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I used to drive the bus in the area and I can also tell you this close to the green belt is very costly. The area away from the green belt is not as nice at all. There are nice places in garden city but over all the city as a whole has a bad rep there trying to change that I know but the closer you get to the river the more it will cost you. Also look in to flood insurance when you get that close to any river. It may never happen when your there but that is not some thing I will bet my bank roll on. I remember when some of the high priced homes were flooded by the river and winter rains in all the cities in and around Boise that lay on the river or very close to it .also meridian schools are very good also same with some of the Boise schools . It all is in what you want and if it is also land you want you may want to look out farther. I do know the island and river park are as I said spendy places to live. I used to live in southwest Boise and also west Boise. Both places were close to the river for fun but I never worried about flooding and I also had a bit of land with each home to boot
I know only too well the heartache of leaving a beloved home when relocating. My husband and I feel the same way about a home we had in Vermont. Lovely old (built in 1830!) large farmhouse with a barn on 10 acres with river frontage. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. We've never been able to bring ourselves to drive past it when we visited friends who live in the area.
It looks like our move is probably a year or two out at this point. Initially, it seemed like we would move this year, but at this point things appear to be on the back burner for the time being. My husband & I will still research the Boise area and while we're at it - probably look at other areas as well.
I understand what you mean about Portland being too big. We are from a small town in Vermont and to me, Coeur d'Alene (where we currently live) is big! It took a bit of adjustment to feel comfortable here and I no longer have any problems running errands in Spokane (which used to seem huge to me!). I hope you find a place more to your liking. Utah is a lovely state - we have friends that live there and absolutely love it!
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Originally Posted by wurd4wurd
I understand what you mean about Portland being too big. We are from a small town in Vermont and to me, Coeur d'Alene (where we currently live) is big! It took a bit of adjustment to feel comfortable here and I no longer have any problems running errands in Spokane (which used to seem huge to me!). I hope you find a place more to your liking. Utah is a lovely state - we have friends that live there and absolutely love it!
All things considered are you happy in Coeur d'Alene?
I know only too well the heartache of leaving a beloved home when relocating. My husband and I feel the same way about a home we had in Vermont. Lovely old (built in 1830!) large farmhouse with a barn on 10 acres with river frontage. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. We've never been able to bring ourselves to drive past it when we visited friends who live in the area.
It looks like our move is probably a year or two out at this point. Initially, it seemed like we would move this year, but at this point things appear to be on the back burner for the time being. My husband & I will still research the Boise area and while we're at it - probably look at other areas as well.
I understand what you mean about Portland being too big. We are from a small town in Vermont and to me, Coeur d'Alene (where we currently live) is big! It took a bit of adjustment to feel comfortable here and I no longer have any problems running errands in Spokane (which used to seem huge to me!). I hope you find a place more to your liking. Utah is a lovely state - we have friends that live there and absolutely love it!
I hope you find what you looking for but get ready the Boise area is big and growing fast. Faster then most would ever have like to seen it happen. There are many places around that fight that small town America dream but I do not believe that is Boise or the whole area. Still wish ya the best and at lest this way you have time to really look close were you want to go.
All things considered are you happy in Coeur d'Alene?
All in all I am happy here. We were up for an adventure and it certainly has been all we expected and then some! My husband, 4 children (two teenagers and two in their mid-twenties) and I moved here on a whim really. We researched the Panhandle for over two years primarily on the web, came for a visit in May of 2004, found a house and the rest is history. We are situated between CdA and Post Falls, so I can pretty much pick and choose where I want to run errands, grocery shop and such. We have gorgeous territorial views with a large deck that runs the length of the house. We love seeing (and hearing) all the wildlife - turkey, deer, elk, coyotes, the occasional bobcat, bear and so on. The lake is gorgeous. Traffic (especially in the summer) can be something else, but I just plan ahead and either stay away from town (CdA) at certain times, or brave the crowds and plan strategically where I park for the day. My teenagers love it here! Both of them are old enough to work and are part of the waitstaff for a restaurant on the lake. The primary reason we are considering relocating is that our two older children recently moved to the Boise area (to return to school) and we would prefer to be a bit closer than a 7-hour drive away. This may sound odd, but for the past 3+ years our older children have been deployed overseas, so while 7 hours is nothing compared to the distance that separated us before, it seems like way too much for me now...
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,400,252 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wurd4wurd
All in all I am happy here. We were up for an adventure and it certainly has been all we expected and then some! My husband, 4 children (two teenagers and two in their mid-twenties) and I moved here on a whim really. We researched the Panhandle for over two years primarily on the web, came for a visit in May of 2004, found a house and the rest is history. We are situated between CdA and Post Falls, so I can pretty much pick and choose where I want to run errands, grocery shop and such. We have gorgeous territorial views with a large deck that runs the length of the house. We love seeing (and hearing) all the wildlife - turkey, deer, elk, coyotes, the occasional bobcat, bear and so on. The lake is gorgeous. Traffic (especially in the summer) can be something else, but I just plan ahead and either stay away from town (CdA) at certain times, or brave the crowds and plan strategically where I park for the day. My teenagers love it here! Both of them are old enough to work and are part of the waitstaff for a restaurant on the lake. The primary reason we are considering relocating is that our two older children recently moved to the Boise area (to return to school) and we would prefer to be a bit closer than a 7-hour drive away. This may sound odd, but for the past 3+ years our older children have been deployed overseas, so while 7 hours is nothing compared to the distance that separated us before, it seems like way too much for me now...
Thanks. WOW!--Quite a move to make on a whim. I'm plannong to relocate from NJ and am beginning to think I'm OVERthinking the whole issue, may be time to just do it. I'd hoped to be going to Carson City NV but housing costs there are gettinng to the point where it wouldn't be a step in the right direction. Pretty much thinking Nampa/Meridian or CdA/Post Falls as I would think proximity to Spokane increases employment possibilties?
Thanks. WOW!--Quite a move to make on a whim. I'm plannong to relocate from NJ and am beginning to think I'm OVERthinking the whole issue, may be time to just do it. I'd hoped to be going to Carson City NV but housing costs there are gettinng to the point where it wouldn't be a step in the right direction. Pretty much thinking Nampa/Meridian or CdA/Post Falls as I would think proximity to Spokane increases employment possibilties?
I work from home and am not dependent on doing business locally, but many of the people I know in CdA and Post Falls work in Spokane. Earning power is greatly increased by making the short commute to Spokane vs. working in the CdA/Post area. If you start house hunting in this area, you will find that there is greater purchasing power in Post Falls vs. Coeur d'Alene. Two things to keep in mind, Post Falls has about half the population (approximately 17K vs. 34K) of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls really doesn't have a downtown (don't know if this is important to you) whereas CdA has a vibrant downtown with locally owned shops/restaurants. The main street (Sherman Ave.) where many of the shops are located is just a block up from the lake. FYI, National Geographic singled out Lake Coeur d'Alene as one of the top five most beautiful alpine lakes in the world.
I would encourage you to skip Nampa as one of your possibilities for relocation. There is supposed to be gang activity there and in general it is not a nice area to live. You can buy a lot of house there, but there is a reason for that. Also, Nampa has a beet processing plant and a poultry plant that smell to high heaven at certain times of the year. Another point to consider is that you will probably find yourself employed in Boise and the commute (bumper to bumper traffic) on Hwy. 84 from Nampa to Boise is atrocious.
I don't know too much about Meridian, but there is a lot of building (subdivisions) going on there. The Meridian school district (includes Meridian, Star, Eagle, and parts of Garden City) and has an outstanding reputation. Purchasing power is greater in Meridian over Eagle, but personally I prefer Eagle as they have a cute downtown and it is also a bit closer to Boise.
I hope this information is somewhat helpful. If you have any questions or would like clarification, please let me know.
I lived in the Boise area (including a few years in Nampa) for 12 years.
Nampa has it's good points and bad points, but I don't think you need to skip it entirely. IMO, the "gang" issue in Nampa is overhyped. There are thugs everywhere, but you aren't going to see any LA-style gangs anywhere in Idaho. They're all just wannabe's.
Central Nampa is old and needs some cleaning up, but there's been a lot of growth and new construction in Northern and Southern Nampa, and those parts of town look like any other nice new subdivision you see anywhere else in America.
Southern Nampa is far away from the sugar factory, which is a good thing. But, it's a long drive in to Boise (45 minute commute), and the Nampa school district is pretty bad. Northern Nampa is close to the sugar factory. We lived maybe a mile or two from the sugar factory, and in late Fall/early Winter you could smell the factory... yuck. The good part about Northern Nampa though is that you have easy access to Meridian and Boise through I-84 or back roads. You're also in the Vallivue school district, which is a great school district.
Traffic from Nampa to Boise depends on what time of day you leave, where you have to go in Boise, and what part of Boise you'll be working in, of course -- but I seriously doubt that any traffic you see in Boise compares to anything you're used to in New Jersey. (Unless you live in Southern New Jersey)
Also, several people on this board have commented about how great the Meridian school district is, and honestly I don't understand it. The Meridian school district is just awful. My brother-in-law has been a teacher in the Meridian School District for 20 years (or more?) and has told stories about the school district cutting art and music programs and then building a brand new gym for Centennial High School.
The Meridian area has had a lot of growth over the last few years, but it's ridiculous when brand new high schools and middle schools are overcrowded the first year they're open. (Can't remember which high school it was, but I remember watching the news cast with students sitting on the floor in the back of the class b/c the school was 20% over capacity.) This isn't entirely the school district's fault. They planned for a certain amount of growth, and by the time the school was finished, there were already a lot more subdivisions in place than they had expected. But still... I wouldn't want to sign up for that.
If I were to move back to the Boise area, I'd be moving into the Boise school district. I can go into "why" if anybody's interested. My sister-in-law is a teacher in the Boise school district (wife to brother-in-law teacher in the Meridian school district), and both agree that the Boise school district would be a better place to go to school.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,400,252 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by wurd4wurd
I work from home and am not dependent on doing business locally, but many of the people I know in CdA and Post Falls work in Spokane. Earning power is greatly increased by making the short commute to Spokane vs. working in the CdA/Post area. If you start house hunting in this area, you will find that there is greater purchasing power in Post Falls vs. Coeur d'Alene. Two things to keep in mind, Post Falls has about half the population (approximately 17K vs. 34K) of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls really doesn't have a downtown (don't know if this is important to you) whereas CdA has a vibrant downtown with locally owned shops/restaurants. The main street (Sherman Ave.) where many of the shops are located is just a block up from the lake. FYI, National Geographic singled out Lake Coeur d'Alene as one of the top five most beautiful alpine lakes in the world.
I would encourage you to skip Nampa as one of your possibilities for relocation. There is supposed to be gang activity there and in general it is not a nice area to live. .
I'm getting much food for thought. My situation is I'm 57, no family, and pretty much where I'll be looking for a job and not a career. If possible I'd really like to live somewhere that has a sense of community and where I'd be able to walk to a store for simple things like a quart of milk or a newspaper and not have to get in the car and drive down ten miles of franchise row. Won't really be looking for a big, fancy house, I have pretty simple tastes, a deck with a view somewhere that has a simpatico climate and I'm a happy camper.
I must disclose I am a realtor and I am a co-owner of another business located in Garden City and I also live in Garden City and I love it! I also chose to be on the Parks and Waterway Committee of the Garden City City Council and Fundraising Committee of the Library because I believe in contributing to this wonderful community.
A military spouse of 25+ years, I didn't hesitate to pick this place to live. I have lived all over the world in 6 different countries and could have lived anywhere I wanted and chose here. I moved here in 2006 and haven't had or heard of any problems centralized with Garden City. I too have heard about the "reputation" but have seen nothing to support it. That being said, property values do not support that reputation. Our city council is active and our city is growing with real support for its growth from the citizens.
I would not hesitate to live here. If you love the house and you like the schools your child will go to then by all means move in. Remember, you have to be happy and that's the bottomline in life.
I love the location. I can get anywhere in Boise, Meridian, and Eagle without hassle from Garden City due to its central location. Little traffic and its got great access with its convergence of roads. Living in Meridian and Eagle no matter where you go you HAVE to get on Eagle road which can be problematic.
Good Luck...feel free to ask me any other questions you may have!
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ShockJulie, I feel your pain...
My husband & I will still research the Boise area and while we're at it - probably look at other areas as well.
