Would like to hear from people that moved to Idaho (Boise: how much, big house)

[Bubbie22]

WE are relocating to Boise Idaho, I guess we will be one of the few who comes in a moving van. Can anyone tell me if they is a Jewish Community in the Boise Area.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by Bubbie22

WE are relocating to Boise Idaho, I guess we will be one of the few who comes in a moving van. Can anyone tell me if they is a Jewish Community in the Boise Area.

Check this website out:

Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel

This is from the site:



To our visitors and our community members:

Welcome to the website for Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel, Idaho's historic Jewish community and the home of liberal Judaism in Idaho! As the longest continuously operating Synagogue located west of the Mississippi, we are proud of our traditional, blended heritage which has evolved in Boise since 1895, when our Synagogue was built. Our congregation is composed of a diverse population, including many interfaith couples and those new to Idaho. Many of our members have settled here from other parts of the country, and they are comforted to find a congregation in which connections are easily made and a surrogate family soon takes root.

[silvermountain]

It's OK here. Not bad overall. The scenery in most of the populated places is ok. I live in the Snake River Plain like many people here. The people are great, but entertainment and night life is often a do-it-yourself venture. There are a lot of good places for beautiful outdoor recreation, but for me they are a drive. Also, land prices seem a little high considering the wages, weather and amenities. And this is coming from someone who likes a simpler pace of life. I have better values for my idyllic, rustic, simple life; but alas I cannot say where for fear of ruining them.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by silvermountain

I have better values for my idyllic, rustic, simple life; but alas I cannot say where for fear of ruining them.

Now that's using your head for something other than a hat rack

[brokencrayola]

Originally Posted by sillygal

Do u like it there? Was it what u expected? What area did u end up in, and are u going to stay? What are the pros and cons of living there?

I moved to Idaho 26 years ago from S. California. I first came here for a friends wedding and fell in love with it. I stayed 3 weeks and went home for 6 weeks to pack and take care of business. I have never once for a second considered moving back to CA. I came here a single lady in my 20's, no job, no place to live. I stayed with a friend less than a week and found an apt. The pros are it is beautiful, safe, quiet, nice people, more laid back atmosphere. The cons are there are mostly low paying jobs, not a lot of sunshine in the winter, and winters can be long.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by proeye

Weird... I posted something that was almost identical to everything you said except that I'm not a woman...

I worked at the site for 4 years as an engineer and it was awful. Hated the bus rides. I'm an eye doctor now...

Hi there proeye, I've been looking for one of your posts for a while and couldn't find it. But, I stumbled on this one and decided to make the most of it and ask a couple of questions.

When you were at INL, as stated above, what was the workforce? Also, what was the size of Idaho Falls?

I'm not sure if it is you or someone else who is actually an opthalmologist, where your profile says you are an optometrist, who writes about Idaho Falls while not having set foot in the town for 25 years. It would be weird if there were indeed an optometrist and opthalmologist who wrote on this board, who previously lived in Idaho Falls and worked in other capacities.

Those old buses were something, weren't they? What time did you have to leave each day?

I'm glad you found an occupation that makes you happy. Again, if what you wrote about yourself is acurate, you are a people person spending your days examing the eyes of patients. I can't imagine how miserable you must have felt at INL or any other engineering job. And, while ophthalmologists are MDs or D.O's who have completed medical/osteopathic medical school, residency training and often fellowships as well and spend a great deal of their time in surgeries, you don't. You are able to spend your time with people, which it sounds like you are very happy doing.

It would be a fascinating story to read how you realized engineering wasn't for you and got enrolled in optometry school. I've known several people who have made careers midlife. So many always thought it was where they were they lived, where they worked, their marital status etc. compared to asking that hard question of what do I want for me to be happy and take the responsibility for oneself to be happy. I think it is excellent you traded in your engineering tools for machines necessary to prescribe contacts/glasses, screen for more series eye diseases etc. In no way am I saying that is the case for you, merely making a comment as I read your statement. I have read some of the comments others make of why they are so unhappy and blame most anything before really taking a hard look at their ownself (and I don't mean just in the Idaho forum by any means - if you want to read some really nasty comments - some states really have angry residents that blame others for everything. Since I don't want to encourage such negative posts, that IMO appear to have missed some key elements of self-responsibility etc., and instead I do want to encourage
honest posts about what works for one person may not work for another, I'm choosing to not post those states. You can find them on your own, if you really want to read the thoughts of people who are so angry).

Congratulations on having the courage to make a change with your life, proeye. You know the numbers of O.D.'s that graduate yearly, so you wouldn't be surprised by the dozens in Idaho Falls now. You may be suprirsed at the expertise in Ophthalmology and how many practice in Idaho Falls, along with what first rate training facilities they have completed their fellowships. But, it's really irrelevant to your time as an engineer at INL vs. the advanced optometric/ophthalmological medical community in Idaho Falls today.

I just remembered this, and you may even know the two who I am referencing. There are two doctors in Idaho Falls, well actually 3 that I'm aware of (I mean physicians) who had previous work ties to INL. They loved the area so much, but finally realized that despite their college and even Masters degrees, they weren't doing what they really wanted to do with their lives, so they changed directions. They completed medical school and residency/fellowships, they returned to Idaho Falls. But, that happens everywhere - one local doctor was an engineer in D.C. and went to medical school at Wake Forest with his residency and fellowship at highly ranked centers elsewhere (he's not in opthalmology, I'm just sharing the point people throughout the U.S., who take responsibility for themselves, have changed careers mid-life, so they can be happy.).

It's good we're not all the same. I'm sure some engineer, who really wanted to be an engineer and work on some of the cool inventions INL has designed and patented, was grateful to be hired for your job when you left. Who knows, your available job being filled may have lead to some of the technology we all benefit from today, but few realize was developed at INL. (Probably a different name when you were there, proeye). IMO, you made a decision that benefitted many lives.....probably most of whom you've never met or know.

Good luck in the remaining days of your practice, if you are still in practice. Optometrists are certainly needed and an addition in any community in which they practice/reside. And thanks for sharing your story. I'm sorry I couldn't find your one previous comment that I really wanted to address, but this covers most of it.

Best wishes to every person who is unhappy in their present employment and thinking about getting more advanced training and relocating. It's not always about changing locations vs. looking at one's life to see what else one might want to change.

I support people making changes when they feel it is right for them and those in their lives. It takes a lot of courage to go back to school. So I think what proeye did is great. I have a parent who returned to school just like you, proeye Indeed you should be proud. I absolutely am of my parent!

[Miborn]

Originally Posted by meridianmomma

Hey There,
Just moved to Idaho a little less than a year now, and put my house on the market and moving back to California.
Many reason not all bad! But I too wanted a better life nice community no traffic ,smog,rude people,new home for my family and just now figured it out for myself that happiness is where you decide to get it from! your friends family, neighbors, church,who you decide to share your life with.
I thought start all new!!! WRONG!!! You are who you are because of all those
people that you have shared your life with they can not be replaced.
You can add new wonderful people if you find them.
I have not yet met anyone here, Idaho has left me sad thinking that not everyone wants to meet new friends especially people from California?
Dont no why?
But one thing is for sure Idaho has traffic,smog,rude people also,So for me
I would rather be maybe not in such a new home but with the people who love me....

This post makes me sad... Because I have only come in contact with the rude, condescending etc etc. people from Cali.
I did greet all new neighbors with kindness and welcome to the neighborhood gifts. It did not matter where they were from and all we got was a cold shoulder and unfriendliness etc etc... from the ones from Cali.
So I am sad because you were trying to fit in and was shunned.
The true fact is that we need more people that are nice etc etc moving here not the other kind, but sadly the other kind seems to be more of the majority at least in the Eagle area!
Maybe the Eagle area attracts the I'm' better than you crowd.
I think that Eagle is like a little Scottsdale AZ personally. What ever that means.
Well if you were my neighbor we would have been friendly towards each other I'm sure. Setting aside the fact that you were from Cali ha ha!

[California Carl]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

I agree with kukla1. IMO algore is just a snake oil salesman who is using the time honored tactic of panicking people into foolish and thoughtless behavior, like a herd of buffalo sent over a cliff for some easy eating.
I believe clean water will be far more an issue in the coming years. I don't know how the planet can continue to support a waste-creating population of 6.5 billion and growing fast.
Warmer weather and more CO2 just means that plants will grow faster and bigger. Either 10 times or 100 times more people die of cold weather effects than hot weather effects each year.

You mean like the guys that got us into Iraq? You know, "The war on terror" and all. Keep on dreaming.

[Miborn]

Originally Posted by Bubbie22

WE are relocating to Boise Idaho, I guess we will be one of the few who comes in a moving van. Can anyone tell me if they is a Jewish Community in the Boise Area.

Maybe the North end

[California Carl]

Yes there is, they were talking about it in another thread. I don't remember which one though. You could also look on yahoo map quest and check "Churches" in the Boise area, or a google search. Good luck!