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I am hoping for some advice. My husband and I (and our 8 month old baby boy) are moving to Boise for his job (transferring from SLC to Boise office located in downtown Boise) as soon as we can sell out place here. We were in Boise this weekend with a great realtor up there and he showed us some places in our desired area, Southeast Boise. We really had our hearts set on that area for its excellent schools (all rated a 9/10 according to greatschools.org) and the general look of that area, plus the easy access to downtown.
We actually put an offer on a PERFECT place for us in Columbia Village, but since our offer had a contingency that we needed to sell our place first, they accepted another offer. It was literally the ONLY house in Southeast Boise that was the right price, square footage, age, etc. We're trying not to spend more than $230,000 on a home, and we need at least 3 bedrooms and room for a baby grand piano. We'd like something from 1600-2000 sq feet and somewhat updated but a little bit older kitchen appliances or something like that won't keep us away. As we keep looking, we're realizing we may need to go outside of Southeast Boise. The homes we can afford seem to be either really dated, or small, or sold, or short sales.
That's where I am looking for advice. We've looked at this listing: View Listings
today in an area totally away from Southeast - in Northwest Boise.
The neighborhood is called Pierce Park. The schools aren't as amazing, (6/10) but they are not terrible, either. What can anyone tell me about this area? Other great neighborhoods? Any other suggestions as to a great place to live? We want to live somewhere where we can make friends and that also has young children so our little one and any future kiddos have people to play with and a good place to go to school.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by hayander1; 02-17-2014 at 11:23 AM..
Reason: adding details.
Pierce Park >>>>>>>> Columbia Village, by a mile. CV is a really terrible planned community, far out of the way (unless you work at Micron) with, by and large, cheaply built homes.
It's cheap for a reason. Not because you found a steal.
Pierce Park >>>>>>>> Columbia Village, by a mile. CV is a really terrible planned community, far out of the way (unless you work at Micron) with, by and large, cheaply built homes.
It's cheap for a reason. Not because you found a steal.
That looks like a very nice home. I wish you luck.
Opinions, every one has them. IMHO CV it has better access to downtown than the Pierce Park area. True some of the original, smaller homes were not well built; but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Over the years CV has had MANY builders. Some of the original ones who built those cheaper homes were kicked out long ago. There are a LOT of very nice, well built homes. If you want good local schools K-9, parks, community pools and Rec Center, easy access to downtown, the freeway and the foothills including the Pen/Botanical Gardens Shakespeare, no grid traffic jams, great views, yada yada, it "can" be a very good choice. Different Strokes!
Thanks for the replies. One thing that I was concerned about is the traffic from Pierce Park to downtown. I've heard that it can get really congested on State Street. Also, it's pretty far from the freeway. Are these things I should worry about or not? My husband will work downtown and I suppose not being close to a freeway isn't too big a deal, assuming there is shopping, gyms, etc, nearby?
In my opinion, Pierce Park (which is on the far western end of the North end area, though its not in the NE) feels far closer than CV, which is just generic leapfrog sprawled development. We can debate this all night long, and really both are probably the same distance to downtown time wise, but being in the Pierce Park area feels more like Boise, being sandwiched between the river, foothills, and downtown Boise... whereas Columbia Village is close to... a bunch of soccer fields? Maybe Barber Park, and you can drive to Harris Ranch or Bown in 5 minutes, I guess...
I'd second PP over CV - you're much closer to the foothills and river, and while it may not be closer to downtown, it feels that way. I would think you would have a fair amount of options in your price range so long as you're not looking at the Northend/Eastend or prime spots in Eagle.
Thanks for the feedback. It makes me feel better about looking outside Southeast to other areas. Are there any subdivisions in northwest Boise that I should steer clear of as I search that area for homes, too?
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