Boise's best

State capital honored as Idaho's Sports Illustrated Sportstown

By Andrew Shulman

With all due respect to the state of Louisiana -- often called "The Sportsman’s Paradise" -- the city of Boise, Idaho, is ready to take a run at the nickname. With an active, outdoor-loving community; picturesque surroundings; and a dedicated Parks and Recreation Department, the city literally offers something for everyone, and was recently named the Sports Illustrated Sportstown for Idaho.

Nestled in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Boise’s location makes it a natural place for outdoor activity, and its residents take full advantage of their environs.

"Our community loves to be outside and engaged in some form of recreational activity," said Doug Holloway, Boise’s superintendent of recreation. "Within 40 minutes of downtown, there’s skiing, boating, hunting, fishing and kayaking and just about anything you else can imagine."

With a backdrop like that, Holloway and his colleagues at the Boise Parks and Recreation Department are charged with maintaining the natural beauty of the area and developing recreation programming and facilities to give residents even more options.

That starts with preserving the open spaces in and around Boise. The city’s jewel is the 23-mile greenbelt, a grassy area that follows the Boise River from one end of town to the other.

"The greenbelt is great area for residents to come out to and enjoy nature, sometimes right in the middle of downtown," said Holloway. "And because of its location, we’ve literally seen people come out of their offices, change into waders and head down to the river to do some fly fishing during their lunch hour."

Along with maintaining the greenbelt and numerous other parks throughout the city -- Boise is well above the national average in park land per capita -- the city also oversees 19 basketball courts, 74 tennis courts, 12 football fields, 11 permanent and three seasonal softball fields, one baseball field, six outdoor swimming pools and the City/YMCA Aquatic Center, 33 Little League fields, an archery range, 48 soccer fields, a 90,000 square-foot ice rink, a skate park and an 18-hole golf course.

In all, the city runs more than 500 programs per year at these facilities and more than 500,000 residents participate annually. And while sports are available to both youth and adults, the Department -- and the city as a whole -- takes special pride in offering opportunities to its children and adolescents. In addition to sports programming, the city has developed several initiatives, including an after-school program aimed at helping at-risk youth succeed.

But Boise has also taken youth participation a step further and appointed one local adolescent to serve on each of the city’s commissions and committees, giving its youth a voice in all city activities and decisions.

"Back in the early ’90s, we did some extensive research and found that we needed to better connect with our youth and help them succeed," said Holloway. "So we made some large-scale changes and have received excellent feedback from our residents."

Innovative ideas like that are the true mark of a SI Sportstown. So the rest of the country now recognizes what the residents of Boise already know -- it’s a great place to live and play.