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Old 08-25-2007, 04:54 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,181 times
Reputation: 11

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The thing about Caldwell is that there is no THERE there. Is it a cowtown? Is it a city?

The "downtown" has a very long way to go to actually recognize it as a town. The "uptown" is miles of developement. Only a few streets still have the charm of old architecture. The rest is the Edward Scizzorhands garages with windows over them and small green spaces called front yards.

It is a fast growing city with VERY fast growing identical aparment buildings and identical housing developments. The long-term residents still stop in the middle of the street in their trucks to pass the time with someone talking to them. outside the window.. while the newcomers wonder whether they moved to a cowtown or what?

Grocery stores have VERY, VERY long lines at the check-out counters. Did I say VERY? And the Caldwell grocery stores are very expensive. Almost all Caldwell residents drive to Nampa for groceries. How these stores can be so expensive and yet have VERY long lines is not logical to me... yet there it is.

It has been hot for months now. 90 degrees, 100 degrees ... once in a while a day in the 80s. I have the airconditioner on all day along with a fan.

Most gardens near "downtown" are made up of chain-link hurricane fences, dirt and something like yellow grass... except for the few charming old neighborhoods... totalling about 12 blocks.

Some very nice Hispanic families live next to anglos who "hate those Mexicans". Most of the Hispanic families here seem to be pretty polite. Only the railroad track area (which by the way runs somewhat through downtown) has street crime worth mentioning.

A new creekside park is being built slowly. A few blocks per year. It looks like it could be very nice in time.

The library is very small. Books you want can be gotten from the other 5 or 6 nearby libraries in Canyon County however.

Most of your neighbors consider deer as dinner. Most of the women have shot more than a few. It is part of the banter at church. Lots of banter at church about the last hunting trip.

Go to Boise for a good restaurant. Caldwell? Restaurants? Those two nouns don't go together. Though Nampa can boast a half-dozen 2-star establishments that I return to fairly often.

"Tree-Hugger" is a dirty derogatory word in Caldwell. If someone calls you a "Tree-hugger," that person expects you to punch him or her in the nose. Twice. Just so that the name-caller can mistake you for a deer good for dinner.

Kids play in the street. Long-time locals can't accept that Caldwell has tens of thousands of cars up and down the street now. Car accidents are as common here as a much larger metropolitan area. There is some misunderstanding between whether this is a town or a city... so the driving is rather confused. Fast? Slow? Faster here? Or here? New stop signs give long-term locals a problem having to watch at each corner to find if there is a new one just put up. Expect some collisions at 4-way stops that were just 2-way stops until yesterday.

Cats and squirrels are fair game. Find them squished over and over on the sidewalks.

Locals can find work pretty easily. Non-locals? Depends where you're placing your application.

GREAT Doctors, Dentists and Social Workers! Incredible!!! Intelligent. Polite. Unbelievable! Probably better than most anywhere.

Graduates of NNU! Wow! A happy bunch! I've never known happier college students or college grads! I've never attended, but I'm tempted to go back and pick up a Master's just to be that happy, smart, polite. I wish my University had been 1/2 as good... and it is SUPPOSED to be a great University. I'd go to NNU anyday for just about any course. No I don't work there or have an investment there... it just ...IS that way.
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Old 08-30-2007, 12:38 AM
 
4 posts, read 12,521 times
Reputation: 11
Thank you all for your responses. Please keep them coming! All info is greatly appreciated.
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Old 11-19-2007, 12:48 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,181 times
Reputation: 11
Default Best and worst.

Caldwell has terrible grocery stores, but Nampa has some excellent grocery stores.

Caldwell has terrible social workers. Nampa has some excellent social workers.

Caldwell has poor subdivisions. Nampa has some excellent subdivisions.

Caldwell has poor restaurants. Nampa has some excellent subdivisions.

Caldwell has so poor greenbelts, they are not even real greenbelts. Nampa has some excellent greenbelts.

Nampa has an excellent college as well.

The police department in Caldwell is excellent. My Dentist here is excellent. But the canal water supplied is a terrible price and full of *&#! It stinks and is full of terible weed seeds that are very difficult to get rid of, and some of these weeds injure your hands or stain them if you don't use thick gloves. My neighbors call the hospital here by derogatory names. "Death Valley Hospital" is the most common.

I may not LOVE Nampa, but I'd choose Nampa over Caldwell every day of the year. I only live in Caldwell because it was so understandably cheap to live here. That is changing, so I don't see any point now.

To you that love Caldwell, other than being born here, I'd like to know what I'm missing. I've lived here over 7 years now, and I'm stumped.
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Old 11-27-2007, 06:46 PM
 
39 posts, read 342,827 times
Reputation: 88
http://www.city-data.com/forum/boise...rspective.html

Last edited by Sage of Sagle; 11-28-2007 at 01:02 AM.. Reason: Duplicate post deleted: link added
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Old 01-08-2008, 01:58 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,916 times
Reputation: 10
Default Caldwell is my town

Anywhere in Idaho can be cruddy. Caldwell gets a bad rap for gangs and being dirty. In fact I have lived here since I was four years old, I am 26 now and I really love this town. Especially with all the changes that are going on in the downtown renovation project headed up by our great Mayor Garrett Nancolas. He has a great vision and sees all the potential are town has to offer. Don't let other peoples attitudes about Caldwell scare you. There are gang areas in Caldwell, but a lot is being done to change this. In the next few years there is going to be a lot of great growth and change. Once you get here you will really enjoy it. The good citizens are overtaking the bad (gangs) in this town, so don't knock us right now. There is a great school that is a low cost private school Centennial Baptist School. The Charter Schools are virtually impossible to get into, especially if you aren't in the area yet. You could call and get your children on the waiting list to try to get them in at Thomas Jefferson Charter School, I had my daughter on that and gave up it was taking tooooooo long. But the Centennial Baptist School has a good curriculum and I think Tuition is only $120 per month which is unheard of for a private school, class sizes are around 15 students so you get more individual attention for your children. Hope that helps....Caldwell is a City that is undergoing transition into a very nice place to live and community members coming together is what is making that happen. If you are moving into the Virginia Park Subdivision or anywhere near there, they have an awesome Neighborhood Watch program and have a National Night Out every year. We use to live in the Virginia Park Sub. and it was really nice we decided to sell and upgrade into a much bigger home. Good luck, hope to see you around Caldwell sometime
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