Boise sits in southwestern Idaho, at the point where desert meets mountain range and rural past meets high-tech future. Although the population of Idaho's capital city is 160,000 and growing, the City of Trees remains essentially uncomplicated.

Boise is a city for outdoorsy, active people who respect old-fashioned values and like to have fun. Residents fish in the Boise River as it flows through downtown, catching healthy rainbow trout. They run along the Boise River Greenbelt during their lunch hours. They jump into their cars for the short drive to skiing at Bogus Basin, whitewater rafting on nearby rivers or water skiing at Lucky Peak Reservoir.

Boiseans also love their parks, especially the series of large riverside parks named after grand ladies in the city's history -- Julia Davis, Ann Morrison and Kathryn Albertson. Boise has nine acres of parks for every 1,000 residents, almost twice the national average.

When Boise residents aren't participating in such activities, they're watching sports. Boise State University football is highly popular, but residents also support professional baseball, basketball and hockey teams.

City residents are proud of the fact that boots and jeans are acceptable attire at virtually any establishment in the city -- but they're equally proud of the wide variety of cultural performances and attractions available.

Perhaps best of all, Boise still is a city where business can be conducted with a handshake and residents can know their neighbors. A distinct character distinguishes each neighborhood - Northwest Boise, North Boise (commonly called the North End), Northeast Boise, the West Boise Bench, Central Boise Bench, Southeast Boise, Southwest Boise and Garden City.

Outlying Communities within the Treasure Valley

Treasure Valley. The name hints of fields rich with agricultural crops ready to harvest. It suggests endless days of golden sunshine in a valley protected from the winds of the desert plateau. It implies a family way of life to be protected and cherished.

One finds all of these treasures in the valley that stretches west from Boise, Idaho, across the rich agricultural lands of southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

Bounded by the Boise Range on the north and east and the Owyhee Mountains on the south, the valley was known as the Lower Snake River Valley or the Boise River Valley until 1959. That's when a marketing whiz named Pete Olesen, president of the valley's association of local Chambers of Commerce, dubbed it the Treasure Valley. Olesen said the name reflected the treasure chest of resources and opportunities in the region.

The name was appropriate, and it stuck.

Today, the valley is home to more than half a million people. They live in the major cities: Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell, all in Idaho. They live in the small towns that dot the valley -- from Ontario, Oregon, through towns such as Fruitland, Middleton, Star, Eagle and Kuna in Idaho. And they live outside the cities and towns, on the ranches and farms of one of the richest agricultural areas in the world.

Residents of Treasure Valley would give many different reasons for the valley's nickname. It might be the agricultural riches. It might be the weather. It might be the valuable high-tech industry, or the numerous outdoor activities, the cultural events, the plentiful sports franchises or perhaps it would be the strong values by which many valley residents live.

Whatever the reason, Treasure Valley is aptly named.