Considering move to Nampa/Caldwell area in January....advice?? (Boise: rentals, homes)

[dioofthesky]

I am working on my teacher certification through a passport to teaching program. (Idaho's route to teacher certification is saving me $20,000 compared to Illinois) I live in Illinois and have lived there all my life and am hoping that a move to Idaho in January will be possible so I can get my foot in the door with local school districts.

I am considering a move to either Nampa or Caldwell because there seems to be a high need for educators/substitute teachers/ and teaching aids in that area and that upon completion of my program there will be teaching jobs available for me (compared to Boise, etc). I know that these cities may not be the greatest places to live in Idaho, but my goal is to have my own classroom by the start of fall and from the research I have done, I think I would actually like to live there (but don't really know, nonetheless).

This recent recession has hit Illinois hard and there are lots of people unemployed (especially educated) looking for work (even part-time work). How has the recession affected different parts of Idaho? I'm in my 20's have a bachelor's degree and would want to be able to find a job (any job, even fast-food, etc) that I could work while I attain my teacher certification (hopefully education related, but it could be anything...I'm not picky).

I posted on here before and I got some really great advice so any feedback is certainly appreciated.

[kristinl5]

Try the state of idaho website and boiseidahojobs.com to look up jobs right now, unemployment has risen in Idaho this year, but not as much as other areas of the country. You would also probably benefit from looking at the canyon county website and looking up the nampa and calwell school districts as well as the meridian school district websites...look for contact people in those areas..also try the caldwell and nampa chamber of commerce sites as they usually have a lot of good info to give to you. I am in Meridian and a member of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce so I am familiar with their services.

[Need2Leave]

Kristin's right, the economic troubles haven't hit us as hard as the rest of the country as a whole. They are building new schools every year in the valley, thus more teaching jobs I'm sure. Housing hasn't deflated as much as many other areas of the country, and home ownership is still quite affordable.

So my piece of advice is this: Whatever you do, don't buy a home, or lock into a lease 'til you've lived here a while, perhaps rent in a couple different areas. The good deals aren't going anywhere soon, and Nampa/Cwell has grown so fast there are drastic diferences in neighborhoods, even the newer subdivisions have their differences. Some were cheaper new... hence more rentals...hence less care given to landscaping/maintainence... and so on. The comutes can be a pain, so again, be here a while before you decide where you want to be. All in all this side of the valley is a nice place to be, so welcome, and best of luck.

[Perkinst]

I moved from Mesa Arizona, and have been trying to find a job for 2 months in the Boise, Nampa, and Caldwell area, with no luck. Layoffs from major companies like Micron, Hewlett Packard, MPC and others have left the area with very high unemployment. Make sure you have a job before you move here, or move to a better location that has a better employment rate like Denver or Salt Lake City. Good Luck.

[BrianGr]

I would definitely recommend Nampa or Caldwell. There are great neighborhoods in both and much much cheaper than Boise/Meridian. Idaho is never affected much by the rest of the country's economy ups and downs largely because of it's huge agricultural sector. Micron and HP always have layoffs and then hire like crazy so I wouldn't put much emphasis on those factors. Especially because of the type of job you're looking for wouldn't be affected by it.

One thing I will say is that now is a very good time to buy. Interest rates are extremely low and it may not be long before prices start going up along with the rates. Buy in one of the newer subdivisions if you're worried about the type of area and find a good builder. I recommend Hill Built Homes [MOD CUT]

[cleatis]

Nampa and Caldwell have their good areas, it isn't all bad. There are indeed some parts of the Area that I wouldn't live and that I would try and avoid, but I wouldn't really say that there are areas that you shouldn't even drive through. The bad areas around here aren't like the ghettos of places like LA and North Las Vegas, there are a few shootings and things of that sort, but the people who have lived here for a long time make it out to be on much larger proportions than are necessary because this is relatively new and they aren't accustomed to it like people in hige cities are - not that that's a bad thing.

As far as areas to avoid: northwest Caldwell (most of west Caldwell actually), North Nampa and a lot of the older subdivisions (IE, the cheap subdivisions). This isn't rock solid, more of a general guess. You should be able to figure out where to avoid pretty easily just by driving around a little.

The job market is getting pretty hard around here is getting pretty harsh. It was going good for a while, but it is crashing pretty hard so I would advise making good and sure that you have a line on a few jobs.