A move to Idaho questions (Boise, Pocatello: rental, car registration, crime)

[Keim]

Originally Posted by FLtoAnywhereMidwest

Thank you for all the responses. Actually 400 or so people in a town is a bit TOO small. W were thinking of anywhere from 8 to 20000. That is small compared to where we are. Not looking for a Gilmore girls town just a safe place for an 8 year old to play outside without fear. Are there any homeschooling groups in either area that you know of.

Some people in Moscow still don't lock their doors at night.

With the presence of the U of Idaho we have lots of home school resources. And lots of homeschoolers! I think the school district claims over 1000 homeschoolers in the area.

Our population would be at the upper end of your range, if you include the 10k students.

[FLtoAnywhereMidwest]

I haven't checked twin falls area (Jerome) but court d'alene I did check and on Zillow and rentals.com I found nothing less than $1k and most were more. For us that is not cheap. I wish it were, the homes were lovely

[jadbad2004]

Originally Posted by FLtoAnywhereMidwest

Thank you for all the responses. Actually 400 or so people in a town is a bit TOO small. W were thinking of anywhere from 8 to 20000. That is small compared to where we are. Not looking for a Gilmore girls town just a safe place for an 8 year old to play outside without fear. Are there any homeschooling groups in either area that you know of.

When you click on the link you can change the demographics at the top and select the largest population group.

[FLtoAnywhereMidwest]

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

Jerome, Idaho might fit your bill. Cheap, close (within 20 minutes) to Home Depot, small town.

Is the HD that you speak of in Twin Falls. I took a look at google photos of Jerome. It seems so flat, much like Florida. I would really like to be somewhere that when I walk out my back door (or front) I can see the mountains not too far away. So maybe Jerome area is a bit too far southwest for us, not sure. Still looking at many areas, but has been narrowed down to Boise or CDA area. But that could change tomorrow depending on many factors. Just too many factors to list in one post on City Data

[Syringaloid]

The Home Depot on Federal Way in Boise has great views of the mountains.

This area, SE Boise has a lot of neighborhoods you could choose from.

[FLtoAnywhereMidwest]

I have been using various means to research the Boise area including YouTube. I had a question posted not long ago that has not yet received a response. A person that I know, who lives in Boise, told me I would like living in the Boise area to include places like Caldwell, Meridian, Eagle, which I see are fairly close by and could be considered (by the terminology used in FL) bedroom communities. However, she also told me that I would be best to stay away from Nampa. I have not yet figured out why and she has not responded to that either.

I recently did some searching about Caldwell and find that they seem to have a gang problem. How true is this and how prevalent is this. Is this also in Nampa? I did see a video of daily traffic in Boise and it seems awful even when there is no accident, such that living outside the area and working in Boise may not be an option for us.

Since we may have no choice but to make our move "sight unseen", it makes it more important to have input for the various places. I like the CDA area but it may be out of our budget, which is going to be pretty tight, especially since I don't know what is going to happen with healthcare and medicare.

Thanks for any response.

[FLtoAnywhereMidwest]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

The Home Depot on Federal Way in Boise has great views of the mountains.

This area, SE Boise has a lot of neighborhoods you could choose from.

Is this the HD that is near the airport?

[FLtoAnywhereMidwest]

Originally Posted by VandalsLOL

Jerome, Idaho might fit your bill. Cheap, close (within 20 minutes) to Home Depot, small town.

I have heard some not so nice things about Jerome, could you give me more information on that area or tell me where to look for details about the area?

[ShadoAngel]

Okay, I just looked this up... Home Depot's website says they have 11 locations in Idaho. 5 in the Boise Metro Area and then 3 in Southern/Eastern Idaho (1 each in Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls) and 3 in North Idaho (Lewiston, CDA, and Sandpoint.) There are also several Home Depots in the Spokane area that could be within commuting distance if you wanted to live in Idaho but work in Washington.

All of Idaho is scenic - just in different ways. Twin Falls sits next to the dramatic Snake River Canyon. I remember my dad stopping there on our way through the state when I was teenager and we got out and walked across the bridge. I just remember being floored at how expansive the canyon was and how high the bridge was over the river. It's a different kind of scenic to the view of Boise foothills or the areas around Idaho Falls or the lakes and forests of North Idaho.

Realistically, you're probably going to have to give up something on your list. Small towns of 8,000-20,000 people, that are safe, have decent school systems, and set in scenic areas are also usually expensive. They're very desirable as almost anyone would like to live in such a community. Especially if that community is also close to a population center large enough that building a Home Depot there is a viable business decision.

IMO, the closest thing I can come up with is living in Moscow and working in Lewiston. That's closer to a 40-45 minute commute (in good weather) but it checks most of your boxes. Decent schools, scenic area, Moscow pop is about 25k (fluctuates a lot due to Idaho University) and you're close to the Home Depot in Lewiston. Moscow doesn't have dramatic mountain views, but it's in a very hilly location so there's a lot of near by places to hike and climb and where you can see for miles once you get to the top. Situated in the Palouse, it's definitely pastoral. If amber waves of grain isn't your speed then you might not like it.

Sandpoint has a Home Depot and is incredibly scenic and their schools are highly ranked in the state. It's also pricey - not pricey for a resort town like it is, but pricey compared to your other options in the state. Boise is a much larger community than what you've expressed interest in, but it should be possible to find something in your budget in the metro area and be close to several Home Depot stores and you're not far from the hills, forests, and rivers northeast of the city. Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls are all larger than what you're looking for, but only have one Home Depot and have fairly small populations - if your daughter lost her job, it would be a lot easier for her to get a new one in Boise vs any of the others.

Lastly... any particular reason you're looking at Idaho? You could probably find more of what you're looking for in Wyoming - smaller, denser towns - many of them close to mountain ranges. As an example, Sheridan, Wyoming looks like it checks your boxes better than any of the Idaho options. Population less than 20k, nice small town feel to it. Home Depot in town. Some of the best public schools in the state. Bighorn mountain views from in town. Not sure what your budget is or living requirements are, but the rentals seem pretty reasonable to me. Other states like Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Montana also have towns that could fit your requirements, especially if you can be flexible with some of them.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by FLtoAnywhereMidwest

My daughter and I with her 8 year old son are seriously considering a move to your area. Grandson is homeschooled but even so good schools are a must in case of my early demise since I am his teacher. Not planning that however. LOL I have been reading all of the threads here and am torn between NID, Boise area, Twin Falls, and Idaho Falls. We are looking for spectacular scenery, fairly close proximity to Home Depot (where my daughter works and will transfer), fairly low rent, close proximity to areas for exploration, learning opportunities, museums etc. We are coming from Florida so we are aware that it will take some getting used to as far as the weather. Looking for a quaint small town (more than 400-500) I have seen some of those. With a real downtown area that lives Christmas and holidays.

Also churches. We currently attend an Assembly of God church and would like to find something similar that is accepting of all races and personalities.

Also typical cost monthly for water, sewer, electric, gas,and grocery cost. What are gasoline prices currently, what has the highest been?

I'm sure there are other questions that I have not read here but they will come later

Thanks for any responses.

So far, your questions have been so scattershot that I doubt you are really getting any good conclusions here from them. That's natural, as Idaho is actually 3 different states that share a common boundary. We only have one highway that lies within our boundaries from north to south; all the other routes leave our boundaries to skirt the primitive area, which comprises 1/3 of the state.

I think the only way your daughter and you will know if Idaho will suit you is to come out and look our state over for yourself. Since Idaho is a large state, you may want to plan 2 trips, one to explore the north, and the other for the south. You won't be spending much time in central Idaho because it's all mountains, unless you want to check out very small towns that lie around the edges of our big primitive wilderness areas.

If you want spectacular and majestic scenery, it's here in abundance. All you have to do is choose which you like the most.
There are essentially 3 inhabited areas; the panhandle, the south center, and the south. Boise lies in the s.w. center of the state, close to the Oregon border, and Coeur d'Alene lies in the panhandle, close to the Washington border (and Canada and Montana).

The south is divided into the western side and the eastern side. The Great Arco desert lies in the middle, and while little of it is a true desert, much of it consists of impassible lava flows and is mostly uninhabitable. Like our other wilderness, it has tiny towns scattered around it's edges.

Twin Falls is the largest city in the s.w., and lies close to the Oregon/Nevada border, while there is a corridor of cities that lie along the s.e. border of the state from Utah to the Wyoming/Montana borders. The corridor includes Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Rexburg as it's largest cities, but there are many small towns in it as well.

Everything here is very spread out in comparison to Florida. There are miles of essentially empty spaces between our cities here, and the only area that is remotely similar to where you live in terms of population is the Boise metro.
In comparison to Florida, there are few short commutes from a small town to a larger city where all the amenities are in most parts of our state. A road trip out here is measured in hours, not miles. The miles are a given.

All of Idaho is high and dry. The further south one goes, the higher the overall elevation is. Winter here is a fact of life. This is a cold climate state, not a warm one, and our temps go to extremes seasonally. Basically, spring and fall are short seasons, while winter and summer are longer, and winter is the longest of all.

Hope this helps.