Moving to Pocatello In The Fall (Idaho Falls, Chubbuck: relocating, houses, rent)

[nikkas02]

Hi my name is nick and i'am planning on moving to Pocatello this fall. I currently live in Helena, MT and would be relocating for work purposes. My wife is pregnant and will give birth shortly after we move to Pokey.

But anyways i'll get to my point, I was just wondering if anyone could give me info on the good areas of town to live in as a young family. Or it might be easier if you tell me specific neiborhoods to avoid.

Thank you in advance for all of the help it is much appreciated.


Nick

[delaura18]

I for one think Pocatello is a great place to live for young families and I hope you enjoy it. My husband and I and our 2 year old son live in the Chubbuck area. I love the neighborhood we live in!! Cotant Park is our backyard and it is wonderful!! We are also very close to the movie theater and mall but you wouldn't know it!

I really don't think any neighborhood in Pocatello is that bad. The less desired area seems to be in parts of old town/downtown...but I lived on North Arthur for a year and never once felt unsafe. I also lived in the Highland area which I guess is considered a much desired area to live in and it was nice as well. BUT...my favorite by far is in Chubbuck...I would check that out. It is a different town...but connected to Pocatello and most don't know where one ends and the the other begins.

There are houses to rent or quite a few apartment complexes to choose from. The best thing about Chubbuck/Pocatello is all of the parks to play in and there is always something going on at the University.

We are moving to Mississippi in the Fall and I am really going to miss it here. We hope to be back this way when we are ready to settle!!!

If you have more specific questions I will be happy to answer them.

[Idaho mom]

The above post is very true - but also remember to check with your realtor. Ask them to be honest about areas of town they show you. Also, pay CLOSE attention to how people keep their yards, the front of their homes, their cars, personal appearance, etc. A lot can be said about a long, unkempt lawn, cars on blocks, couch on the grass, toys and garbage everywhere home. Not a lot but there are a few in town. I believe if you go into the Pocatello or Chubbuck Police Department and catch an officer or records clerk at a good time, you can ask them about the number and type of calls a particular street receives during any given month. Stay in town a few days while looking and drive by your first few choices at night or during a weekend night. After 5PM and weekends is when neighborhoods get busy and are either normal or rowdy. There are specific streets I wouldn't live on, but feel free to DM me if you have more specific questions.

[helper2008]

Hi Nick,

I am putting my house up for sale next week because we are moving to a bigger house in the same neighborhood as our family is growing.

Certainly HIGHLAND is the area to be. I really don't like Pocatello overall, but living in Highland has definitely helped me cope! The neighborhood is safe, the families are friendly, and I think our house is a good deal for $191,900. If you're interested, I can give you more information and pics.

Thanks,
Paul

[breer23]

Originally Posted by helper2008

Certainly HIGHLAND is the area to be. I really don't like Pocatello overall, but living in Highland has definitely helped me cope! The neighborhood is safe, the families are friendly, and I think our house is a good deal for $191,900. If you're interested, I can give you more information and pics.

Paul, I too am considering a move to Pocatello in the fall, but also have Idaho Falls as an option. Without turning this into a bash session, can you elaborate on which aspects of Pocatello didn't agree with you? I also have a previous posting on the Idaho board (Pocatello vs. Idaho Falls) where that response might be better suited. Thanks.

[helper2008]

Well Breer,

Idaho Falls seems to be thriving. With many businesses that have been moving in, plus I understand their chamber of commerce is very influential and helpful for businesses, it seems that you can be closer to more of the action when you visit I.F.

Pocatello has pretty high property tax (although many do claim the cost of living is lower... which is true, but at the end of the day, maybe you net the same) due to much of the land being owned by the state, thus more burden on residential.

I have heard the crime rate has decreased substantially over the years, but I also heard that Pocatello is the "meth capital of the U.S." I have seen a few meth busts already.

However, both I.F. and Pocatello are good places to raise a family. I grew up in I.F., and have lived here in Highland for 7 yrs now (1 yr down town Pocatello).

Contrary to most Idahoans, I would rather live in the SLC, UT area because there is more business action going on, and maybe that is why initially I felt like I was taking a step backwards in moving to Pocatello. But like I said, living in Highland has made me cope and appreciate enough that it isn't such a big deal anymore.

Anyway, maybe this helps... good luck!

[BannockCounty]

Not trying to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, but a lot of people who are NOT from the Intermountain West (i.e., famiiar with the LDS culture) seem to feel like fish out of water on the Highland Hill. Percentage-wise, it is by far the most LDS part of Pocatello and, while "nice" by Pocatello standards, it is very homogenous (think lots of BEIGE SIDING, symmetrically-planted petunias in yards and dried flower wreaths on front doors). I used to live on a street called Satterfield and--while I liked my home and my neighbors--my neighbors were all very involved and busy with their church and church work and church friends and they really didn't have a need to get to know the new neighbor who wasn't of their faith (but had her OWN faith). It was nothing so negative or dramatic or high-intrigue as being shunned or treated rudely--my neighbors were lovely poeple--it was just that they seemed to put their energy in to explaining their faith and doing outreach to people who had just moved in who DIDn't have a faith and might be open to checking out being LDS. I came to believe that if you are firmly into another faith and not interested in checking out the LDS faith, you will not see or hear as much from your neighbors. When well-heeled buyers move to Pocatello, the majority of LDS ones will buy on the Highland Hill. You will see that a great many non-LDS professionals (physicians, attorneys, professors, etc., etc) tend to move to the South of town (Juniper Hills Country Club, Gibson Jack, Wild Horse Ridge, etc., etc.) area or the University area.

Even though we'd been out of state for nearly two decades, we were familiar with the lay of the land, so we weren't shocked at how little time our neighbors had to spend in getting to know us, but the one thing that clinched it for us (and caused us to buy a just-as-nice-as-home in a more diverse University neighborhood) was that--after we had kids-- we realized there was nowhere to WALK to on the Highland Hill. After having kids, we became big on parks and plazas and public gathering places and there just wasn't one up there.

Good luck sorting it all out!

--Bannock County

P.S. If I had it to do ALL OVER, now that my kids are all out of diapers, I would probably move to a nice, flat part of Chubbuck with lots of cul de sacs and parks. I'm always amazed at the sense of kid-community when I drive through Chubbuck neighborhoods and see all the kids out playing together (like we used to do back in the 70's and '80's ! A challenge with a lot of the neighborhoods I mentioned is that homes are on bigger lots, more hilly areas and/or areas with lots of empty-nesters and retirees. No kids out to play and no close proximity for them to hang out together like in Chubbuck !

[BannockCounty]

Originally Posted by BannockCounty

Not trying to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, but a lot of people who are NOT from the Intermountain West (i.e., famiiar with the LDS culture) seem to feel like fish out of water on the Highland Hill. Percentage-wise, it is by far the most LDS part of Pocatello and, while "nice" by Pocatello standards, it is very homogenous (think lots of BEIGE SIDING, symmetrically-planted petunias in yards and dried flower wreaths on front doors). I used to live on a street called Satterfield and--while I liked my home and my neighbors--my neighbors were all very involved and busy with their church and church work and church friends and they really didn't have a need to get to know the new neighbor who wasn't of their faith (but had her OWN faith). It was nothing so negative or dramatic or high-intrigue as being shunned or treated rudely--my neighbors were lovely poeple--it was just that they seemed to put their energy in to explaining their faith and doing outreach to people who had just moved in who DIDn't have a faith and might be open to checking out being LDS. I came to believe that if you are firmly into another faith and not interested in checking out the LDS faith, you will not see or hear as much from your neighbors. When well-heeled buyers move to Pocatello, the majority of LDS ones will buy on the Highland Hill. You will see that a great many non-LDS professionals (physicians, attorneys, professors, etc., etc) tend to move to the South of town (Juniper Hills Country Club, Gibson Jack, Wild Horse Ridge, etc., etc.) area or the University area.

Even though we'd been out of state for nearly two decades, we were familiar with the lay of the land, so we weren't shocked at how little time our neighbors had to spend in getting to know us, but the one thing that clinched it for us (and caused us to buy a just-as-nice-as-home in a more diverse University neighborhood) was that--after we had kids-- we realized there was nowhere to WALK to on the Highland Hill. After having kids, we became big on parks and plazas and public gathering places and there just wasn't one up there.

Good luck sorting it all out!

--Bannock County

P.S. If I had it to do ALL OVER, now that my kids are all out of diapers, I would probably move to a nice, flat part of Chubbuck with lots of cul de sacs and parks. I'm always amazed at the sense of kid-community when I drive through Chubbuck neighborhoods and see all the kids out playing together (like we used to do back in the 70's and '80's ! A challenge with a lot of the neighborhoods I mentioned is that homes are on bigger lots, more hilly areas and/or areas with lots of empty-nesters and retirees. No kids out to play and no close proximity for them to hang out together like in Chubbuck !

Oy vey-- I wrote the previous post when drowsy last night and came back online to edit for "snarkiness" today (!).....but alas no more editing is available. Anyway--I made way too big of a deal about the LDS vs. non-LDS thing on the Highland Hill in Pocatello (!).... my street had a lot of side garages where people would zip in to their garage on the SIDE of their house to enter their home and there was none of that chatting and waving across the driveways at the end (or beginning) of the day. My main point SHOULD'VE been what a KID-FRIENDLY, meet-lots-of-neighbors, play-on-each-others-swing-sets kind of place much of Chubbuck is !

[magnamatt]

Originally Posted by helper2008

but I also heard that Pocatello is the "meth capital of the U.S." I have seen a few meth busts already.

That's just silly.

I also heard the pentagon faked the attack on 9/11, but I don't believe it.

[twinprism]

Originally Posted by helper2008

I also heard that Pocatello is the "meth capital of the U.S." I have seen a few meth busts already.

These statistics don't seem to back that up though they aren't meth specific, interesting that nearby Caribou County seems to have a drug problem, how ever there are so few people that live in some of the rural counties that a couple of large busts could skew the statistics pretty bad. I think you'll find meth to be a problem throughout the state as it is rural and people tend to leave you alone so it is a good place to avoid enforcement. However most areas have cracked down and had several major busts so hopefully that is changing.

http://www.isp.state.id.us/pgr/Resea...ds2006_002.pdf