Boise versus Eagle schools & homes (Meridian: credit, neighborhoods, high schools)

[drichards702]

Hello. We're seriously considering a move to the area within this year. My husband likes Eagle. For the schools and the safer area. And I like Eagle also for many of those reasons. But I don't want to discredit schools or homes in Boise. I'm not too fond of cookie cutter homes. I know Eagle has a lot of those.
What can you tell us about the Boise areas? Schools? Especially middle and high schools? What parts of Boise should we stay away from? My husband works for the FAA. He would be working at the airport. Of course his salary would go down if we accepted the position. But COL is a lot less there than here in Washington state. And quality of life would improve. And it looks like we could retire here as well!
We're looking for safety, affordability of homes, good neighborhoods, and good schools. Any and all suggestions or leads would be awesome so we could start to narrow down our search. Thanks!

[benchfan]

Both areas offer quality homes and schools. Boise schools tend to have smaller class sizes and richer offerings and often lower fees for students for extracurricular activities.

I would encourage you to check out southeast Boise. Timberline High School is excellent as are Les Bois and East Jr. High schools (Boise has Jr. High grades 7-9/high school is 10-12). There are great neighborhoods and pricing will be similar to Eagle. Your husband will be LOT closer to work at the airport with a much shorter commute and you will have better access to foothills trails, Boise greenbelt and downtown.

I have a daughter who recently graduated from Borah and a second daughter who is a junior. We love the teachers, diversity, and smaller AP class sizes. Borah is great for students in music with a phenomenal band. State basketball champs the year before last and I think #3 last year.

Boise High is one of the top high schools in the country--housing in that school area is pretty spendy, though there are some great northwest Boise neighborhoods that feed into Boise High that could be great.

I recently had clients who really thought they would end up in Eagle or north Meridian until they got here and really got to know the city. They ended up in southeast Boise for the access to amenities and strong schools. It does take a visit here to truly get a feel for everything.