Idaho - what's the reality? (Boise, Meridian: transplants, real estate market, crime)

[California Carl]

Huh. I have been planning on opening my own contracting business. You think they would shun me? Well, according to the news and statistics, it would seem as though 30% or more of the population is new to the area. Maybe we could network with them?

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by forgotten

I've been in Boise for the last 2 years I had a very successful business in another state. I have found that if you are not from Boise people here will not use your services. Also everyone of my quotes I go out too they ask me where I’m from.

If I tell them the truth I don’t get the business 100 percent of the time. Local Boise people would rather get bad service from a local than great customer service from someone that originated from out of state.

I brought my family here in hopes of a better life for my kids and wife and have only found that I’m working against a hostile group of townies that don’t want to do business with me. Not because of my personality, high qualifications but because I wasn’t born in Idaho.

I feel at some point Idaho will suffer greatly for this attitude. Knowing what I know now I would never move to Idaho. Pick a state where the people are friendly and the business atmosphere is open and you will be a much more happy person for it.

I will be cutting my loses here and leaving this year for sure.


Sincerely

Outsider in Boise

May I ask what state you're from? And do you feel the reaction is because of that particular state?

[micrguy]

Maybe it is just me, but my observations have been that the people that live in east Boise(anything east of Broadway) tend to be locals who are biased against outsiders. I was at work the other day and a bunch of locals were bragging about how there is no reason to go further west than Cole Road. But if you go to Eagle, Meridian and Nampa that is where a lot of the out of state people live. I live over by HP in west Boise and I can't think of a single neighbor who is a Boise native.

So if I was going to start a business, I would focus on selling my services in Meridian, Eagle and the other western suburbs. Also, it only takes a connection with one or two well connected locals to start building a good network. When I was looking for a job a friend passed my resume to a local company and I had a new job within three weeks.

So be prepared for some bias against outsiders if you move to Boise, but based on what I have seen in other cities that I have lived in, the bias is not that bad. Try moving to any of the medium sized cities in the east coast or midwest if you want bias against outsiders. Our family had to live in central Pennsylvania for three years and unless your family moved to the area in the 50's (1750's) you had no hope of succeeding in getting a job or starting a business.

[AlleyTD]

Originally Posted by micrguy

Maybe it is just me, but my observations have been that the people that live in east Boise(anything east of Broadway) tend to be locals who are biased against outsiders. I was at work the other day and a bunch of locals were bragging about how there is no reason to go further west than Cole Road. But if you go to Eagle, Meridian and Nampa that is where a lot of the out of state people live. I live over by HP in west Boise and I can't think of a single neighbor who is a Boise native.

So if I was going to start a business, I would focus on selling my services in Meridian, Eagle and the other western suburbs. Also, it only takes a connection with one or two well connected locals to start building a good network. When I was looking for a job a friend passed my resume to a local company and I had a new job within three weeks.

So be prepared for some bias against outsiders if you move to Boise, but based on what I have seen in other cities that I have lived in, the bias is not that bad .... .

I agree 100%.
We've been house hunting slowly, just popping into open houses occassionally when out and about.
The few times we've been 'west of Cole' the Realtors did seem to inquire more about where we were from. The other thing I found odd is that some of them felt the need to go into the 'history' of who owned the land Waaayy back when and how many generations have lived on the street etc. It was very odd to us and we felt uncomfortable - clearly outsiders.

On the flip side, we've never been asked "where are you from" when searching in other areas. However, if we do volunteer the information, we usually learn that THEY are from somewhere else, too

We were at the Eagle Fire Station open house last month and we only met ONE local couple - who had been there since birth.
Everyone else we chatted with was a transplant.

[boi2socal]

Well, I can say that with rent vs wages it is similar to SoCal. I'm sure people will argue with me - but from what I figured that would be the situation. I've been struggling in Southern California and was thinking of moving back to Boise. After doing a job search and apartment search I found that my financial situation at the end of the month would not improve enough for me to make the move back to Boise.

So with any move you should closely evaluate your own situation. I don't recommend moving anywhere blindly.

[black Jack]

A typical high school class in Idaho sends 31% of its students to college. (NPR Boise) They blame the lack of community colleges for this stat. The 69% high school grads eek out a comfortable living in a field like gardening, barista, or child care. They generally hate work and work hard to get out of it.

A lot of children take over the family business such as horse trainer, Karate instructor, or farmer. Wages are good for gardeners and repair people which means prices are not good for middle income folks. You'll often see gardeners driving $50k trucks.

Conversely, Doctors, engineers, planners etc all gain career knowledge out of state and are rare. Generally the professionals are not the sharpest tools in the shed relative to national standards (and you'll have to work with him)

The overall cost of living is very low. Hence the typical employee has no incentive to work hard or continue education. Coming from CA, I find services to be bad, but the people are nice. (Hope you don't get sick here. They'll give you a kiss on the head then inject you with the wrong meds.) 3 of our 4 neighbors have replaced their septic systems and had burst frozen pipes in their newer homes.

The bad news is that some goods and services are relative to a national scale and Boise is remote. Gasoline, A trip to Hawaii or Disneyland, designer clothes from Nordstroms, fresh produce, gourmet restaurants all become price prohibitive. Locals cannot move away or even vacation away. Soon you will notice sticker shock as well.

Don't be a career woman or minority in Boise. The expectations are different here and the support services reflect the local needs. The population is not mixed race. The people either don't know how to be pc or they're very standoffish to minorities.

[boi2socal]

Originally Posted by black Jack

A typical high school class in Idaho sends 31% of its students to college. (NPR Boise) They blame the lack of community colleges for this stat. The 69% high school grads eek out a comfortable living in a field like gardening, barista, or child care. They generally hate work and work hard to get out of it.

A lot of children take over the family business such as horse trainer, Karate instructor, or farmer. Wages are good for gardeners and repair people which means prices are not good for middle income folks. You'll often see gardeners driving $50k trucks.

Conversely, Doctors, engineers, planners etc all gain career knowledge out of state and are rare. Generally the professionals are not the sharpest tools in the shed relative to national standards (and you'll have to work with him)

The overall cost of living is very low. Hence the typical employee has no incentive to work hard or continue education. Coming from CA, I find services to be bad, but the people are nice. (Hope you don't get sick here. They'll give you a kiss on the head then inject you with the wrong meds.) 3 of our 4 neighbors have replaced their septic systems and had burst frozen pipes in their newer homes.

The bad news is that some goods and services are relative to a national scale and Boise is remote. Gasoline, A trip to Hawaii or Disneyland, designer clothes from Nordstroms, fresh produce, gourmet restaurants all become price prohibitive. Locals cannot move away or even vacation away. Soon you will notice sticker shock as well.

Don't be a career woman or minority in Boise. The expectations are different here and the support services reflect the local needs. The population is not mixed race. The people either don't know how to be pc or they're very standoffish to minorities.

Well, this post makes it sound like Boise is a third world country. Having lived in Boise, Seattle and Orange County I can tell you this is not the case. No, you will not find Prada and Gucci in Boise but you will find shopping experiences similar to Suburban California. Also, dining is as good and there are more ethnic options than you would find in Suburban California or Suburban Seattle.

It is constantly assumed Idahoans are racist and that is suggested in this post. Some may be slightly ignorant only because Idaho has been predominantly white. However, most are warm and welcoming to new people and culture. I speak for the Boise Area. I cannot for the rest of the state.

[black Jack]

Do you also speak for minorities who live in Boise? How do minorities feel do ya think?

[Sage of Sagle]

Black Jack,

I think it's clear what his post is stating. From a person's anecdotal life experience you can get a very good feel for how minorities are treated. Why? Well, does your circle of friends include minorities? Is your youth sports team comprised of a roughly demographically balanced racial breakdown? Do the parents sit and talk together with reasonable social homogeny?

If that is the case, then a person is perfectly within their right of expression to indicate they believe they live in a place that is non-racist and socially welcoming. Please don't become antagonistic just to bully your point. It won't get very far here.

[black Jack]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

If that is the case, then a person is perfectly within their right of expression to indicate they believe they live in a place that is non-racist and socially welcoming. Please don't become antagonistic just to bully your point. It won't get very far here.

Huh?
My point was a need for education, and lack of inflation in Idaho cause local children and family members to be noncompetitive in other markets. I am disappointed with services for lack of competition and lack of buying power.

There is no prejudice in Boise because there is no prejudice. I stand by my advice. I'd rather have my own neighborhood with peers than be a non-entity in Boise's homogeneous utopia.