Contemplating a move to Boise. (Nampa, Meridian: fit in, insurance, house)

[MitchMZ]

My wife and I are in our mid twenties and both of us have a college education. We have no children and are not planning on having any. We are not very religious but have immediate family that are... so a city that is overzealous of faith is a non-issue to us as we keep to ourselves (we are very moderate in our political beliefs). We do not care much at all about bars or clubs. We have two dogs and their quality of life is very important to us; so a dog friendly city would be preferred. We are not concerned about finding wonderful jobs, as the only jobs we can find in the Midwest (or anywhere) at this time are entry-level. We would hope the weather would be slightly better than Des Moines, IA but our primary reasons for moving out West are proximity to great skiing and the mountains (outdoor recreation). We love Colorado for this reason, but the influx of people from California and elsewhere has really made us reconsider wanting to move to Colorado. We have recently considered Boise, Manchester, Colorado Springs, or Salt Lake City on our list of possible alternatives to Iowa. Any further alternatives or input as to how well you think we would fit in would be wonderful. Thank you.

My largest concern about Boise (and Idaho) at this time is race relations; my wife is from Thailand and I want her to be accepted wherever we might relocate to. I can't image Boise values are much different from Midwestern values, but I have heard race can be an issue in some places in Idaho. My other concerns are taxes, property taxes, insurance rates, etc.

I have recently taken notice to the comparably mild weather your city enjoys, which is a definite plus! We also LOVE that Bogus Basin is so close to the city!
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[MrGrumpy]

Race will not be a serious concern in the Boise area. If you were moving to some of the smaller more isolated communities (ie Atlanta, Idaho) I might be a little more worried. As for property taxes and insurance rates, it all depends on what size of a house and which area you are looking in (ie Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, etc.)

[parteira]

Bogus Basin is a total gem! It is so accessible and low key, and with night skiing so close by, it really is a special place!

[jwest09]

Originally Posted by parteira

Bogus Basin is a total gem! It is so accessible and low key, and with night skiing so close by, it really is a special place!

Nice little area to ski, but that dangerous winding road with few guard rails, and cars coming at you in your own lane scares me. I feel safer driving to Sun Valley.

[parteira]

Well yeah the road to Sun Valley is a straight shot--IF you can afford lift tickets. We couldn't so we left the area. Hardly any of the other locals could afford to ski there either. Lame. Getting to BB has been relatively painless most times I've gone. For an essentially just out-of-town ski place that you can get to after work and without much planning, I think it rocks!

[MitchMZ]

We currently drive about 3 and 1/2 hours one way to get to decent skiing in Iowa, so even driving 2 hours one way would be wonderful. I have thought about getting season passes to Tamarack (looks amazing) if we end up in Boise. Sounds like we might need to put some blizzacks on our car... we never get enough snow in Iowa to really ever make conditions too treacherous (one can get by with RWD here if they are a skilled driver). Are the rural mountain roads/highways farily well maintained in Idaho?

My largest complaint with Colorado (Denver area) is the ski traffic on I-70. I'd rather drive an extra hour and back to skiing than spend 30 minutes or more in traffic. This is why we really like the idea of a smaller city like Boise.

[stingraynm]

Idaho actually has a massive influx from California as well, but it seems that this has had less impact on Idaho than Colorado. Sun Valley being mentioned in this thread and all, that's actually one sad case of a place that was "californicated", but for most other places in Idaho the Californians were appreciative of the cultural/demographic contrast and integrated into - instead of transformed - the local vibe.

[MitchMZ]

*Sigh* Idaho is seeming more attractive now, because Colorado has definitely been pulverized by a steady influx of new residents. It is sad to hear that Idaho is also having similar, but less severe, issues with this problem.

Are the mountains in Idaho comparable to the beauty of the Colorado Rockies?

I've just been to the Bear Lake region of Idaho, and it was very pretty. I would hate to be so far away from my family and friends, but I truly want to have sustainable living expenses wherever I might move to.

[boisefan88]

Originally Posted by stingraynm

...but for most other places in Idaho the Californians were appreciative of the cultural/demographic contrast and integrated into - instead of transformed - the local vibe.

Lol...where was this exactly?

To OP:

All of that other stuff in negligible. You NEED to worry about jobs. Why? Because there aren't any, entry or otherwise. You might be lucky to hit a call center or something, but at this point I think more people are laying off just now than hiring, at least from what I've heard. Others may chime in on how Boise is recovering and their company just hired 20 new people and it's been great, blah blah. But that's not the reality from what I've seen.

Bottom line: go to where the jobs/careers are, then worry about the rest. Ask Stringray - Boise is not a place to start a career (otherwise he'd be here). At this point it's a place to "retire" to in the sense of gaining years of experience and then trading down into.

Sorry to be a bummer.

[MitchMZ]

They aren't many jobs anywhere right now, but, the job market is getting consistently better here in Iowa than it was a year ago. I guess I'm more of a work to live person, because if I was a live to work person there would be absolutely no reason to leave Iowa right now.

On the flip side, we don't want to be in a situation where we are entering a highly competitive job market in which many of the applicants have both experience and college degrees (as is the case in Denver).

If I have to I could stay in the food service industry to make my living off tips wherever I might go, but I would much rather find something more professional and secure.