I want the best of the best???? (Boise, Idaho Falls: ski resorts, luxury)

[KBrusveen]

Hello my friends,

I am a 24 yr old Chiropractic student who will be graduating in a year and a half and i am looking into relocating somewhere in the northwest. I grew up in MI living directly on lake MI with all kinds of water activities, boating, and great beaches, but I absolutely am in love with the moutains and the economy here in MI is crap. I have not visited the true northwest although I have been too Montana, CO, and WY's mountains. I am looking for an area where I have the luxury to go skiing in the mountains yet be able to drive down to a valley or such and have pleasant weather. I believe the Snake R. Valley offers this and have heard nothing but positive things from ppl on here, so do you think this area is for me? I love water and that is one concern about the west is the abundance of fresh water lakes, but sounds like ID is filled with them, I am also single so I dont want to be in an area of no population that is why I am thinking about getting into a rapidly developing portion of northern Boise somewhere. Any questions or comments will be much appreciated. Thank Ya!

[cleosmom]

It does sounds like the Snake River Valley could be for you. I live in the Idaho Falls area with several areas close by for hitting the slopes; Heise (local and "small"), Targhee are both close by. With water activities; fishing, rafting, boating, water skiing etc. there are several lakes nearby as well rivers.

Our area is also getting quite diverse as well as population, so blending in will be no trouble at all. Yes, we do have folks who use chiropractors, myself being one

When you're wanting to go and visit family back home, Idaho Falls does have an airport to make your travels much easier than driving three and a half hours south to Salt Lake. Some folks still do that, but I prefer not to fight the weather during winter and the traffic during summer.

[Torrie]

Boise is a great area to live. You can ski up at Bogus Basin, 45min up the hill or head to SunValley,(about 2.5 hours away), Tamarack is another option, brand new ski resort (1st one built in the US in the past 25 years) and is about 2 to 2.5 hours away. Just further north of Tamarack is McCall where the Lake Payette offers plenty of room for water sports. A little closer is Lake Cascade, nestled inside the little city of Cascade. Check out these websites for more info- greatoutdoors.com/published/camp/rockymountain/payettelake/ and also tamarackidaho.com/ don't forget to add the www in the front. I don't think we are allowed to put full web address' on this forum.

If you want to see more about the Boise area go to the Middleton Chamber of Commerce: middletonchamber.org/default.asp?pageName=Relocation%20Information. I like this website as it has all the areas chamber of commerce websites that you can click on to view surrounding areas.

Median age of people in this area is between 32 to 33 years old according to the Boise Chamber of Commerce.

There are so many outdoor activities to do here, we just love it! If you want any more statistics feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to send them your way. Enjoy those websites!

[KBrusveen]

Thank you all for your input and I was actually talking with someone today who lives in the Northwest and he stated that Boise is a great city nestled right in the mountains like I want but he said that there are notthat much water and fresh water lakes nearby. I would love to someday own a cottage on a lake or have some getaway possibility near water, and not knowing much about the area I have seen the Courte da Lane lake seemed nice and the area of Sandpoint also but how far away are those and how many months out of the year are you able to actually able to set foot in those lakes, temp wise???

[Torrie]

CDA is about an 8hour drive from Boise if I remember correctly and the more north you go you will have snow to contend with. I think their average snowfall is about 51 inches a year to our 21. Absolutely beautiful though.

We do have Lake Lowell not too far away and Lucky Peak is not too far East of Boise. And of course you have the Boise River which runs through the city.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by KBrusveen

Thank you all for your input and I was actually talking with someone today who lives in the Northwest and he stated that Boise is a great city nestled right in the mountains like I want but he said that there are notthat much water and fresh water lakes nearby. I would love to someday own a cottage on a lake or have some getaway possibility near water, and not knowing much about the area I have seen the Courte da Lane lake seemed nice and the area of Sandpoint also but how far away are those and how many months out of the year are you able to actually able to set foot in those lakes, temp wise???

We start putting the boat in around mid-late April, and we're not on the lake much past late September. Remember, as deep as Pend Oreille is (1100'), the coves will freeze over and you can see ice fishing going on all winter. When the lake is drawn down to its lower level, launching can get tricky anyhow. The Sandpoint city marina is open April through October I believe. I'm on the wait list for a slip for the 2008 season.

If you want lakefront, bring a fat wallet...1/2 acre of bare land waterfront starts at about $800K. You may get lucky and find secondary waterfront for $650K, but it would probably be a fixer or VERY small place on small lot.

[C_ferreira]

COEUR d'ALENE is very nice...and it is on the lake. We are close to 3 ski resorts...(Silver, Spokane, Schweitzer), and we offer all the amenities of a larger city due the fact that we are pretty much in the Spokane, WA metro area. The Spokane, WA-Cd'A metro area is nearly equal in population with Boise.

[darmorehou]

Spokane is 1/2 hour away from Coeur e'alene, has a major airport 7 miles out of town, surrounded by ski hills and lakes and affordable housing. Our chiropractic office specializes in extremities and has wonderful patients and a great energetic team to learn and develop your talents (and bank account!) with!
EXCELLENT skiing just across the border in Canada, when you need something a little different than the local 4-5 ski areas! Seattle & Portland are $59 flights/1 hr. away when you want to get away!

Let me know if you are interested in this area of the NW! It's been soooo good to us!