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City Cast Boise

Tips and tricks by Boise locals, for locals.

Boise runners know what a treasure our Foothills trails and Greenbelt are, but people outside the running community might not know that we live in one of the best running cities. And the autumn months of the year might be the best time of the year to start running.

Chandler Underwood joined the City Cast Boise podcast

 right in time for spring. I’m also a lifelong runner, so I added to his tips in case you're putting on some shoes and hitting the trails for the first time.

Many of us have unfond memories of running laps in P.E. classes, where having to run in a poorly ventilated gym with our peers might have been the unbearable cherry on top of the agonies of adolescence. But Underwood offered some words of encouragement to reframe running as an adult.

“First and foremost, I would say be kind to yourself,” Underwood said. “I don’t think there’s any certain pace or distance that you should be running when you’re starting out.”

 worries about being slower than someone else. Finding a community or starting a running group among your friends can help.

“It might be cliche to say, but [the run club] has become my third place, where I’m meeting with my friends every single Tuesday at 6:30 at the same spot, and it creates a sense of routine,” Underwood said. “As far as newbies to the city, I think it’s a great way to learn about the city, about things going on, and meet people.”

The adage goes that running is for everyone, you just need a pair of shoes. I would add that you need the 

 pair of shoes, maybe the right pair of socks, and definitely the right bra if you need one. Luckily, local running stores have the resources to help you find what you need — 

Once you're ready to pick your first run, you’ll find Boise has everything you could ask for. The Greenbelt is our city’s shining gem, and it’s a perfect, flat, uninterrupted path for runners. If you want a gravel road, you can find them at any trailhead but especially Fort Boise. When you want a trail, we have those in spades too.

It’s that variety that Underwood says puts Boise in contention for one of the best running cities in America.

has the route for what he calls the perfect beginner’s run.

Boise runners know what a treasure our Foothills trails and Greenbelt are, but people outside the running community might not know that we live in one of the best running cities.

Why You Really Should Try Running in Boise This Spring

A Guide to Running for the Beginners (and the Haters)

Tips and tricks for living your best Boise life, by locals, for locals.

Boise Life Hacks

 — but with all the festivals, it was practically an event brochure (and if you follow it, I guarantee you’ll have a great time!).

But the introverts in me and you need a little space. And what better way to get space than by literally exploring the outdoors?

Boise’s Foothills trails see lower traffic in the fall, but they’re arguably even better than in the summer: It isn’t as hot, and it prolongs how much of the year you can get outside without layering up.

Howl podcast host Heath Druzin told City Cast Boise that fall offers

 “...everything you can do in summer, but more comfortably, with fewer crowds.”

That includes camping, which some people might write off after Labor Day. Your weekends may be filling up quickly with other things this time of year, but penciling in a quick weekend camping trip is a great way to unplug and see the land in a different light.

One of my favorite fall camping trips was up to the Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO) at Lucky Peak a couple of years ago. 

, but the Valley Fire burned so much of the area last October that overnight camping is no longer available.

 Have an empty long weekend on your calendar? I highly recommend giving a national park trip a shot, whether it’s south to Bryce or Arches, east to Yellowstone, or northwest to Cascade.

Stone fruits, apples, squash, and so many more kinds of produce are coming into peak season at your grocery store. But finding the very best local produce (and supporting local farmers) is easier than ever right now if you know where to look:

The Boise Farmers Market, duh, but they also have their 

 if you shop online Tuesday and Wednesday for Saturday pickup.

 at the intersection of Cole & Ustick is another great option — they operate on Thursday evenings.

, on Broadway Avenue, offers a quick place to stop and get some produce.

Fellow local newsletter, From Boise, has an 

! A lot of those places are also great U-Pick farms for produce.

Getting Outdoors in Boise and Beyond During Fall

 is likely to worsen if wildfire season picks up. Current guidance recommends that sensitive groups run air purifiers, but long-term exposure to smoke harms us all. Air purifiers can be expensive, so here’s how you can make your own at home with a few simple items.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so let’s start with the most simple version of a DIY air purifier.

: Acquire a square fan (most air filters are squares or rectangles, so we’re applying basic geometry).

: Get yourself a HEPA filter (shoot for one similar in size to your fan).

: Secure the filter to your fan via duct tape or packing tape, making sure to seal the connection as tightly as possible.

 from the New York Times’ Wirecutter. Their testing showed this simple version outperformed a fancy $800 air purifier!

After covering the COVID-19 pandemic, The Washington Post reporter Lena H. Sun took it upon herself to build what’s called a Corsi-Rosenthal Box, which basically takes the version above and gives it superpowers. She has a great 

Air purifiers can be expensive, so here’s how you can make your own at home with a quick trip to the store for a few simple items.

A DIY Guide to Making an Air Purifier

Help Your Lungs Endure Boise's Wildfire Smoke With a DIY Air Purifier

Summer’s halfway over, so you should probably check your calendar for fitting in a backpacking or camping trip if you haven’t crossed that off your list yet. But with backpacking, there can be a lot of hangups: pricetags, water safety, and bears come to mind.

So Alex Cravener with the Idaho Trails Association (ITA) shared some recommendations with Hey Boise for novice backpackers! If it’s not you, it’s probably someone you know — so send this to that bewildered friend.

How would you recommend putting together a pack without spending a fortune on gear someone might only use once a year?

Borrow from friends to start if you can! Before buying new, scope out used gear locally in stores (I like 

. Don’t go all in on a whole new setup all at once, but maybe pick your heaviest item to upgrade to start. The lighter the backpack, the easier to carry, but remember, people have been backpacking successfully before ultralight was a thing! A good backpacking setup is acquired over time and will lighten as you learn.

If someone's backpacking in central Idaho, for instance, what are the main wildlife risks to be aware of, and how should they prepare for them?

We do have bears in Idaho, and some forests have specific requirements for bear-safe storage, so 

. Even when it's not a requirement for bears I’m hanging my food so mice and squirrels don’t get in either. I prefer a bear hang (some paracord and a carabiner is lighter and less bulky than a bear box!) but I’ll always at least check google satellite imaging to make sure there are trees where I’m planning on camping. When I’m hiking alone in bear country, I’ll talk out loud to myself when going through brush or blind corners to let any bears know I’m there. In groups, we’re typically making enough noise to scare off wildlife.

What kind of trip should a first time backpacker look for in planning an overnight trip?

First time, make it an easy one! Don’t go for 20 mile days and thousands of feet of elevation to start out, even packing 2 miles into a lake will be a fun trip and gives you a sense of your gear and what you’d want to bring (and want to leave behind) next time!

 to make sure you’re drinking clean and safe water.

ITA hosts backpacking 101 webinars in the spring, and they’re 

Find your first trip based on the recommendations

A Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking Near Boise (and Where to Find Cheaper Gear)

While our 13 City Cast cities (Austin, Boise, Chicago, D.C., Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Madison, Nashville, Philly, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Salt Lake) duked it out in our most recent podcast episode, debating which of our cities is the best for a long weekend trip, we wanted to give you the chance to find the summer city that best suits your vibe, too.

Would you rather eat at a kitschy Mexican restaurant with a 30-foot waterfall and cliff divers, or explore a pickle-themed festival spread across two scenic bridges? Embark on a naked bike ride (which doubles as a protest) or kayak down a historic river? The choice is (literally) yours!

Take the Quiz and Play Along!

Quiz: Where should you plan your next summer weekend trip?

The threat of wildfires is part of life in the Mountain West, but the effects of a changing climate have shifted how we view the seasonality of wildfires, making them increasingly unpredictable and expanding high risk periods. Agencies across Idaho have been working to adapt to shifting risks, but some residents have been taking wildfire preparedness into their own hands.

Idaho Statesman reporter Sarah Cutler spoke to the City Cast Boise podcast about how a brush with disaster inspired Mesa neighborhood residents to form an alliance to make sure they are 

. Here are some of the wildfire preparedness strategies we learned.

The City of Boise website has a wealth of information on things like in-home 

fire safety, evacuation plans, and wildfire mitigation

. Ada County has its own fire adapted community page with resources and 

Signing up for alerts can help save precious time.

 — a free account and mobile app lets you customize direct alerts from public safety officials. Get weather updates with a $.99 upgrade.

 — create a customized dashboard with alerts for individual safety agencies and incident types.

 through the mobile app and learn what to do when the power goes out.

Mesa neighbors created its own Municipal Emergency Safety Actions community group to divide the neighborhood into pods with designated captains responsible for sharing resources for their pod.

The community group also partnered with the fire department to perform evacuation drills — neighbors told Cutler that the drills helped identify needs they hadn’t thought about and pushed them to realize 

how quickly time passes during an emergency evacuation

Things happen quickly during a wildfire, so keep essentials like water, toiletries, and masks at hand. Hey Boise editor Blake Hunter has a list of 

The Mesa neighborhood’s model is a stellar example of preparing for the worst, but simply sharing contact information and emergency plans with neighbors can go a long way in keeping each other safe.

Things happen quickly during a wildfire. Collaborating with your neighbors can help everyone stay safe.

How to Prepare Your Boise Neighborhood for Wildfires

As the leaves budded out this spring, I knew it was time to get a new bike. So I called Nina Pienaar from the Boise Bicycle Project to get some tips about how to get into (or back into) cycling.

What etiquette do novice bikers often miss out on?

“If you are riding on the Greenbelt, especially this time of the year, there are a lot of folks out there, so it’s really good to be a respectful and responsible rider … The correct way to pass someone is to ring your bell to let them know that you're coming, slow down before you reach them, say ‘on your left,’ and then you can pass. If there is someone approaching from the opposite direction, don't squeeze by. Don't make people feel uncomfortable and feel like they need to jump out of your way.”

What are the safety habits that veteran cyclists should pass on to beginners?

“Number one for me is eye contact. If I see a vehicle approaching and I'm not a hundred percent sure [the driver] is gonna stop or that they have seen me, I make sure that we meet eyes. If we don't lock eyes, that means they probably have not seen me. If we lock eyes and they acknowledge my presence, I feel a little bit more comfortable proceeding through an intersection.

“Number two is being predictable. So often because bikes are very nimble — we can hop up and down curbs, we're in the bike lane, we're out of the bike lane because there’s often an obstruction in the bike lane, and so we swerve out of the way — that seems great to us. But it can also be really difficult for vehicles to read where we're going next.”

How should someone start the bike shopping process?

“If you’re walking through our front doors, you’ll be met with warm, friendly faces, and a mechanic will walk you through all the bikes that we have on the shop floor. Those bikes typically run between $300 to $600, or we have a DIY option as well.

“Get [a bike] you’re excited about. If you walk through our doors and nothing is quite what you wanted, come back the next week and I can guarantee you that we’ll have a whole new feed of bikes on the floor.”

What You Should Know When You're Getting a Bike

If this takes you five minutes to read, Amazon will have made $4.5 million by the time you’ve finished.

The list of reasons to spend less with Amazon keeps growing: 

, and a lion’s share of the world’s commerce, to begin with. Just the amount of money the formerly humble online book retailer spends on federal lobbying — a 

As giant corporations seem to provide every answer to Americans’ needs, the list of reasons to spend more with local and independent retailers also keeps growing. For all the ease of fast delivery, the simpler machinations of local economies can’t be beat. When you spend local, that money is more likely to stay local.

So if you want to keep that money in the City of Trees, here are a few places you might start.

Books may no longer be Amazon’s largest revenue source, but the company still makes billions on books annually across audio, print, and ebook forms.

As an audiobook fiend, cutting Amazon’s Audible was a tough bet until I was introduced to Libby, which lends audiobooks and ebooks through local libraries. Plus, it’s free with your 

And should you need a reminder, pay a visit to one of Boise’s locally owned bookstores:

Let’s bring back intentional gift card giving.

You can still give someone a gift card that lets them choose what they want, however. One of my favorite hidden gems to gift Boiseans are the Downtown Boise Association’s gift cards, which can be used at dozens (

) of restaurants, galleries, stores, and hotels in downtown Boise.

Spending less on needs like food also frees up room elsewhere in your budget to be spent at a local establishment instead of places like Amazon. For example, restaurants are incredibly expensive right now, but getting gift cards to restaurants is a great way to support local eateries and provide a budgetary relief and fun experience for whoever you’re gifting the card to.

Employers, take a note from City Cast Boise: One of the perks of working here is that we get a Toast gift card each month that we use at local restaurants (including faves like 

). Other food services like Uber Eats, Doordash, and Grubhub do the same. And to go a step further, who would say no to a WinCo gift card?

This never has been and never will be a personal finance newsletter, 

 starting at your personal budget is the most effective way to cut spending. Cutting your monthly Amazon budget and using that money to enjoy something local is a good way to begin reprogramming the expectation that any item is just a couple clicks away.

Another way to reprogram our expectations is to develop mending or repair skills, or relying on others who already have those skills. Mending clothes or repairing items will conserve waste, save you money, and build community!

Amazon is one of the most influential companies today, and it’s diverting critical commerce away from Idaho's economy.

How to Buy From Local Businesses and Spend Less With Amazon

How to Buy From Local Boise Businesses and Spend Less With Amazon

Thirteen years after the amps were plugged in for the first Treefort Music Fest show, the five-day festival has become the de facto commencement of Boise life post-winter. Even if it’s muddy (or even snowing), Boise shows up for its biggest annual cultural event. And if you don’t want to fork over money for a full pass, there are still plenty of ways to join the celebrations.

 and don’t freak out when you see the nearly $400 price tag. Any festival-goer will tell you that’s not a terrible price, and the beauty of Treefort is that the entire city opens up for this event, unlike so many big festivals with a closed-off feel.

My two best recommendations for getting a chance to see some of the biggest moments of the week are to either buy a single day pass ($160, which will get you into as many shows and events as you can rally for) or a Treefort Music Hall pass for $50.

The single day pass will get you into pretty much everything except special, ticketed events through other forts.

Yet other forts (as in Storyfort, Podfort, etc.: non-musical events) are also your best bet for saving money while partaking in Treefort, because the majority — if not all — of their program is completely free.

🚲 Transportation and Parking for Main Stage

If you’d like to brave the parking lots in Julia Davis Park, best of luck to you! But especially if you’re going during peak hours, I’d recommend only journeying into the park via car for a quick dropoff. Otherwise, especially if you’re trying to get to the main stage, your most consistent bet will be biting the bullet for a downtown parking garage spot.

Driving and parking will be mayhem at peak hours, so the best plan for a majority of festival goers is going car-free. The new location (this will be the third festival at Julia Davis) brings the cornucopia closer to one of Boise’s best amenities: the Greenbelt.

If you’re going with a group of people, see if you can use the place of whoever lives closest to the park as a home base. From there, you can make the journey to the main stage and run into everyone you know along the way.

 It’s well worth it to buy, borrow or even rent a bike, scooter, skateboard, or roller blades/skates to get around if you don’t already have them. Your feet will thank you!

, a partnership between the festival and Valley Regional Transit. Several readers have said that their most memorable Treefort shows have been 

Treefort Music Fest Tips for Transportation and Budgeting

The presence of ice and snow alone warrants slower speeds and extra vigilance, especially on stretches that are dark and winding. But cold weather could also mean you’ll see more wildlife herds on the roads. Here are some tips for safely sharing the roads with wildlife this time of year.

Pay attention to your surroundings. Stick to the speed limit and keep an eye out for wildlife crossing signs. If it’s dark (and there aren’t other cars around), drive with your brights on to improve visibility. Deer tend to be more active between dusk and dawn, when it can be harder to see.

Assuming you can come to a safe stop to avoid hitting an animal, honk your horn and flash your brights to scare the animal away. If time allows, turn on your hazards to help alert anyone driving behind you. Since deer and elk travel in herds, wait a moment to make sure there aren’t more animals preparing to cross the road.

If you’re caught off guard by an animal in the middle of the road, you’ll need to assess the situation quickly. If the road is slick, it may be harder for you to stop your vehicle and/or for the animals to run to safety. If there are cars behind you or you don’t have enough time to safely come to a stop, "driving through” the animal is the safest bet. Don’t speed up — slow down as safely as possible to minimize impact. Swerving out of your lane or slamming on your brakes could cause a much more violent accident than hitting the animal.

In the event you have to hit an animal, do your best to maintain control of the vehicle. Pull over as soon as you can safely do so with your hazard lights on. Check that everyone in the car is OK. Report the incident to 

, especially if the animal is still in the roadway. It’s a good idea to take photos of the scene of the accident and damage to your car for an insurance claim, but exercise caution when exiting your vehicle.