Boise vs. Idaho Falls (Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint: living in, restaurants, prices)

[wamommy1]

Fun in the Sun..

I know how you feel. We live North of Seattle, and want to leave. IF sounds right up our alley, we're going to visit there in Dec to see how cold it gets. Boise sounds real nice to me, but my husband doesn't want it to be like a " Seattle" ( tons of traffic) in 10 years, just so we can turn around and move again. We really want our kids to grow up in the same house.

I have mixed emotions about leaving Seattle.., but there are very few pros to staying.

I'll let you know if we discover anything worth sharing, when we get back in Dec.

[Snowbird]

Cleosmom,
I moved out 5 years ago but have been back at least twice a year since. Most recently last month when we went there to visit some good old friends.

[Snowbird]

Fun in the sun, have you thought about eastern Washington? Bend, Richland, Spokane. How about smaller towns in Oregon. Or is it the housing prices keeping you from those places?

[fun in the sun]

Snowbird, the prices in eastern wa. are fairly good still but the summer months over there are killers. Mostly in the high 90's to 100 is the norm there. Oregon prices are as bad as they are here.

Wamommy, please let me know how your trip was when you get back. Love to see what your thoughts are since you know how it is here. I'm like you I'm scared to death to move but husband really is ready for a change

[fun in the sun]

Snowbird, the prices in eastern wa. are fairly good still but the summer months over there are killers. Mostly in the high 90's to 100 is the norm there. Oregon prices are as bad as they are here.

Wamommy, please let me know how your trip was when you get back. Love to see what your thoughts are since you know how it is here. I'm like you I'm scared to death to move but husband really is ready for a change

[fun in the sun]

Oops got button happy!

[StampinTami]

Originally Posted by fun in the sun

Snowbird, the prices in eastern wa. are fairly good still but the summer months over there are killers. Mostly in the high 90's to 100 is the norm there. Oregon prices are as bad as they are here.

Wamommy, please let me know how your trip was when you get back. Love to see what your thoughts are since you know how it is here. I'm like you I'm scared to death to move but husband really is ready for a change

We were the same way, hubby ready for a change and I wasn't because of fear. We were going on a trip to UT so we took a detour up to ID. As soon as we got to the IF area I was ready to move.

We were in IF for a week the week before Christmas last year. The weather was not bad at all, it actually felt really nice compared to here. Looking at a calendar view of last Dec, we really missed some cold weather that they had at the beg of Dec. We also did not experience any winds that have been mentioned here. I am a little nervous about the weather since everyone talks about it being worse than what we experienced while there. Looking at the weather for last winter tho, a lot of it seems like it was comparable to what we experienced but the site does not show anything about wind. The summer weather was much better than what we have here tho! Good luck to both of you on your search.

[fun in the sun]

StampinTami, thanks for the info. It does sound like a really nice place.I guess women are just not as daring as men. Hubby is ready to pack up and I'm still dragging my feet. But it looks like this spring will be when we'll move.

[cleosmom]

Stampin Tami, you did indeed miss some frigid temps! Those were run the water tap all night temps

[jjcollins]

Idaho has quite a variety of places one can live including the high mountain desert of Southern Idaho to the densely forested mountains of Northern Idaho. I've met numerous persons over the years who came to Mountain Home based on the name of the town (service transfers mostly) and found with a shock what they had wandered into!

Most of the high mountain desert is extremely cold in the Winter time as there is always a wind blowing. This is especially true of Twin Falls and the surrounding area. Nampa, Boise and Caldwell have some wind but not to that extent.

I was raised in Cambridge, Idaho and can't think of a better place for access to all kinds of outdoor activities and closeness of the mountains. However, Cambridge holds the state hot record for 117 degrees in 1933 and I fed cows one winter in February at -42 degrees. I skied over the fences two winters in a row back then! But I can remember playing on the lawn on Christmas day as well. As an adult I like it a little warmer than those winters and live now in Boise.

I've lived in Boise, Nampa, Cambridge, Lewiston and Moscow. I love the Clearwater, Locsa and Selway rivers and forests. But I also love the more open forests of the Boise National Forest. Year round warmth is best in Lewiston of the places I've lived at 730 feet elevation. Both forest and high mountain desert in the area plus the Clearwater has elements of coastal rain forests.

The Boise valley is best for jobs right now with over 1/2 a million people. Idaho has had all the benefits of a right to work state as long as I can remember, poor wages, low benefits, no job security, etc. so be prepared. And living in Idaho requires acceptance (you don't have to like it) of a single party government.

Whatever else, Idaho is a great place to live and most of the people are great was well with lots of self sufficiency and strong human values.

Good luck!