Random thoughts from a 2 month New Resident of Boise (Nampa: sales, apartment complex)

[Jarndyce]

I started lurking in this thread earlier this year (and some other threads) when I knew a relocation was a certain pending event. I took some roadtrips and made Boise officially my home June 1.

Here are my thoughts from someone who did a fairly intense research/roadtrip and who has lived in Boise for 2 months. I came from California but have lived all over the nation (everywhere except the South).

GOOD
--Downtown Boise is "better" than advertised. It is nicely big or nicely small, depending on your relationship with urban life. I find Downtown to be perfect. There is an active, growing downtown scene--especially the 8th/9th/Bannock/Front area. I don't find it to be "chain store" because I know what that is--go to California for that. There is a decent mix of character stores and restaurants.

--The Saturday Morning 8th Street Farmer's Market is amazing. Blows away most Farmer's Markets I've been to.

--The Parks are amazing--Ann Morrison/Julia Davis. Floating down the Boise River is incredibly fun. The Parks are impressive. Green, lush. Plenty of biking/running trails. The actual "firepits" for BBQs are massive..not rinky-dink black standalone grills, like in most California parks. Frisbee Golf at Ann Morrison!

--The Giant Edwards Theater on Cole has an IMAX and NOBODY GOES TO FILMS OUT HERE! It's shocking. People obviously have better things to do with their leisure time, so if you're a movie fan, this is not a bad market to be in. There is an "Arthouse" film place near Boise State. I have not been there yet.

--Traffic situation. What traffic? I've driven around and from where I live to downtown Boise--taking either the 184 or the 84 makes no difference to me. Traffic is bad in Nampa, because of the construction, but I'm East of Nampa, closer to the city. The worst traffic I've experienced is at high noon with people trying to run errands or 4-5:30pm, on the streets. But this could be "fixed" if some of the streetlights were "reset." I've lived in San Diego, Boston..so I've dealt with massive traffic nightmares for commutes. Boise traffic is laughable.

--People are nice and friendly. They seem chatty and sincere...unlike Bostonians and even San Diegans. It's easy to meet new people here.

--The Idaho DMV is A+! Such a different experience then in California and Connecticut, the worst DMV locations I've ever seen. It's incredibly cheap to register a car here. If you're young, you can even get an 8 year driver's license! Wow.

--The drive to McCall, Idaho. WOW! Payette River is amazing! I had a hard time keeping my car on the road...so much to look at.

--No CRV! I had forgotten about this. I save $400 a year on this alone, I suspect...

--6% sales tax...not bad actually. Beats 8.25 and 8.75 that I'm used to.

The BAD
--This is a young place. I'm in my early/mid 30s and I feel kinda old. There don't seem to be many retirees in Boise which is either good or bad, depending on your point-of-view.

--Everyone in my apartment complex works the swing shift. It's very quiet during the day and morning...loud at night. My fellow residents are slobs too...which surprises me. People of Boise, you need to take care of your land better. THe Boise River has too much debris in it from idiot, drunk floaters. Every other place I've lived, the people have littered less, basically.

--This is either a warmer summer than average or the weather data on various sites is outdated. I was under the impression the average high for July was 91. That's ridiculous. The average for July was more like 96. We even set a few records in June and July with 100+ temps. It's 101 today. If this is a normal Summer..then Boise is a warmer place then I expected. I find it too warm, to be honest.

--The days were very long in June, which was nice, but I wonder if the reverse will be true in December--maybe 6 hours of daylight?

--The Job Situation is worse than I thought. There don't appear to be many jobs for college-educated professionals. I'm having a beast of a time even landing an interview. Yes I know the overall U.S. economy is in the crapper now. But what happened to the decent job outlook I had in March of 08? Where did those jobs go? Micron is the lone big company employer here. I think there are some "big national companies" here but they have small footprints in the economy. Smaller than I thought

Overall, I'm happy to be here. I look forward to Fall. I just need to secure a job. I moved here with funds to cover expenses. I am worried that I won't find a career here...just a job. Perhaps that's why it feels young to me. People come here in their 20s and leave in their 30s for higher paying jobs..

[micrguy]

What kind of work are you looking for? Some of the other posters may have some words of advice for you. Personally it took me over a year to find something decent and it was not with an Idaho based company. I'm in sales, so I only looked for national companies that had a job opening in Idaho.

[boi2socal]

Boise is hot. In fact, my parents seem to think this summer has been cooler than the past few.

[Cuisinette]

Originally Posted by boi2socal

Boise is hot. In fact, my parents seem to think this summer has been cooler than the past few.

I would say the same thing, this summer was cooler than others.
Last year we had a very hot one... 101 and up for days and days.

For a fact, this year fruits were late in Emmett, to cool to ripe.

Jarndyce,
Perhaps it is better for you to find a job, any job... and then have time to find what you are looking for. At least you could pay the bills with what you make and not wasting away all your savings.

I am glad you like it here.

[Torrie]

Originally Posted by Cuisinette

I would say the same thing, this summer was cooler than others.
Last year we had a very hot one... 101 and up for days and days.

For a fact, this year fruits were late in Emmett, to cool to ripe.

I was watching the news the other night and they said this summer we've been approx. 5.5 degrees cooler than summers of the past.

[boi2socal]

Been cooler in LA and Inland Empire too. Except in Orange County where it has strangely been warmer than past summers they say. Global warming!!!

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by Jarndyce

--This is either a warmer summer than average or the weather data on various sites is outdated. I was under the impression the average high for July was 91. That's ridiculous. The average for July was more like 96. We even set a few records in June and July with 100+ temps. It's 101 today. If this is a normal Summer..then Boise is a warmer place then I expected. I find it too warm, to be honest.

If you're setting record temps doesn't that by definition mean it's not a normal summer? With that said, Boise is always hot in the summer. It was upper 90's the entire week we were there last August, and temps over 105 (according to the truck thermometer, with one memorable 115 a couple years ago) have been fairly common every summer trip I've made there for the last 20+ years.

Even so, the good seems to outweigh the bad by a pretty wide margin, maybe one day we'll move back there for good and not just visit.

[boi2socal]

Well lets all remember an average is an average. That doesn't mean you can expect every day to be 91. One day may be 100 and the next may be 80. It is Idaho still! Although heat is definitely the norm.

[AlleyTD]

My 2 cents ...
We've been here almost a year.
It took over a year for my husband to find a career. We found a good one with the county. The pay is good and the benefits are great. Keep plugging away and something will hit.

As for the heat, it may be bad but it's no where near as bad as AZ or
the So Cal desert area, Here in Boise it cools off in the evenings and its doesn't heat all the way up until the mid afternoon. Additionally, it didn't start getting hot until June and when we arrived in late August last year the heat was over. So yes, it's very hot for a few hours of the day but, its very nice in the shade - and it's not a super long summer.

Age: I guess it depends on where you live. We are in our early 40's with young children and we live in Eagle. I am amazed at how many empty nesters and retirees there are here. As a matter of fact it's an issue we seriously concerned with in searching for our next home ... we want to be sure there are kids in the neighborhood we buy in and there are several pockets of older people around us. I think you will always find a large number of youngsters in an apt setting. You might find the demographic to be different if you try renting a house.

I agree with all your good points.
We love it here.

Good luck on the job search and welcome to Boise!

[blondesnotbombs]

Originally Posted by Jarndyce

--The Job Situation is worse than I thought. There don't appear to be many jobs for college-educated professionals. I'm having a beast of a time even landing an interview. Yes I know the overall U.S. economy is in the crapper now. But what happened to the decent job outlook I had in March of 08? Where did those jobs go? Micron is the lone big company employer here. I think there are some "big national companies" here but they have small footprints in the economy. Smaller than I thought

would you say that you're having difficulty because employers are seeing your degree and assuming you are over qualified or that you'd be looking for a higher salary?

are they seeking experience over education? i.e. 4 years of office experience over 4 years of college education.

curious as to what is halting those with college degrees to gain employment.