We came, we saw, we were very impressed!! (Boise, Eagle: sales, real estate)

[motomac]

My wife and I spent 3 weeks in Boise, mid-May to early June, on an advance visit to see if it is all that I've read about as a great place to live....and the answer is a resounding YES!!!

I have been living overseas nearly my entire life, first in the military and now in the Foreign Service, and have experienced just about any combination of people, culture, economic conditions, weather, health conditions, foods, etc. After several years of research, the vast majority of which was online, Boise had come out tops on our list, so we took a few weeks of vacation from the sunny days of Kuwait and came for a visit.

The first impression is that people are just sooooo friendly! People speak to you on the street (and not "Hey buddy, got some spare change?"), are more than willing to help or answer questions, store employees actually go out of their way to help (a lost art in most places), and on and on. The most striking thing is that it is so genuine. We were trying to find a store that had moved, and a complete stranger got in her car and led us there. I just didn't think that sort of friendliness happened any more. I kept expecting to see a Candid Camera crew come out of hiding!! People of Boise, keep it up!

Traffic during rush hour was horrible.....not!!! Other than when caught behind an accident once, I'm pretty sure we never waited more than one traffic light cycle to get through any intersection, anywhere in town, regardless of the time of day or night. The heaviest traffic was on Eagle Road (Rt 55), and it still moved steadily. It seems like every single driver obeys the traffic laws at all times too. Some light speeding on the interstate was seen, but other than that, it was very pleasant getting all around the area. Polite drivers....what a concept. Wow!

The houses we looked at were very attractively priced. Virtually every one of them was obviously well cared for, in every price bracket. People take pride in living there, which can be seen when driving through any neighborhood. Again, very nice.

The selection of homes was also quite nice. Just about every size, style, and price range were plentiful. One of our primary goals was to see what type/size/age home we could afford in our retirement, and we were very pleased. My wife and I both found the perfect house. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same house. I can foresee some 'discussions' in our future when we come back.

The area is beautiful, in a high desert way. There are also lots of forests on the mountains, so there is something to please nearly everyone. The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, but the humidity was low -- just to my liking.

Along with my comments about the friendliness of Boise folks.... Even though we had no plans to buy a home while we were there (did not want to leave the house empty for a year), the real estate agent spent a lot of her time showing us homes all over, pointing out some of the sights, telling us bits of history, and being an all-round good person. Thank you so much, Torrie, and we'll see you mid-2010 when I retire.

For anyone contemplating a move to Boise, you really need to spend some time here to get the real "feel" of the area. I managed to get 3 weeks and feel that it was just about right. I figured that coming in the Spring would give me a chance to see a lot of the weather and how it affected the area, and it did. We had everything from upper 40's to upper 90's, and even a bit of rain too. The only person I would recommend that you stay where you are is the guy from Maui. Are you nuts??? Hawaii is THE place I would move to if I ever won a lottery! Why would you ever want to leave? I lived in Hawaii for almost 2 years back in the 1960's and have visited several times since then, and it was always incredible. Really, though, I'm just kidding....you can live wherever you want.

I'm happy to answer anyone's questons about any parts of my first impressions.

Cheers,

Mac

[maui08]

We haven't won that lottery yet, that is why we are moving! Seriously though, too expensive here for us to continue living check to check and the school system here is among the worst in the nation. Along with no real medical care here for anything serious we have decided to move on. We will no doubt miss the islands having lived on and off for over 15 years. But there is an excitement about going somewhere new as well. 1 week left for us here. Packing like crazy and trying to nail down a job in Boise. Almost have one, talking with them again this week. If Boise doesn't work for us we will simply go south back to California. But I think we will be just fine there. Aloha

Originally Posted by motomac

My wife and I spent 3 weeks in Boise, mid-May to early June, on an advance visit to see if it is all that I've read about as a great place to live....and the answer is a resounding YES!!!

I have been living overseas nearly my entire life, first in the military and now in the Foreign Service, and have experienced just about any combination of people, culture, economic conditions, weather, health conditions, foods, etc. After several years of research, the vast majority of which was online, Boise had come out tops on our list, so we took a few weeks of vacation from the sunny days of Kuwait and came for a visit.

The first impression is that people are just sooooo friendly! People speak to you on the street (and not "Hey buddy, got some spare change?"), are more than willing to help or answer questions, store employees actually go out of their way to help (a lost art in most places), and on and on. The most striking thing is that it is so genuine. We were trying to find a store that had moved, and a complete stranger got in her car and led us there. I just didn't think that sort of friendliness happened any more. I kept expecting to see a Candid Camera crew come out of hiding!! People of Boise, keep it up!

Traffic during rush hour was horrible.....not!!! Other than when caught behind an accident once, I'm pretty sure we never waited more than one traffic light cycle to get through any intersection, anywhere in town, regardless of the time of day or night. The heaviest traffic was on Eagle Road (Rt 55), and it still moved steadily. It seems like every single driver obeys the traffic laws at all times too. Some light speeding on the interstate was seen, but other than that, it was very pleasant getting all around the area. Polite drivers....what a concept. Wow!

The houses we looked at were very attractively priced. Virtually every one of them was obviously well cared for, in every price bracket. People take pride in living there, which can be seen when driving through any neighborhood. Again, very nice.

The selection of homes was also quite nice. Just about every size, style, and price range were plentiful. One of our primary goals was to see what type/size/age home we could afford in our retirement, and we were very pleased. My wife and I both found the perfect house. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same house. I can foresee some 'discussions' in our future when we come back.

The area is beautiful, in a high desert way. There are also lots of forests on the mountains, so there is something to please nearly everyone. The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, but the humidity was low -- just to my liking.

Along with my comments about the friendliness of Boise folks.... Even though we had no plans to buy a home while we were there (did not want to leave the house empty for a year), the real estate agent spent a lot of her time showing us homes all over, pointing out some of the sights, telling us bits of history, and being an all-round good person. Thank you so much, Torrie, and we'll see you mid-2010 when I retire.

For anyone contemplating a move to Boise, you really need to spend some time here to get the real "feel" of the area. I managed to get 3 weeks and feel that it was just about right. I figured that coming in the Spring would give me a chance to see a lot of the weather and how it affected the area, and it did. We had everything from upper 40's to upper 90's, and even a bit of rain too. The only person I would recommend that you stay where you are is the guy from Maui. Are you nuts??? Hawaii is THE place I would move to if I ever won a lottery! Why would you ever want to leave? I lived in Hawaii for almost 2 years back in the 1960's and have visited several times since then, and it was always incredible. Really, though, I'm just kidding....you can live wherever you want.

I'm happy to answer anyone's questons about any parts of my first impressions.

Cheers,

Mac

[motomac]

Originally Posted by maui08

We haven't won that lottery yet, that is why we are moving! Seriously though, too expensive here for us to continue living check to check and the school system here is among the worst in the nation. Along with no real medical care here for anything serious we have decided to move on. We will no doubt miss the islands having lived on and off for over 15 years. But there is an excitement about going somewhere new as well. 1 week left for us here. Packing like crazy and trying to nail down a job in Boise. Almost have one, talking with them again this week. If Boise doesn't work for us we will simply go south back to California. But I think we will be just fine there. Aloha

I can understand you reasoning....living tight sort of takes the fun out of it! I hope the Boise position comes through for you....that place is really the tops. While it isn't the islands (and nothing really is), we were very surprised at how great it is. We just immediately felt comfortable.

Only 368 more days to retirement...and counting every one of them!!

Cheers,

Mac

[DESERTRYDER]

Enjoyed reading your post Motomac.
It is a great town.
We wen't to a real coffee shop in downtown Boise a few months ago and my wife just loved it.
Hope to be returning soon if somebody makes an offer on our house.
Thats when the fun starts. Actually loading up and moving.
The really hard part is only moving once.
That means selling this house and buying another all in the confines of a few weeks while escrow is working it's magic.
That will be the hard part.
If we have to we will rent a house for awhile but hope not...

When the day comes I am loading up my 5th wheel with 4 dirtbikes a big street bike and everything else the movers won't take.
Then I am leaving at 3 am from Tulare County and driving all day to get to Emmett. I figure 18 hours with the big trailer.
I just hope it's not in January

[Gerardo Returns]

Is there a real need or demand for them in the Boise or Eagle area? I would love to open one in the future. Land prices are a lot less expensive than areas around Chicago.

[boiseguy]

Originally Posted by Gerardo Returns

Is there a real need or demand for them in the Boise or Eagle area? I would love to open one in the future. Land prices are a lot less expensive than areas around Chicago.

There are family fun centers here, but the largest one is actually in meridian.
I've always wondered why someone has not tried to build an amusement park in the area. as it stands now the closest places for anyone in boise trade market to go is lagoon in utah or silverwood up in north idaho...
boise trade market includes eastern oregon and twin falls and is like 1.1 million people... so I would venture there's a lot of potential..

[boi2socal]

^^^^
Were you around for Sweetwater Junction near the Idaho Center? That was another "pie in the sky" development...it was quite a large and extravagant theme park project that didn't even happen in the "best" of times.

I really don't see this happening anytime soon as many amusement parks aren't doing so well (i.e. Six Flags is bankrupt). Lagoon has the population base of Salt Lake City while Silverwood has similar demographics to Boise plus the area is already a tourist destination, most people don't come to Boise to vacation.

I think in 15+ years Boise could handle a nice sized amusement or themed park.

[aaroncatt]

Yeah, I can't really see much of a need for one here. I know that Roaring Springs gets pretty busy and so does Wahooz or whatever they changed their name to, but I think boi2socal is right, 15+ years.

[motomac]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

Enjoyed reading your post Motomac.
It is a great town.
We wen't to a real coffee shop in downtown Boise a few months ago and my wife just loved it.
Hope to be returning soon if somebody makes an offer on our house.
Thats when the fun starts. Actually loading up and moving.
The really hard part is only moving once.
That means selling this house and buying another all in the confines of a few weeks while escrow is working it's magic.
That will be the hard part.
If we have to we will rent a house for awhile but hope not...

When the day comes I am loading up my 5th wheel with 4 dirtbikes a big street bike and everything else the movers won't take.
Then I am leaving at 3 am from Tulare County and driving all day to get to Emmett. I figure 18 hours with the big trailer.
I just hope it's not in January

DesertRyder,

Sorry for the delay. I was without internet access for a while while traveling and have finally arrived at my delightful home for the next 12 months -- Baghdad! At least here I can generally get online, although the speeds vary wildly.

I agree that it is very impressive. One of our favorite things was the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning near the capitol building. I can see us visiting that one often... We also walked around the downtown area a bit, plus a couple of the parks near the river....also very peaceful and relaxing.

We'll most likely be renting for a while when we first get here. Uncle Sam will be shipping out all our household stuff (including two of my bikes), and will keep them in storage for up to one year for us. That will give us plenty of time to find the perfect house....or as close as we can come to what we both want. I also want to make sure that I'll be able to handle a "real" winter. I've spent the last 15 years in Africa or the Middle East, neither of which have anything near an Idaho winter. I'd hate to find out that my aged circulatory system just won't keep up with cold temperatures....that would really upset me!

All in all, we're really looking forward to this final move. Hope all goes well for you and hope we can go on some rides one of these days...

[DESERTRYDER]

Great to hear from you MotoMac.
I hope Baghdad is better than it looks on TV....
We are still looking at Emmett even though Boise and surrounding areas are pretty cool. Just more house for the dollar out there and every other saturday we will come over the hill for the farmers market and Costco,...
As slow as house sales are going around here we both will get to Idaho at the same time...
I have got a list of hidden fishing spots and trails for days.
Hope to ride with you soon as can be.