Any Virginia to Idaho transplants? (Boise: house, job market, neighborhood)

[snosurfa7]

Any VA to Idaho transplants? If so, would you do it again?

My wife and I are from Virginia Beach and are torn about whether or not to move to Idaho when I graduate this summer from Physician Assistant school.

Main reason to move: We love snow and the outdoors! And Idaho looks like its has both of those in abundance at a relatively cheap price.

But living it VA has its benefits: bicycle to the beach, surf trips before work, 3 hours to the mountains and some so-so snowboarding and sweet camping and hiking and hunting, 1.5 hours to the outer banks of north carolina, family is close - We actually don't have any family out west. But all the tunnels and traffic in Hampton Roads is crazy!! Its getting out of control - It feels like a pot about to overflow and they just keep building these same "town centers" and "new urban" developments its driving us nuts. We just want a little house on some land relatively close to a town.

Of course we actually need to go visit Idaho but I'm pretty sure we'd fall in love with the place, with us being both big outdoors people. But any advice esp from people who have lived in VA to convince us one way or the other would be great. thanks...

[CosmicWizard]

In the summer of '06, my wife and I sold our Va Bch home of 16 years and moved to western Colorado. We thought of moving to northern Idaho, but Idaho teaching salaries are the pits ( my wife is a teacher ). We chose Colorado becasue of the sunnier climate, much better teaching salaries, and a better overall job market. Twenty months later, we are glad that we chose Colorado over Idaho, though during July & August, northern Idaho has slightly more comfortable temperatures than Grand Junction Colorado where it gets very hot ( similar to Boise ). Wether you move to Idaho or elsewhere out west, I think you'll be very happy to be out of Virginia Beach and all that east coast humidity.

BTW, Grand Junction (broken link) is an outdoor lovers paradise, and compared to Va Bch, you can still get more bang for your buck in regard to housing. In Sept '06, we bought a house in Grand Junction with an additional 700 sf in a much nicer neighborhood than Great Neck Estates and we paid about $15K less than the selling price of our samller Va Bch home. It might be harder to pull that off these days becasue Grand Junction (broken link) has bucked the national trend of depreciating home prices. Home prices actually appreciated just under 10% during 2007. Current appreciation is pretty flat or slightly on the plus side and the local economy is still quite robust.

[snosurfa7]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

In the summer of '06, my wife and I sold our Va Bch home of 16 years and moved to western Colorado. We thought of moving to northern Idaho, but Idaho teaching salaries are the pits ( my wife is a teacher ). We chose Colorado becasue of the sunnier climate, much better teaching salaries, and a better overall job market. Twenty months later, we are glad that we chose Colorado over Idaho, though during July & August, northern Idaho has slightly more comfortable temperatures than Grand Junction Colorado where it gets very hot ( similar to Boise ). Wether you move to Idaho or elsewhere out west, I think you'll be very happy to be out of Virginia Beach and all that east coast humidity.

BTW, Grand Junction (broken link) is an outdoor lovers paradise, and compared to Va Bch, you can still get more bang for your buck in regard to housing. In Sept '06, we bought a house in Grand Junction with an additional 700 sf in a much nicer neighborhood than Great Neck Estates and we paid about $15K less than the selling price of our samller Va Bch home. It might be harder to pull that off these days becasue Grand Junction (broken link) has bucked the national trend of depreciating home prices. Home prices actually appreciated just under 10% during 2007. Current appreciation is pretty flat or slightly on the plus side and the local economy is still quite robust.

Thanks for the input - wow, I didn't think I'd find someone on here with a similar situation! Esp b/c my wife is a teacher too, some good info.

I actually don't mind the humidity too much - but none, of course, would be better! I guess we are just torn b/c we love the beach a lot too, especially Carolina it being so close, going fishing and surfing during the day and beach fires at night. But hate the traffic of VA Beach, lack of snow, lack of mountains, invasion of these new "urban centers," etc...

Grand Junction looks sweet. Something to consider. A lot of wheelin out there. But it looks like you work in Grand Junction or you don't? Not many other towns around at least from a map. But thanks for the info, either way we need to get out there and visit and see what this whole West thing is all about...thanks!

[CosmicWizard]

WARNING! If you love mountains, big sky, and sunny weather, you will never want to go back east after visiting the western states. Unfortunately, teachers salaries in most western states are rather poor, and competetion for jobs is more intense than in the Hampton Roads area. Even though teaching salraies are low, in many rural areas of the west, teachers are among the highest paid workers. There is a price to pay for living in paradise. My wife and I both took big pay cuts, but it was well worth it and we'd gladly do it all over again. It's soo good to be out of Virginia Beach, away from the hurricane threats, traffic jams, jet noise, and strip malls everywhere you go. You'll love Idaho and probably any western state. Make it a priority to visit the west and EXPERIENCE it first hand. But be forewarned, living in the east just won't cut the mustard anymore.

[snosurfa7]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

WARNING! If you love mountains, big sky, and sunny weather, you will never want to go back east after visiting the western states. Unfortunately, teachers salaries in most western states are rather poor, and competetion for jobs is more intense than in the Hampton Roads area. Even though teaching salraies are low, in many rural areas of the west, teachers are among the highest paid workers. There is a price to pay for living in paradise. My wife and I both took big pay cuts, but it was well worth it and we'd gladly do it all over again. It's soo good to be out of Virginia Beach, away from the hurricane threats, traffic jams, jet noise, and strip malls everywhere you go. You'll love Idaho and probably any western state. Make it a priority to visit the west and EXPERIENCE it first hand. But be forewarned, living in the east just won't cut the mustard anymore.

That's what I'm afraid of, to tell you the truth! - Going out there and never coming back...I think it would be an awfully hard thing to do despite my longing for laid-back Carolina beach days and all our family and friends back here in the area.

Well either way we'll be out there and if we like it enough I guess that is where we will go...Thanks for all the info/advice!