enact a parks/recs sales tax like bigger cities do. But, does anyone actually think we could raise enough support for something like that, especially during these economic times?
I’m doubtful.
Intelligent city planning doesn’t take a lot of money. It DOES take people who care about the city and not just how much money they can stuff into their pockets by taking payoffs from developers. There are cities the size of Idaho Falls that ARE actually beautiful with well balanced building, lots of parks and recreation areas, etc. Idaho Falls planners have chosen to take another route. We have a very poorly planned street system with bottlenecks everywhere, mass-market, cloned buildings by the river that look like nothing more than a movie set, incompetent developers running wild throwing up hundreds of crappy houses everywhere, entire sections of the city totally ignored and in decay. And we now have that monstrosity of a hotel on the river blocking what little view there was.
On the plus side, we have a nice river. With ducks.
LOL, I like Cafe’s last sentence.
And I agree with their comment as a whole. This city could be so much better than it is. But with that being said, I think it’s up to the community as a whole to make said improvements. There are beautiful cities all over the country that don’t have the incredible “backyard country” that Idaho Falls has. Being that we are considered the “gateway to Yellowstone”, I think it would behoove our city to make some drastic improvements. These improvements would then bring in more visitors and the visitors that usually stay a few hours or a day would end up staying a weekend or more, thus improving our local economy. Afterall, the only really beautiful part of our city is near the river.
Regardless, I enjoy Idaho Falls and it’s close proximity to some of the most beautiful country in America.
I don’t understand why those who think this community such a $%&t hole why they are still here. Move and complain to someone who gives a damn.
I think my little chunk of town is perfect.