Is Idaho for us? (Boise, Moscow: houses, colleges, taxes)

[norm]

I am retired and my wife will be retiring in the next few years at which time we plan on moving away from the NYC area. I would like to know if there is an area in ID that meets our requirement or at least most of them.

Liveable humidity level (very important for health reasons).
Mild winters.
Near a city with a college (for cultural events).
Good medical facilities nearby.
Not too conservative.
Religious diversity. We are non practicing Jews but obviously would not want to live where Jews are discriminated against.
Within easy driving distance of an airport.
Good shopping i.e. Lowes or Home Depot, Dept. Stores, Target, etc.
Decent restaurants.
Houses below $250,000.
Reasonable taxes.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Norm

[cleosmom]

Liveable humidity level (very important for health reasons). Idaho is pretty low on the humidity scale
Mild winters. You'll want western Idaho; Boise and surrounding area
Near a city with a college (for cultural events). There are a few colleges over on the west side of the state
Good medical facilities nearby. Boise has that
Not too conservative.Boise area is not as conservative as SE Idaho
Religious diversity. We are non practicing Jews but obviously would not want to live where Jews are discriminated against. Again Boise more so than SE ID
Within easy driving distance of an airport.Boise has an airport
Good shopping i.e. Lowes or Home Depot, Dept. Stores, Target, etc.Yep, Boise has big box stores, sorry I prefer mom n pop stores myself
Decent restaurants. Over in Boise you'll find both locally owned and the chains; Olive Garden, Chili's, Applebee's etc.
Houses below $250,000. Can't help you on that one
Reasonable taxes.They have been trying to pass something here similar to CA Prop. 13 from the 80's

[norm]

Thanks for the reply cleosmom. Upon reading the threads on this forum I see a lot of people talking about the poor air quality in Boise and that isn't something I want to be exposed to.

Norm

[cleosmom]

Well, you might very well get the inversion layers in winter, but most of it goes away when the wind blows.

Best idea is to visit yourself to see how you feel about the area.

[norm]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Well, you might very well get the inversion layers in winter, but most of it goes away when the wind blows.

Best idea is to visit yourself to see how you feel about the area.

I agree about visiting there and if it's still on our short list when get nearer to retirement we will do that.

Norm

[cea4insurance]

i'm a transplant from California; Any Boise negative is nothing compared to the rest of the nation - no one area is perfect. I'm glad I uprooted and moved, retired, here - being born & raised in Calif. Boise #3 in Nation for career, business, etc. just recently. Provot, UT was 2nd, 1st was out of n/w area.

Lots of Greenbelt areas, parks - family oriented community; huge amount of moutain area with large & small lakes for recreation, fishing, boating - some higher lakes reserved for motorless craft, etc. Lots of large Rivers all over. The only restaurant I notice not here yet is Mimi's - cajun cookin', otherwise about all of them are in Boise Metro area.

Idaho has BYU-I in RExburg; Idaho State; Idaho Univ, Moscow, northwest; and Boise State southwest (in Boise). Idaho Univ. in Moscow just cross the border from Washington State; Idaho has small colleges as well.

Being the State Capitol I believe also offers a lot of "extras".

[vandm]

Originally Posted by norm

Thanks for the reply cleosmom. Upon reading the threads on this forum I see a lot of people talking about the poor air quality in Boise and that isn't something I want to be exposed to.

Norm

The inversion layer is caused by a temperature phenomena. You'll find this in the Treasure Valley primarily; but only on occasion. To completely avoid this, consider areas outside the Boise area.

[rigbymomof3]

Ok, so I can't think of an area that fits all of those Categories. But If I were retiring and wanted an area that was not to conservative I would move to Tetonia or Driggs. It's on the opposite side of the Teton's as Jackson Hole, and just about as beautiful as it gets. But it's pretty pricey. You could move to Rexburg and have BYU-Idaho as a campus near by. Depends, do you want to live in the country or the city?

[rrsmit4]

I would say to get out of the inversion area you might want to consider one of the outter smaller cities within the Treasure Valley. Driving being relative, the roads in Idaho aren't as bad as the one in Turkey so.....Now before everyone starts hollaring about the roads go to Turkey then tell me the roads here are bad.

You can find houses under your requirement but you won't be living in thousands upon thousands of square feet, check out the realtors on line. rrs

[DESERTRYDER]

Can you name of few of those towns OUT of the inversion layer?
Just where is far enough out to still burn my wood stove on a cold january morning ?