Payette secures top ranking
For outdoorsmen, Idaho city is the place to be
By Larry Hurrle
Argus Observer
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:08 AM PDT
PAYETTE — Payette has been named among the nation’s top 200 cities for outdoorsmen in a ranking performed by Outdoor Life magazine.
Outdoor Life ranked the top towns for hunters and anglers to live in in its June/July 2009 issue. The magazine used extensive data to score 200 towns on available sporting opportunities and quality-of-life for its second annual ranking.
Payette ranked 67th nationally and was fifth out of six Idaho cities to make the list.
Lewiston, Idaho, was named the nation’s best city for hunters and anglers to live in. Lewiston, population 31,794, was ranked second in the magazine’s rankings last year.
Other Idaho cities to make the list included Idaho Falls (3), Pocatello (5), Hailey (32), Coeur d’Alene (53) and Orofino (76).
Outdoor Life based the ranking on information concerning the cities, including the city’s population, growth since 2000, median household income, median home value, cost of living index, unemployment rate, mean commute time, amenities, gun laws, fishable species, huntable species, proximity to public access and trophy potential.
“Outdoorsmen want world-class hunting and fishing, but like everyone else, they also want to have a high quality of life,” Outdoor Life Editor-in-Chief Todd Smith said. “The towns on this list offer the best of the outdoors as well as decent homes and schools and good-paying jobs. They are truly dream towns for sportsmen.”
Lewiston, which calls itself “The Gateway to Hells Canyon,” is situated near North America’s deepest river gorge, offering the town’s residents access to public lands and waters and a wide variety of fishable species. Hunters will also find whitetails and mule deer, turkeys, elk, black bears and mountain lions nearby.
Idaho had more towns in the top 10 rankings than any other state in the nation.
Oregon had five cities named to the top 200 list. Coastal city Tillamook was the top Oregon city at No. 50. Baker City was the eastern-most city in Oregon to receive recognition and came in at 124. Maupin (59), Redmond (97) and Grants Pass (149) finished out Oregon’s list.
The magazine also named 10 great towns on the list for whitetail deer hunters. For complete details on all 200 towns, visit www.OutdoorLife.com.
fishermanshook wrote on Jun 12, 2009 11:14 AM: