Taking a job in Idaho Falls? Info please... (Hope: real estate market, how much)

[Moon Waffle]

I am looking into a job opportunity in Idaho Falls and I have a lot of questions. I just believe you can't ever have too much information when considering a move (especially with a family). Plus I've never been to IF before. Thank you ahead of time for your responses.

Leisure: We like a nice mix of outdoor events, cultural events, sports events, dining, etc. We are not heavy into one of these categories; pretty balanced overall. I realize that IF is a small town so my real question is, what kind of balance of these things does the town provide?

Sense of Community: Is this the type of town with an identity and sense of community, or is this one of those small towns where everyone pretty much keeps to themselves - you know, the type where the downtown is full of empty buildings.

People: What I'd like is a nice blend of retired, college aged, families, etc. Not a huge bubble of mostly one type of resident.

Economy/outlook: where is IF headed? Growth, flat, decline? What will drive the direction? What is the future? Does INL employment fluctuate creating huge boom and bust periods?

Religion: I know the town is heavily LDS. Can anyone estimate what percentage of the people in IF are LDS? This isn't a concern, I'm just trying to get some information.

Housing: I own a 4 br 2 1/2 bath 2400 square foot on 1/3 acre and it's worth about $260,000. Ballpark: what would this type of home cost in IF?

Weather: How extreme are the winters? Can someone give me insight as to how much snow? And how long does the cold last?

[khurley]

I'll try to answer what I can.

As far as leisure, Idaho Falls is great if you like outdoor activities. Pretty much anything, boating, biking, hiking, skiing, camping, fishing.....is accessible within a relatively short distance. There's not as much as far as cultural events goes, but we are seeing the town start to branch out a bit in that direction. There are many of your usual chain restaurants, along with a handful of local eateries.

I think Idaho Falls has a wonderful sense of community. There's a degree of neighborliness and friendliness that you don't find in a lot of other places. There's been quite a project in revitalizing the historic downtown area and the greenbelt there around the snake river is beautiful.

There is a nice blend of all types in Idaho Falls. People do tend to be conservative, but there is no one specific group that is predominant (i.e. college kids, retirees.....).

The economy in Idaho Falls is very good. A recent report put the unemployment rate in Idaho Falls at the lowest in the country and it was in the top ten for the real estate market. All projection show the area continuing to grow and expand. The INL does fluctuate. A job will end and their will be layoffs, but then a new project will begin and they'll be hiring.

I would estimate the LDS to non-LDS ratio to be about 50/50.

How old is your home? I would probably list (ballpark) a newer home, let's say 2400 sq. ft. one level with a finished basement (1200 up/1200 down) on a 1/3 acre lot with a 2 car garage for around $190,000. An older home would be a little less and much of that would be determined by age and condition.

I grew up in Idaho so, to me, the winters are pretty mild compared to the ones I remember as a child. Temperatures during the day range between, on the lower end, maybe 19 degrees and high thirties on the upper end. The last few years we've had very little snow in the valley and what we did get would melt, with the mountains getting most of the snow. This year, for a change, we've actually had a decent amount of snow that's stayed around. We've probably got about 6-9 inches right now. Typically it starts to really feel like winter at the end of October and stays relatively cold through March. Summers' are really nice and quite a bit warmer than most people would imagine.

Hope that helps!

[cleosmom]

Feeling the need to interject, Idaho Falls does have a good number of cultural events at both the Civic Center and Colonial Theatre all year long. We also have a minor league baseball team, a farm team of the San Diego Padres. Several events occur downtown on the greenbelt during the warmer months; Farmer's Market (south side of Broadway), art shows, Fourth Of July fireworks, the Duck Race, Youth Jam and I'm certain I'm leaving out a good number of things.

As khurley posted, we're having a fairly decent winter in comparison to the past dozen years or so.

[IFgirl]

I would probably say the mix between LDS and other religions is more like 1/3 LDS to 2/3 other. I am LDS but my family/kids had lots of friends & neighbors who were not. And they had good opportunities to participate or attend activities related to their friends' churches. There are several really cool-looking religious buildings, especially by O.E.Bell (used to be a school, now an office building).

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

I am looking into a job opportunity in Idaho Falls and I have a lot of questions. I just believe you can't ever have too much information when considering a move (especially with a family). Plus I've never been to IF before. Thank you ahead of time for your responses.

Leisure: We like a nice mix of outdoor events, cultural events, sports events, dining, etc. We are not heavy into one of these categories; pretty balanced overall. I realize that IF is a small town so my real question is, what kind of balance of these things does the town provide?

Sense of Community: Is this the type of town with an identity and sense of community, or is this one of those small towns where everyone pretty much keeps to themselves - you know, the type where the downtown is full of empty buildings.

People: What I'd like is a nice blend of retired, college aged, families, etc. Not a huge bubble of mostly one type of resident.

Economy/outlook: where is IF headed? Growth, flat, decline? What will drive the direction? What is the future? Does INL employment fluctuate creating huge boom and bust periods?

Religion: I know the town is heavily LDS. Can anyone estimate what percentage of the people in IF are LDS? This isn't a concern, I'm just trying to get some information.

Housing: I own a 4 br 2 1/2 bath 2400 square foot on 1/3 acre and it's worth about $260,000. Ballpark: what would this type of home cost in IF?

Weather: How extreme are the winters? Can someone give me insight as to how much snow? And how long does the cold last?

Very good questions, IMHO, Moon Waffle. Idaho Falls is headed forward. Ranked the #1 city in the nation for lowest unemployment at least 6 times since July.

I really think with the new residents moving from almost every state (not many from Hawaii, but a far amount from Alaska), plus some from Canada, there is becoming quite a blend of different people calling Bonneville County home.

There are good demographics data available for you to see. Kind of surprised me to see something like 13,000+ under the age of 17 years old. (and that may be too low, I can't recall at the moment).

Interestingly enough, a new segment of the Idaho Falls population is seniors relocating for retirement.

INL use to be far more dominant that it currently is, as to the overall economy. If you haven't seen it yet, there is a thread already about INL on here. Some of your questions may be answered there. Many people really don't understand that INL isn't just Battelle. Many different companies work at INL and the last I heard, the contract work had increased, especially with the Air Force.

Also, one reality about INL, is many projects are classified. So many of us really don't know what all is happening in designated INL missions.

Montana's Gov. was in Idaho Falls last week and HE stated he thought INL should be the lead lab in developing new energy sources.

Take a look at some earlier threads and let us know if they are useful.

Good luck finding the info you need. It seems like you've gotten some excellent information to date! And, your openness to learn is the most important factor.

MSR