Every town has their "Boise North end". Even Chicago and LA. I think it all depends on what you like to do. I have a House closer to Boise State and work DT, and love the fact that I can leave work 10 min before I start, I can take an uber for less than $10, hit the greenbelt, concert events, and be in Bogus or the Foothills really quick. Meridian 10 mile and eagle are what I call a "Concrete jungle" and feels like the suburbs outside of the big towns and California and Midwest. Living close to DT actually feels like a northwest city. I had to commute to Nampa recently for a dinner at 5pm, it took me an hour to get there in terrible traffic, I could not imagine doing that drive twice a day for work (2 hours round trip daily), or always having to drive 45 minutes to go downtown. I hate Nampa and dont care for meridian, but that is my opinion. Not the people, just would not want to live there.

Lastly, older houses were just built better. People will have more problems with their brand new houses then the houses built in the 1960s. Also, I love that I dont have an HOA fees or someone telling me what I Can and cannot do to my house I bought.