Danger, NSFW. Severe bragging ahead. ((Its not braggin if its true?))
http://www.mtbproject.com/directory/166352/boise
Here is the place I live, on a MTB site thats pretty good. You see there is a large trail system being put together around the local ski area, about 16 miles above the north edge of town. In the low foothills is an old military reserve shooting range (big guns, artillery... BOOM! don't go digging around too much.) on the edge of town, and that has been converted into a hiking/bike trail system. The highway connects the two area, as do a number of unofficial pirate trails. Its all part of a system that to me is new, I been riding for decades here, the trail system (Official) kinda follows stuff everybody did decades ago, but now a lot of old trails get less use as the official trails are on the maps, and the old byways are not, being overgrown pretty good. There used to be a two track jeep trail system all through the mountains, as mining and timber interests did what they wanted, so there is a third trail system lost, but superimposed on the terrain, too. And when some slopes proved to be unstable during fierce rains, they terraced many of the steeper slopes to make them stable, and guess what? You can ride the better terraces, and if they eventually fail, well, there is another terrace ten feet away going the same way... and then there is also a motorcycle dirt trail system somewhere up there too. Bikes allowed, but the trails are sometimes messy and often loose.
http://www.mtbproject.com/trail/6168331/thunder-monkey#
That is a link to a description of a ride I don't do exactly (or, havn't, exactly, although I have ridden each of the segments mixed in with other rides, maybe I've done this one, once or twice,) I got so many miles along trails Its hard to remember, and I certainly never used that name. But its close enough to the the trip I rode last week. The names are all new, I'd never choose Thunder Monkey, thats for sure. The Dry Creek segment is very well defined, has several small variations with or without the numerous creek crossings, very cool in summer, water year round, watch out for rattlesnakes. And its less known than you might think, more primitive and got all kinds of terrain to keep your speed down, despite the steep segments. Boise is building a first rate trail system. Gonna bring in a lot of tourism some day. The guys that wrote this description ignore a trail split thats real important. They probably never noticed the split as they charged past a bushy section... it drops into Shingle Cheek before swinging back into dry creek. No matter...
A lot of the local terrain may cross various lands, BLM, FS, private, commercial logging, mine claims. So some trails can't officially be recommended, other stuff is discouraged (fenced) or whatever. Many of these trails are being added to our "Ridge to River" trail system the city is trying to slowly build. Many never will be. A lot of trails are still a combination of natural game trails, natural drainage and ridge lines and a series of skunky pirate lines connecting those features. Its all in development, so to speak. Unofficial trails existing side by side with engineered lines the city built (more or less, funny/imaginative financing).
Way to the south of Boise, (60 mi?) is a place where a Chinese migrant labor colony run by a rancher in the 1900(?)s built a very dramatic aquaduct/trail to bring a creeks water down to some cows, several miles of stone aquaduct on either side of some canyons, these are a popular horse trail system that is quite bike friendly and the not so regularly used trails are kinda decrepit, leaving you riding a raw rock wall 50 feet above the creek in some places as you try and connect the broken segments of trail that have not yet collapsed into the creek already. As a bike system, its almost unknown locally, the cowboys don't mix much and are close mouth. You can hunt the area too. Yes, from a bike if your wanting... Also, Snake River Birds of Prey, with a nice dam and a volcanic rift canyon... slightly different direction...
Rock climbing up to 120 foot pitches mostly, about 5 miles out, Several miles of it. Several reservoirs within 20 miles, fishing, hunting, rafting (raft the Boise river, down through the center of town, alongside the University with thousands of others...). We got a small dirt track stock car racing population, some smaller towns have tracks, Meridian Raceway used to be 18 miles from here, I am not sure if it still is. We got hundreds of lava tube and fissure caves nearby, but all but a few are secrets held by the local grotto, they ain;t real democratic with their locations. There is some other things some people do here, me too, but I can't recall. There are a couple problems here too, mostly the government and such, some with the people who elect the government...
I made a deliberate attempt to find a place smaller than usual with a great recreational opportunity/location and I first picked Idaho, then Boise, because I thought I could make a living here. I was kinda wrong about the last, never made any money here. Might as well have moved to rural Louisiana... but it had low crime, was the "millionaire capitol of the USA" and was very clean. It also promised to offer Skiing throughout my lifetime, which the SW did not. (Suckit Mt. Lemmon)
So I forget what its like to not live in a low pop rec heaven with significant drop available locally.
But I do know NY a little better than maybe you think, (but your still right.) I only know manhatten and queens. I got family there in Astoria that school the locals in a variety of things... and something about the business of scheduling performance art for Columbia. I never understood theatre, but thats where you go if you want to make a living in it I suppose.
Dood, if you are still young enough to tear up, and you got a million bucks to bag and bring with you, you should transplant. Tell everybody you know goodbye and devote yourself to the inside of a old van, tour the west and demand your Right to hot/cold weather and big drops.
The skiing sucks though. right now nothing but mud covered by a white layer of crunch. Ah, you could still ski the Sawtooths, they got Idahos Freezer and the elevation. Gotta be willing to trudge, though. Sawtooths are a real trudge, especially until the ice busts off the lake and Redfish Lodge puts the Bull in the water. Its an extra five miles each way if you can't rent the boatride. Might be able to ride your bikes to the edge of the wild, though, carrying your skis. I think I could keep you amused for a couple months...