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As I sit here and read through this forum it is amazing to me how many people from SoCal are relocating to Idaho. I hear about it all the time but reading it actually makes it more real for some reason. We are relocating like many others due to the high rents in California and just a lot of the political BS that is taking place. We are ready to be done with CA. We want to raise our son (who is 4) in a safe City/neighborhood and a place were we all can have a better quality of life. I am a legal secretary with 10 years of experience and my husband does stone restoration with over 15 years of experience. We are hoping to get jobs in the same industries. We will be making a trip out to the area in July so we can see the area and hopefully sit down with a couple potential employers.
I have already started my research with looking for rentals, jobs, city websites and what not but would love to hear from the locals who maybe relocated what they found helpful when they moved. I have only lived in SoCal so this relocation is going to be a big change for me. My husband is from the East Coast and moved to SoCal when he was 14.
Anything to point us in the right direction is very helpful. I look forward to your feedback.
I noticed that no one had replied to your query. I'm sure that the reason is because your question about the Boise area is very general in it's nature, and the advice you are seeking has been answered numerous times before by previous posters.
It sounds like you are doing your due diligence research, but there is no substitute for actual visitation, especially during different seasons of the year! Yes, we do have seasons in Idaho, unlike California. When you visit in July you will likely encounter several 100 degree days. This winter we received maybe 9 inches of snow at our house (in Eagle), with the coldest temperature maybe getting down to 6 or 8 degrees. From what I was told, it was a normal winter and my wife and I both thought it was a lot milder than we had anticipated as compared to what I had encountered living in Pocatello during my college days.
Idaho's economy is doing well and appears to have a vibrant job market. Just don't expect to accept employment at anywhere near the California wage scales! Also, it seems that from what previous posters have stated, that it is easier to get a job here if you already live here, rather than applying while still out of state. I am not the final word on this though, since my wife and I are both retired.
Idaho is a very conservative state where we treasure our guns, hunting, fishing, hiking, boating and in general any outdoor activity that can be done under the sun. Idahoans are very friendly by nature and still revere many of the Old West values of honesty, trustworthiness, religion, and integrity. They are not too keen on California liberals coming here trying to make Idaho like the mess that the progressives have created out of the once "Golden State". If you come here to embrace and accept her values you will be happy here and welcomed by her people.
This is my condensed version of this wonderful state, I'm sure others might see it different!
We are by no means wanting to come there and bring CA with us, we are ready to leave it behind in many ways. We are excited for our trip in July and expect it to be on the warm side. We currently live in San Diego (Inland) but are originally from Palm Springs so we understand and deal with the heat pretty well. As you mentioned in your post I think our biggest shock is going to be the wages. It is hard to wrap your head around the lower cost of living along with the lower wages. We have already reached out to several potential employers just to get our name out there so hoping we will have a job offer before the big move. I am hoping that during our visit (short as it may be) we are able to narrow down our area for a house. We will be renting so nothing is of course set in stone but would be nice to not have to move after being there for a year. Again I appreciate your reply and look forward to our visit.
We pay our legal secretaries $13/hr to start with, and they generally cap out around $16/hr. I've noticed a trend in the legal field here that the smaller firms and/or younger attorneys are either skipping the support staff altogether, or they are pooling resources. In my mind that makes getting a support job at some of the bigger firms - Holland and Hart, Stoel Rives, Givens Pursely, Hawley Troxell, Moffat Thomas, et al, much more competitive. They will pay better but those jobs are typically few and far between. Some of the medium firms may have more turnover, but I wouldn't expect much better than $20 per hour or so.
I would also say, that as someone who hires legal support staff, I won't even consider someone that doesn't have a Boise address. Not to say that is what everyone's practice is, or to discourage you, but you might think about that when reaching out. Even a PO Box is better than nothing.
Keep in mind that while the wages aren't increasing, the property values are spiking right now. There are still deals to be had on the Bench, in west Boise, and some parts of Meridian (and Nampa), but I'm absolutely shocked at how high/fast real estate is climbing right now. This, of course, makes the rental market extremely tight. January 2017 might be a less competitive time to come up to rent, maybe some of the property managers on this forum can speak to that.
So sad: Idaho will no longer be well kept secret with very low cost of living, down to earth, friendly, quiet and plentiful jobs available. In 5 years or even less, it'll be like what happened to Portland, Ore or Oregon for that matter. L.A. and Bay Area along with transplants from east coast ruin the easy fun living of this lovely state of Idaho just like they did in Oregon and Washington, also, Colarado. Now, a huge ambush and stampede to Idaho to escape from high cost California and east coast.
As I sit here and read through this forum it is amazing to me how many people from SoCal are relocating to Idaho. I hear about it all the time but reading it actually makes it more real for some reason. We are relocating like many others due to the high rents in California and just a lot of the political BS that is taking place. We are ready to be done with CA. We want to raise our son (who is 4) in a safe City/neighborhood and a place were we all can have a better quality of life. I am a legal secretary with 10 years of experience and my husband does stone restoration with over 15 years of experience. We are hoping to get jobs in the same industries. We will be making a trip out to the area in July so we can see the area and hopefully sit down with a couple potential employers.
I have already started my research with looking for rentals, jobs, city websites and what not but would love to hear from the locals who maybe relocated what they found helpful when they moved. I have only lived in SoCal so this relocation is going to be a big change for me. My husband is from the East Coast and moved to SoCal when he was 14.
Anything to point us in the right direction is very helpful. I look forward to your feedback.
I recommend Tuscon, Arizona since it's sunny and very cheap. Lots of opportunities there. You may want to reconsider and move to Arizona. Great weather basically year round.
So sad: Idaho will no longer be well kept secret with very low cost of living, down to earth, friendly, quiet and plentiful jobs available. In 5 years or even less, it'll be like what happened to Portland, Ore or Oregon for that matter. L.A. and Bay Area along with transplants from east coast ruin the easy fun living of this lovely state of Idaho just like they did in Oregon and Washington, also, Colarado. Now, a huge ambush and stampede to Idaho to escape from high cost California and east coast.
It hasn't been a low cost secret for the last 10 years, especially with residents of California. And of course the same thing will happen to Boise that happened everywhere else on the west coast, Arizona, SLC, et al. Some people here like to pretend that Boise has some sort of magic faerie dust by which the crime, congestion, pollution, crowding, and cost won't follow the people, but that's just not reality.
Boise was lucky the recession hit when it did and slowed the growth explosion; but now we're right back in the throws of it.
i am all for awesome folks who understand while california is great and has a lot to offer idaho idea wise is not perfect and will hopefully not make too many mistakes when they relocate here. this is not the place i grew up and in many ways that is for the better but in others it is not. but we can work this out the first major issue i see is working on traffic and our road systems which fortunately is starting to get attention. anyway good luck with the move and welcome.
I think the best measure of how other's have liked it after moving here is how many of their friends they convince to do the same thing later. The main reason I have seen people move here and go back to places like California has been the pay differentials. Even if you net the same amount due to lower wages and lower cost of living here, it still psychologically takes a toll. Fortunately, that helps filter out some of the "fakes" and the real people stay end enjoy it. I always find it amusing that it is often the people that moved here to escape the rat race of the larger cities are the ones that have the "Don't Californicate Idaho" mentality (grin).
We pay our legal secretaries $13/hr to start with, and they generally cap out around $16/hr. I've noticed a trend in the legal field here that the smaller firms and/or younger attorneys are either skipping the support staff altogether, or they are pooling resources. In my mind that makes getting a support job at some of the bigger firms - Holland and Hart, Stoel Rives, Givens Pursely, Hawley Troxell, Moffat Thomas, et al, much more competitive. They will pay better but those jobs are typically few and far between. Some of the medium firms may have more turnover, but I wouldn't expect much better than $20 per hour or so.
I would also say, that as someone who hires legal support staff, I won't even consider someone that doesn't have a Boise address. Not to say that is what everyone's practice is, or to discourage you, but you might think about that when reaching out. Even a PO Box is better than nothing.
Keep in mind that while the wages aren't increasing, the property values are spiking right now. There are still deals to be had on the Bench, in west Boise, and some parts of Meridian (and Nampa), but I'm absolutely shocked at how high/fast real estate is climbing right now. This, of course, makes the rental market extremely tight. January 2017 might be a less competitive time to come up to rent, maybe some of the property managers on this forum can speak to that.
Thanks for the input. Having a Boise address on my resume isnt a problem. I have family and friends that live there that I could use if need be. I would probably be most interested in a larger firm so hopefully I can find one of the exceptions of the few and far between jobs. I am also open to any of the corporations that have in-house needs for legal staff.
I have noticed that the housing market has been pretty crazy up there lately. I have been keeping an eye on it since December and even since then things seem to be going up a little or are off the market within minutes. Guess we wont know until we try. Hoping to come up in July to get a better idea of the area and living options.
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