Ideas on upcoming trip to check it out for retirement...

[motomac]

Originally Posted by debruss

We will be visiting Boise at the beginning of April. We have never been, but Boise checks off many things we are looking for in retirement (except my friends that we will be leaving!): seasons, less people & traffic than So CA, airport, good medical, lakes close by.

What are things we must see to get a feel for the area? I have just started doing some research & have come up with the river walk and "First Thursday" in downtown so far. We have a boat, so we will check out the local boating reservoirs! How is the boating there?

Will try to get a feel for the housing there, just to see what our money can buy. Will be looking for 1-story with an association with a clubhouse (for pool & exercise room/activities). Would prefer a newer house (maybe 2000+). AND maybe homes that aren't so close to each other.

Any information/ideas would be welcome!

Debby

We spent four weeks out here checking out the area all round. If you do go looking at some houses on the market, there is one thing that made a big difference for us. Once you find a few places you like, go back to look at it in late afternoon during the week. The differences between mid-day in mid-week and rush hour can be significant. We stayed at the Boise Guest House near the capitol building because it is made up of several small apartments. We had to do all the shopping and other things that would be done when actually living here. That also helped us get the "feel" of the area. Even though I was 18 months from retiring, that visit convinced us that the Boise area was where we wanted to live. We ended up in Nampa in 2011 and couldn't be happier.

//Late note! Sorry, I misread the date on your post and didn't realize you had already been to visit. Hope you had a good visit to the area. //

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by motomac

We spent four weeks out here checking out the area all round. If you do go looking at some houses on the market, there is one thing that made a big difference for us. Once you find a few places you like, go back to look at it in late afternoon during the week. The differences between mid-day in mid-week and rush hour can be significant. We stayed at the Boise Guest House near the capitol building because it is made up of several small apartments. We had to do all the shopping and other things that would be done when actually living here. That also helped us get the "feel" of the area. Even though I was 18 months from retiring, that visit convinced us that the Boise area was where we wanted to live. We ended up in Nampa in 2011 and couldn't be happier.

//Late note! Sorry, I misread the date on your post and didn't realize you had already been to visit. Hope you had a good visit to the area. //

Always a good idea to visit areas of interest first. Like go on a vacation to area of interest. Visit times like during commute hour, evenings, weekends etc.