thinking of boise but young and Naive!! (Nampa, Pocatello: relocate, trip)

[oscarandbaby]

Hi, i have lived in cali for all my life and always wondered if there was somewhere else to live. I have never liked it there. Now i live in Vegas, not by choice. And i dont like it here either. People are always sooo stuck up. I am 24 yrs old my hubby 25 we have a small family one child now, 1yr old. We plan on having one more and adopting another. I just want to find somewhere, where we can actually LIVE! And i came across Idaho. At first i thought "No way" but the more i think about it the more it grows on me.
But i need to know a few things.

Whats the weather like?
If it does snow where is the least? I have never lived in snow
I do want to live somewhat close to a mall (30 min away) and stores not too country.
where is there a good place?
I do want to visit first, where?
Im so naive i dont even know what questions to ask!!! Help!!

[pinkpalace]

Originally Posted by oscarandbaby

Whats the weather like?
If it does snow where is the least? I have never lived in snow
I do want to live somewhat close to a mall (30 min away) and stores not too country.
where is there a good place?
I do want to visit first, where?
Im so naive i dont even know what questions to ask!!! Help!!

The weather will probably not too different than you're used to, living in Cali and Vegas -- just a little cooler and with more rain and snow.

The Boise area gets the least amount of snow. The Magic Valley (Twin Falls, Burley) and SE Idaho (Idaho Falls, Pocatello) get more snow and are colder.

Boise Towne Square is right off I-84/I-184, so Boise, Eagle, Meridian, Nampa, and maybe Kuna should all be within 30 minutes of the Mall.

Probably best to plan a trip and check out a few places!

[California Carl]

I am doing it! I went throught the same feelings and searches that you have.
I have lived here my whole life and feel the State is going downhill.
I thought about AZ too hot! Colorado, about the same house costs and a lot of snow. NV. well you know about NV. OR and Washingnton get more rain than I'd like and finall Idaho.
I narrowed it down to ID started researching the Boise area and figured that would be a good fit for us. I was lucky enough to go up there for a week in August and checked it out. We were in all the Boise area for a few days and McCall for a couple.
We really enjoyed all the places we went and everyone was real nice I just put my home on the market here and hope to be uo there for ski season!
One thing though....... rumor has it that some people up there don't like Californians to some degree. Seems either they feel we've driven theitr house costs up. Caused a lot of new development, crowded their schools and donn't drive worth a ****. I think if you are nice people you'll do just fine.
If you look around on these blogs and websites like the Idaho Statesman you can get a lot of info.
Boise area was very flat and not so many trees but I liked it. McCall was a little like Tahoe but not as crowded and smaller.
Good luck too you, maybe we'll see you up there.
TTFN

[Pineboy]

Originally Posted by California Carl

I am doing it! I went throught the same feelings and searches that you have.
I have lived here my whole life and feel the State is going downhill.
I thought about AZ too hot! Colorado, about the same house costs and a lot of snow. NV. well you know about NV. OR and Washingnton get more rain than I'd like and finall Idaho.
I narrowed it down to ID started researching the Boise area and figured that would be a good fit for us. I was lucky enough to go up there for a week in August and checked it out. We were in all the Boise area for a few days and McCall for a couple.
We really enjoyed all the places we went and everyone was real nice I just put my home on the market here and hope to be uo there for ski season!
One thing though....... rumor has it that some people up there don't like Californians to some degree. Seems either they feel we've driven theitr house costs up. Caused a lot of new development, crowded their schools and donn't drive worth a ****. I think if you are nice people you'll do just fine.
If you look around on these blogs and websites like the Idaho Statesman you can get a lot of info.
Boise area was very flat and not so many trees but I liked it. McCall was a little like Tahoe but not as crowded and smaller.
Good luck too you, maybe we'll see you up there.
TTFN

The Boise area is not flat. The valley is surrounded by mountains and the city of Boise sits at the foot of the Boise Mountains. Granted, Boise is not "in" the mountains like McCall or Sun Valley. I live in downtown Boise and the mountians are very much a part of life in this city and form the backdrop to the skyline. The Treasure Valley is a long and broad river valley in the Rocky Mountains. Far from flat
The city is very treed unless you go out into the suburbs which once used to be farmland, so yes there are a lot of trees in Boise. The City of Boise is a literal urban forest. Meridian/Kuna is a different story. Oh yeah, and the Boise National Forest which is one of the 3 largest in the nation is less than 20 minutes drive from downtown Boise. So if you don't think there are enough trees in the valley, go to the forest which also forms the cities backdrop on the top of the mountains which rise above the city. Did you ever drive straight up the tallest mountain over Boise to Bogus Basin? There are Pine forest everywhere. Also, did you drive Highway 21 (northeast) to Idaho City? That drive will put you in the forests (an easy 20 minutes) a lot quicker than the drive to McCall. Boise sits where two ecosystems meet---the desert and the forests. One of Boise's greatest assets is its location and offers a great choice of desert scenery with deep canyons in the earth or very lush beautiful forest/alpine scenery at our backdoor.

[oscarandbaby]

I really do want to visit now. About on average, how much snow? rain? in the summer how hot does it get? Where is a nice place to visit/stay. We can always drive around.

[donnam]

One thing though....... rumor has it that some people up there don't like Californians to some degree. Seems either they feel we've driven theitr house costs up. Caused a lot of new development, crowded their schools and donn't drive worth a ****. I think if you are nice people you'll do just fine.


We moved here in May from So. Cal. Everyone has been very welcoming and we haven't heard any "ugly Californian" remarks. You will find once you get here that you are not alone, there are many, many, many Californians here (as well as new arrivals from other states).

Here's an example: last week, I was approached by a woman in a parking lot asking directions to the mall. I thought for a minute and then apologized, telling her that I'd only been here a few months, so my directions may not be correct. She laughed and said she'd been here only a couple of months herself - she'd relocated from Ohio. Luckily, Boise streets are quite easy to remember and navigate, so together we were able to map out her route to the mall.

You'll like it here.

[California Carl]

That's nice to hear. I really liked it up there. I hope my house sells soon.
Also, Pineboy's right about the foothills and many other things I did not check out. We saw the river and downtown, some parks and malls.I know Bogus Basin is close so we'll be going skiing a lot!

[davekn]

I moved into the Boise area from Calif. over 30 years ago. I have never regretted it.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by davekn

I moved into the Boise area from Calif. over 30 years ago. I have never regretted it.

Saw you were from Meridian and had to ask, is there much of a downtown area or is Meridian more a bedroom community? Where in CA did you move from?

Thanks

[davekn]

Meridian is a real nice place, but downtown is real small, it is more of a bedroon community, and things are spread out.
I moved from the Bay Area, but was raised in the LA area.