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I'd recommend the Best Western Rama Inn.
Nice place with a good location close to the freeway.
Good value. Full breakfast included. Indoor pool.
Concerning doing business in Idaho, its been easy for me.
Sounds like the perfect place! Thanks KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck! I wonder if you wouldn't mind private messaging me and sharing your experiences doing business in Idaho.
I really appreciate everyone's recommendation and will follow up on all the leads. Again, thank you kindly everyone!
Out of curiosity, what is considered a "brutal commute by Treasure Valley Standards"? curious to know how long with and without traffic a commute from Eagle to Boise would be. 😆 Thanks in advance.
Your post will be very helpful in my preparations for our visit this fall! Yes Idaho was not on our radar either. We kept running across it on our "top city/state" searches. We are a young family and small business owners and lean towards the conservative side of things so the Boise, ID area seems to have almost everything on our checklist especially our "four seasons" requirement lol. I would love to hear how you became big fans of the Treasure Valley and how did you decide on Eagle.
**You can private message me if my follow up question seems off subject of original thread, but I am sure others wouldn't mind reading about it also.** #SoExcited!
Hi Need4Seasons,
This is a long reply. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea. :-) I don't use this enough to have figured out a spell checker so hope there aren't too many typos for you to wade through.
Sounds as if you and your husband do the same as my husband and me, which is to have an empirical set of things, that is out a community seems to match up to what we need and want, and the compare it against out instincts when we visit. With that said, I think it is also helpful to keep in mind that there is no "perfect spot" and weigh in, right out of the gate, the negatives as well.
So with that said, the things that previously had held us back from considering the Boise area was that we live in a pretty beautiful place in Bend Oregon and the surroundinig area of Boise for our compass just wasn't as beautiful. I know some may argue that, it is only what our personal findings were. We have a beautiful custom home on a two-thirds acre lot with completely privacy at the back and unobstructed Cascade Mountain views. We knew we would be giving up the Cascades setting and so on to move to Boise area. You too will, I imagine, be giving up some pretty gorgeous country. so that is what that is, but for a while it held us back from even considering SW Idaho.
Long story short, a year ago we over nighted on our way home from Teton National Park and stayed at a hotel near Boise's greenbelt. We had a chance to visit downtown and some local businesses the next day before heading out of town and to meet some folks in them along the way. So at that point we started to add up the positives and say "Hmmm...maybe we ought to put this place on our short list and explore it more."
And I guess it may also help you to know, for context about our background, that my husband is a Brooklyn NY native and I am a Portland OR native and we have lived in Seattle area (well, I did), NYC Metro Area, SF East Bay and now Bend OR. So here are the positives for what we've found that have made us fans of Treasure Valley and soon to move to Eagle. Then I'll answer your question as to how we settled on Eagle.
1) First, the people in the Boise area are genuinely so friendly and courteous. Nice people.
2) Boise itself has a delightful downtown and although it is a city of 205K or so people, it 'reads' like a smallr city. I mean that as a compliment for how useable the city is.
3) There are two Farmers Markets in downtown Boise on Saturdays, one a true Farmer's Market and one more like a bigger Craft / Farm Market.
4) Although Boise gets dinged for diversity by many folks, it certainly has more diversity than does Bend, although for sure not as much as other areas where we've lived. But we do see diversity in the population and through the RE agent with whom we've worked (a young woman who has done a super job) we've also learned about Boise's status as a refugee city for some persons in need of relocation. I guess the key thing for us is the "open arms" orientation we've seen in Boise. We can't fault any community for what the numbers look like in demographic distribution. What we wouldn't want to see is "stay out" orientation and we certainly haven't observed that.
5) I have MS, I have had since college, so one of the things I no longer do is outdoor sports for biking, hiking and so on. But once upon a time both my hubby and I were very involved in that and so we notice where there is good access to those activities and there sure seems to be in the Boise area. Which is likely something you and your family would find a good thing. :-)
6) My husband and I are somewhat sophisticated about food and wine and we heard from folks who wanted to "diss" our considering the Boise area, but who had never been to the Boise area :-), that we would find no good wine or food. But we've found some delightful restaurants and food purveyors and Idaho wine is coming along nicely, we visited some wineries, and there are a couple of great wine merchants / sellers in Boise so we're very happy with all that.
7) Although we have not yet started our search for them for the ones that will fit for us, there seem to be quite a number of doctors per capita and there are a couple of hospitals.
8) If you're into the arts and related activities, Boise has theaters and galleries and musical venues.
9) Shopping is convenient when you need it. I'm a "shopping as requirement not entertainment" type but I imagine what is in the area would work for both points of view. There is a mall in Boise with a Macy's JCP, Talbot's, Pottery Barn and so on. More shops near downtown. A mall in Meridian, one of the upscale outdoor kinds by the same developer who did my favorite in Walnut Creek CA and the Bridgeport Mall in the Portland OR area.
10) Although I'm not yet a local I'm already grieving for the loss of farm and ranch land turned into housing developments. Then again, we're all going to buy homes buiilt on that reclaimed land. But there is also evidence of ongoing farm activity in the area and we enjoy being near agricultural areas.
11) Haven't tried it yet to fly out of, but we made a visit to explore Boise airport and it is a lot more convenient for flights and size than the one in Bend so that is a good thing by our measure.
12) Housing is more affordable for single family homes than some other areas. That is a good thing. On the not so good thing, from our view, houses can be wicked close together and developments laid out with little privacy at the back. Part of the reason we chose Eagle is found in this. That will follow.
13) Every town has a culture, a character, a personality. Some cities capitlize on it...as in the Keep Austin Weird kind of things. ;-) One of the "diss" things people said about Boise when hearing we were moving it up to the top of our short list (unseating Portland Oregon there) was that people in Boise were "too polite". Which made us chuckle. We are pretty polite people ourselves, so indeed we have found people to be courteous when we visited the Boise area but we don't consider that a negative. :-)'
14) Idaho in general, and this tracks in the greater Boise area, seems to have low taxes and yet infrastructure in top notch shape. In Oregon in general, and in my town in particular, we have high taxes getting higher and infrastructure that is a mess (road, water systems, sewer systems) in spite of the high taxes. Does Idaho's and Boise's more fiscally conservative government structures have something to do with that? Perhaps. All I know is that lower property taxes and lower state income taxes along with infrastructure that works benefits me and my husband like it does all the other people who live and work in the area.
15) Boise area voters are split roughly 50/50 along registration lines. A few percentage points more Republicans than the total of Democrats and Independents. But as a Capital city we appreciate the voter distribution and also that people seem to be very tolerant of each other's view points and opinions.
OK, now for why we chose Eagle. Since I have MS and don't navigate stairs very well at this point, a single story house is essential for us. Also one of a comfortable size and which allows things like generous bedrooms and baths. But not a huge two story house which abound in Eagle and we are told mostly the result of late 90's boom until 2008 bust when California folks moving to Idaho wanted to build huge homes using the big equity profits gleaned when selling CA homes...we saw the same thing here in Bend...and having moved to Bend from the SF Bay area we understood how that was happening. The agent we worked with did such an excellent job of acquainting us with all kinds of options in all different parts of Boise and we also looked at the options in Eagle and my hubby and I even took a peek at a couple of places in Meridian. But for what we wanted, the abilty to have a single story home of 3200SF (this is a downsize for us) or so on a single story and with privacy at the back but not on acreage, it ended up that the best fit for our needs was to buy a lot and build in Eagle. This isn't a perfectly perfect fit for us but it is the best fit of the scores and scores, hundred plus, options we looked at over the last year. With the help of our agent we were able to find a good property manager and secure a very nice single story home rental in Eagle for a year or so while we work this out on lot purchase and build. We've built three times before so we are looking forward to the process as we'll be working with a great builder.
I'll think you're wise to be making an extended visit to look around. You just can't get the sense of a place in a day or two visit. I'll enjoying hearing how you liked what you saw and how it felt to be in the area. My hubby and I would ask each other "does this have 'the feel' " as our inside language on how something seemed to fit for us. It will be interesting to hear if the Meridian area has 'the feel' for you and your family!
Out of curiosity, what is considered a "brutal commute by Treasure Valley Standards"? curious to know how long with and without traffic a commute from Eagle to Boise would be. �� Thanks in advance.
I got this.
If you have to drive from downtown Boise to north Meridian or vice versa during rush hour down Franklin, Fairview, Ustick, Chinden, or State, it's a long, suckful, brutal commute wherein you're likely to hit every red light three times, and there's a light every mile or less. You can take the freeway, but that's pretty crowded during rush hour, not to mention the north/south routes through Meridian.
At about 2500 ft msl, we have a nice summer and growing season. Lot of produce and fruit at markets especially roadside stands north of us towards Fruitland. The growing season is longer and more balanced than where we used to live in Bend, OR. Growing tomatoes there was a fool's errand.
Temps can get hot, over 95°F and over 100°F is not unusual. A/C is mandatory if you want to be comfortable in your house. The hours from 2 -6 PM see the high temps of the day in summer. JUly-August see the hot spells pretty consistently.
Winter? Skiing right out of town. About the only negative we see in WX is the January Inversion where we cloud in and have rime ice. Inversions are a sign of too stable air where we get no winds to mix up the air.
At about 2500 ft msl, we have a nice summer and growing season. Lot of produce and fruit at markets especially roadside stands north of us towards Fruitland. The growing season is longer and more balanced than where we used to live in Bend, OR. Growing tomatoes there was a fool's errand.
Temps can get hot, over 95°F and over 100°F is not unusual. A/C is mandatory if you want to be comfortable in your house. The hours from 2 -6 PM see the high temps of the day in summer. JUly-August see the hot spells pretty consistently.
Winter? Skiing right out of town. About the only negative we see in WX is the January Inversion where we cloud in and have rime ice. Inversions are a sign of too stable air where we get no winds to mix up the air.
But we love the WX here. Buono viaggio.
Thank you Carlyee3. I am really going love the weather there in Boise. We love our life here in Alaska and the winters are pretty mild when compared to the Midwest. People are very surprised to hear it when I say that about Anchorage, Alaska. The extreme weather is further up north in places like Fairbanks and tundra regions of Alaska. It's just the amount of snow that takes forever to melt away that puts a damper on our spring season as everything is slushy and muddy and still for the most part covered in snow. I will cherish Majestic Alaska but am so ready to get back to having all four seasons as we really miss having nice spring and fall seasons.
This is a long reply. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea. :-) I don't use this enough to have figured out a spell checker so hope there aren't too many typos for you to wade through.
Sounds as if you and your husband do the same as my husband and me, which is to have an empirical set of things, that is out a community seems to match up to what we need and want, and the compare it against out instincts when we visit. With that said, I think it is also helpful to keep in mind that there is no "perfect spot" and weigh in, right out of the gate, the negatives as well.
So with that said, the things that previously had held us back from considering the Boise area was that we live in a pretty beautiful place in Bend Oregon and the surroundinig area of Boise for our compass just wasn't as beautiful. I know some may argue that, it is only what our personal findings were. We have a beautiful custom home on a two-thirds acre lot with completely privacy at the back and unobstructed Cascade Mountain views. We knew we would be giving up the Cascades setting and so on to move to Boise area. You too will, I imagine, be giving up some pretty gorgeous country. so that is what that is, but for a while it held us back from even considering SW Idaho.
Long story short, a year ago we over nighted on our way home from Teton National Park and stayed at a hotel near Boise's greenbelt. We had a chance to visit downtown and some local businesses the next day before heading out of town and to meet some folks in them along the way. So at that point we started to add up the positives and say "Hmmm...maybe we ought to put this place on our short list and explore it more."
And I guess it may also help you to know, for context about our background, that my husband is a Brooklyn NY native and I am a Portland OR native and we have lived in Seattle area (well, I did), NYC Metro Area, SF East Bay and now Bend OR. So here are the positives for what we've found that have made us fans of Treasure Valley and soon to move to Eagle. Then I'll answer your question as to how we settled on Eagle.
1) First, the people in the Boise area are genuinely so friendly and courteous. Nice people.
2) Boise itself has a delightful downtown and although it is a city of 205K or so people, it 'reads' like a smallr city. I mean that as a compliment for how useable the city is.
3) There are two Farmers Markets in downtown Boise on Saturdays, one a true Farmer's Market and one more like a bigger Craft / Farm Market.
4) Although Boise gets dinged for diversity by many folks, it certainly has more diversity than does Bend, although for sure not as much as other areas where we've lived. But we do see diversity in the population and through the RE agent with whom we've worked (a young woman who has done a super job) we've also learned about Boise's status as a refugee city for some persons in need of relocation. I guess the key thing for us is the "open arms" orientation we've seen in Boise. We can't fault any community for what the numbers look like in demographic distribution. What we wouldn't want to see is "stay out" orientation and we certainly haven't observed that.
5) I have MS, I have had since college, so one of the things I no longer do is outdoor sports for biking, hiking and so on. But once upon a time both my hubby and I were very involved in that and so we notice where there is good access to those activities and there sure seems to be in the Boise area. Which is likely something you and your family would find a good thing. :-)
6) My husband and I are somewhat sophisticated about food and wine and we heard from folks who wanted to "diss" our considering the Boise area, but who had never been to the Boise area :-), that we would find no good wine or food. But we've found some delightful restaurants and food purveyors and Idaho wine is coming along nicely, we visited some wineries, and there are a couple of great wine merchants / sellers in Boise so we're very happy with all that.
7) Although we have not yet started our search for them for the ones that will fit for us, there seem to be quite a number of doctors per capita and there are a couple of hospitals.
8) If you're into the arts and related activities, Boise has theaters and galleries and musical venues.
9) Shopping is convenient when you need it. I'm a "shopping as requirement not entertainment" type but I imagine what is in the area would work for both points of view. There is a mall in Boise with a Macy's JCP, Talbot's, Pottery Barn and so on. More shops near downtown. A mall in Meridian, one of the upscale outdoor kinds by the same developer who did my favorite in Walnut Creek CA and the Bridgeport Mall in the Portland OR area.
10) Although I'm not yet a local I'm already grieving for the loss of farm and ranch land turned into housing developments. Then again, we're all going to buy homes buiilt on that reclaimed land. But there is also evidence of ongoing farm activity in the area and we enjoy being near agricultural areas.
11) Haven't tried it yet to fly out of, but we made a visit to explore Boise airport and it is a lot more convenient for flights and size than the one in Bend so that is a good thing by our measure.
12) Housing is more affordable for single family homes than some other areas. That is a good thing. On the not so good thing, from our view, houses can be wicked close together and developments laid out with little privacy at the back. Part of the reason we chose Eagle is found in this. That will follow.
13) Every town has a culture, a character, a personality. Some cities capitlize on it...as in the Keep Austin Weird kind of things. ;-) One of the "diss" things people said about Boise when hearing we were moving it up to the top of our short list (unseating Portland Oregon there) was that people in Boise were "too polite". Which made us chuckle. We are pretty polite people ourselves, so indeed we have found people to be courteous when we visited the Boise area but we don't consider that a negative. :-)'
14) Idaho in general, and this tracks in the greater Boise area, seems to have low taxes and yet infrastructure in top notch shape. In Oregon in general, and in my town in particular, we have high taxes getting higher and infrastructure that is a mess (road, water systems, sewer systems) in spite of the high taxes. Does Idaho's and Boise's more fiscally conservative government structures have something to do with that? Perhaps. All I know is that lower property taxes and lower state income taxes along with infrastructure that works benefits me and my husband like it does all the other people who live and work in the area.
15) Boise area voters are split roughly 50/50 along registration lines. A few percentage points more Republicans than the total of Democrats and Independents. But as a Capital city we appreciate the voter distribution and also that people seem to be very tolerant of each other's view points and opinions.
OK, now for why we chose Eagle. Since I have MS and don't navigate stairs very well at this point, a single story house is essential for us. Also one of a comfortable size and which allows things like generous bedrooms and baths. But not a huge two story house which abound in Eagle and we are told mostly the result of late 90's boom until 2008 bust when California folks moving to Idaho wanted to build huge homes using the big equity profits gleaned when selling CA homes...we saw the same thing here in Bend...and having moved to Bend from the SF Bay area we understood how that was happening. The agent we worked with did such an excellent job of acquainting us with all kinds of options in all different parts of Boise and we also looked at the options in Eagle and my hubby and I even took a peek at a couple of places in Meridian. But for what we wanted, the abilty to have a single story home of 3200SF (this is a downsize for us) or so on a single story and with privacy at the back but not on acreage, it ended up that the best fit for our needs was to buy a lot and build in Eagle. This isn't a perfectly perfect fit for us but it is the best fit of the scores and scores, hundred plus, options we looked at over the last year. With the help of our agent we were able to find a good property manager and secure a very nice single story home rental in Eagle for a year or so while we work this out on lot purchase and build. We've built three times before so we are looking forward to the process as we'll be working with a great builder.
I'll think you're wise to be making an extended visit to look around. You just can't get the sense of a place in a day or two visit. I'll enjoying hearing how you liked what you saw and how it felt to be in the area. My hubby and I would ask each other "does this have 'the feel' " as our inside language on how something seemed to fit for us. It will be interesting to hear if the Meridian area has 'the feel' for you and your family!
Best of luck and lots of fun in your exploration!
Amazing! And yes I did grab a cup of hot tea lol. Thank you for sharing your experience and giving us your perspectives. We will be visiting for two weeks since we have a lot to do with scoping out where we would want to live and also where we would want to open our business. I will be visiting this fall with my wife and son and will definitely let you know what we thought of our visit. If I had it my way we would be relocating spring of 2015 but twelve months is a pretty tight timeline when we have to prepare both our personal and business lives.
At about 2500 ft msl, we have a nice summer and growing season. Lot of produce and fruit at markets especially roadside stands north of us towards Fruitland. The growing season is longer and more balanced than where we used to live in Bend, OR. Growing tomatoes there was a fool's errand.
Temps can get hot, over 95°F and over 100°F is not unusual. A/C is mandatory if you want to be comfortable in your house. The hours from 2 -6 PM see the high temps of the day in summer. JUly-August see the hot spells pretty consistently.
Winter? Skiing right out of town. About the only negative we see in WX is the January Inversion where we cloud in and have rime ice. Inversions are a sign of too stable air where we get no winds to mix up the air.
But we love the WX here. Buono viaggio.
Hi Carlyee3,
We are moving to Eagle from Bend! Nice to see another Bend transplant. Some folks we meet say, nearly like this "BEND? Why would anyone move FROM Bend?' LOL. There are many reasons. :-)
We moved in 2010 after about 10+ years in Sisters & Bend. We wanted a bigger town and one that had a real summer. You know how short summer can be in Bend. It is a 1000 ft or higher there than in Boise.
We ruled out moving back to CA (Commiefornia we call it). I threatened the wife she would have to go alone back there. ;>}. We also left OR as it was becoming a second CA governmentally and politically. So factoring in WX, political environment and low cost of living, we looked at Boise and loved it.
Your long previous post is pretty much right on.
We love close to Eagle. We call our location the sweet spot as we are in Meridian, but at the triple junction of the city limits of Eagle, Meridian and Boise. Close to good shopping, wide diversity of housing, close to the Y, close to lots of parks and greenbelt, and pretty good access/egress in all directions.
Buona fortuna in Eagle.
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Sounds perfect!
curious to know how long with and without traffic a commute from Eagle to Boise would be. 😆 Thanks in advance.
Thank you
