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My wife and I are relocating to Boise in August. We have visited the area three times in the past couple of years, and decided that we loved Hidden Springs. We like the idea of living in the foothills and love the access to trails and outdoor activities the community offers. With that being said, when we were in Boise were quite surprised to be greeted with negative reactions from people whenever we told them that we were considering Hidden Springs. Am I missing something here? I'd love to hear some input from a local. Thanks for your help.
My wife and I are relocating to Boise in August. We have visited the area three times in the past couple of years, and decided that we loved Hidden Springs. We like the idea of living in the foothills and love the access to trails and outdoor activities the community offers. With that being said, when we were in Boise were quite surprised to be greeted with negative reactions from people whenever we told them that we were considering Hidden Springs. Am I missing something here? I'd love to hear some input from a local. Thanks for your help.
I like Hidden Springs, it is a really nice development in a scenic little valley with the mountains rising above. I have some friends who own a home up there and the only negative things I hear about Hidden Springs is the distance into the city for eating, shopping, but the drive is not that far imo. Cell phone coverage seems to be spotty up there.
Other than that I have not heard any more negative points about that area. The homes are attractive, well built, diverse vintage styles, and there is a small town square area with a few shops.
Maybe the people you heard negativity from were jealous because they wish they had a home up there but instead they are stuck in a subdivision off of Five Mile Road
I have heard others refer to Hidden Springs as "Pleasantville" as a negative connotation.
I personally like the area myself. The main concern for me would be the garbage dump (landfill) across the street from the main entrance to Hidden Springs off Seamans Gulch Rd.
Another concern would be the drive back into Boise. Depending on where you work it may be less convenient than other parts of town.
And the last concern, if you have kids is the school. Not sure if you have been following the news but they have a Charter school that has run into hard times and looks like it will be taken over by the Boise School District. The enrollment has dropped over the last couple of years and they are having trouble funding it. Which doesn't get any sympathy from those who don't live in Hidden Springs. The tax payers don't take too kindly for footing the bill for a pseudo-private school.
On a positive note (for a buyer) is that there are some great deals to be had. Plenty of short sales/foreclosures in Hidden Springs. When we were looking for a home back in 2006, you couldn't touch a house for less than 300k (and that was an entry level house). Have some friends who recently purchased a home that would have easily fetched 350k 2 years ago and they picked it up on a short sale for 190k.
^^^^^^ great points but Hidden Hollow Landfill is not directly across from Hidden Springs, the entrance to the landfill is around 4 or so miles from the main entrance to Hidden Springs. I would probably have to see an aerial photo of that area to validate my point, but the landfill does not extend over the summit that drops down into Hidden Springs. The landfill is hidden away from view on the road and is closer to Hill Road and Gary Lane in Boise than it is to Hidden Springs.
Here is a link to google maps to take a look. Just click the round direction icon to view the map heading north and east.
We considered buying there but were concerned about lack off services (police, fire, etc.) if there was an emergency. They have a volunteer fire I believe but I also read some of the HOA meeting notes and there was concern that there wasn't enough coverage. I felt like I was too far away in case something happened to either of my little kids. It was just a 'feeling' I had as I am a bit of a worry wart so if you liked the area don't let that put you off. 15 mins in the car to connect to the grid isn't bad.
Here is a link to the HOA 2008 meeting notes (so very recent issues) that outlines what the residents are saying:
The negative reactions are to the fact that it's sprawl in the foothills, and the distant from town, and rightly so.
Hidden Springs was sold to the public as being a self-contained "planned community," when it's really nothing more than leapfrog development that encroached in the foothills and took away a good deal of trails (albeit private land trails) and made bizarre Stepford homes for people who like to drive Escalades, Yukons, or some other horrid SUV.
As it goes, I believe the little market there closed up, no? And while the schools were once highly sought after by many parents, isn't funding starting to dry up? I remember reading they were having money problems.
Anyway, it's always the same song and dance with these developments. Same thing with Avimor, the Cliffs, Aese Canyon, and all of these other bulls-t developments that create this "open space" nirvana marketing scam. They promise all of this infrastructure development - be it a water treatment system, a fire department, widening roads, whatever, and then once they start dozing and building they decide not to do hardly anything they promise and it ends up costing all of us extra.
My advice: skip it. You can access the foothills (and better trails, mind you) by living in the North or East end of Boise, or anywhere along Hill Road to 36th. No need to further contribute to our air pollution and sprawl problems.
Hidden Springs is beautiful but IMHO it is very expensive and once again I would not want to be the one commuting to the rest of the treasure valley from there in the winter time as it would be very easy for access to be blocked as there is only one very narrow road that connects the two.
I must agree with the others. We also considered Hidden Springs (Stepford - because it's so pretty) ... however, after seriously looking around it is a bit removed from everything. There is no real store in Hidden Springs so you have to go over the hill - 4 miles for everything. Granted 4 miles is not that far, but it can feel like it if you just want to make a quick run to the market or go for take out.
Additionally since Hidden Springs is in a valley, snow tends to stick around a bit longer since there is more shade in the winter. We were house hunting in the winter - when there was very tiny bits of snow left in Eagle and Boise. We were amazed at how much more snow there was in Hidden Springs ... including some very icy roads. We made a mental note of it ...
hiden springs kinda reminds me of a "stepford wives" setting. hang out there for a day, meet the people, you'll see what i mean. plus you drive by a big old stinky landfill to get there. yuck.
i read it was a blend of stepford and pleasanville. and we visited and saw the store was really tiny and supposedly never has anything in stock anyway and its overpriced.
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