Visiting Idaho Falls (possible relocation) - what should I see/do? (Boise: real estate, apartment)

[Easytoremember]

Hello! I am visiting IF next week for a job interview and I have an extra day to poke around the area and decide whether it's a good place for me. So the question is, what should I do? What are the things about Idaho Falls that make it great? And conversely what are the things that people who do not end up staying dislike about it? Should I go to Walmart at noon on a Saturday?

A bit of info on me: currently living in CA (I know, I know) with my wife and 4mo old daughter. Looking for somewhere to put down some roots with a strong community feel and slower pace of life. We love the outdoors, old stuff, and board games to name just a few. If there's any other info that would be helpful, let me know! Oh, we are not LDS but I went to high school with a lot of Mormons and in my experience we get along just fine!

[Ret.InAmmon]

Wal Mart on a Saturday in Idaho Falls looks and feels a lot like Wal Mart on a Saturday in any other city, so no learning for you in that outing.

With just a day to explore the area, your best bet would be to explore the town from the middle outward, walk the downtown area and visit the shops, drive the older residential section of the "numbered streets", maybe see Tautphus park and the zoo, the museum, and take the time to visit the burbs and the rural areas outside of town, both West and East..
Walk along the greenbelt near the river downtown.
Drop into Reeds dairy for an ice cream cone.

I will caution you about only visiting I.F. in the summer before deciding to live here. We have real seasons, and while summer is hot, winter is cold and comes with ice and snow.

Good luck.

[Theotherdude]

The river walk is the part of IF I enjoy most. Probably the most scenic urban river anywhere. Close by in downtown are good restaurants and the nightlife is cleaning up.

[siege]

Great suggestions already, you might try to get to the Snake River Landing area, or catch the view of the town from the hill to the east of town.

I sometimes like to imagine I am from out of town, and see the city with " new eyes ".... The hanging baskets of flowers downtown, all summer, the planters, the displays at the freeway ramps, wide streets, a clean feel to the area in general, and most of all, the friendly, unassuming people you meet. We have all types, from the nuclear scientist, to the guy selling vegetables from his garden at the farmers market. Stop almost any local on the street, and they will take the time to answer your questions.

I moved here about 40 years ago on a job transfer. I stayed because I love it here. I married a local girl, raised a family, and my kids have all bought homes here. This is where they chose to raise their children.
Our roots are deep here, and we all enjoy being part of the community.

The bad stuff ? Although the area is growing very fast, there are probably amenities that you won' t find here, that you may have had where you are currently living. I have a lot of hobbies, and Amazon fills the gap for me. Your favorite shop or restaurant may not be here (yet). That gives you the opportunity to find new favorites. The winters take some time to acclimate to. That's a good excuse to buy a 4WD vehicle, and adopt a few winter sports. We dont't have an ocean here, but we do have some beautiful mountains, rivers, and lakes.

Good luck on the interview. I hope you get to stay longer on your next visit.

[cleosmom]

For starters, I would never suggest visiting Walmart, day or night, but that's me

As for retail, another poster nailed it, if you can't find it here there's Amazon.

Yes, the downtown area is great as is walking on the Greenbelt. I also suggest taking a look at things would be done on a normal basis where you currently live; check out the traffic patterns from potential new job to various neighborhoods, grocery stores etc. What are your family's hobbies? Can they be met here?What about the extreme cold temperatures? Not sure what part of CA you're from, but we moved here from the Central Valley (smog infested inferno) in the early 90's and have ZERO regrets!! We love that there are four distinct seasons.

Enjoy your visit!!

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by Theotherdude

The river walk is the part of IF I enjoy most. Probably the most scenic urban river anywhere. Close by in downtown are good restaurants and the nightlife is cleaning up.

Ever been to Memphis, Richmond or even Boise? Just saying as much as the IF greenbelt is nice, my subjective opinion is it is not the nicest.
I know, it is a sin to say anything bad about IF.

[cathymee]

relatively new here,originally from New York suburbs with a pitstop in Ohio for 2 years. You will love the cost of living here and what you can get for your money,real estate wise. The winter takes some getting used to, but this first summer has been glorious. There's virtually no humidity, the evenings cool down wonderfully.
I'll come from the young parent perspective .I'm a grandma, but moved here along with my daughter and son in law (works at the lab) with a just turned three yer old, and a single son of 28..who got a really decent job within 11 days of arriving. You'll probably be looking at things with a young parents perspective.The town is crawling with kids, and there's a million things to do for them and with them. I would try to visit the Farmers Market if you're here on a Saturday morning (9a.m. to 1 p.m.).It will give you a good perspective on the people who live here.It's a busy market with food vendors, produce, arts and crafts and lots of people watching .It's also along the greenbelt at the river so you'll see that too, plus its downtown so you can meander through those streets.For the size of the town, there's decent dining variety w ith Vietnamese,Thai,Indian,sushi,and lots of good Mexican,Central and South American.There's a small zoo and museum with childrens programming.Your chain stores and big box stores are here though I'd love a Trader Joes!There's an interesting art space called Artitorium that my granddaughter loves, and a brand new space called KidsTown.Theres a small aquarium supposedly opening shortly.
My 28 yr old son moved here from San Francisco, and started his own board game meetup when he found none here. They meet on Monday nights at a local Irish Pub (The Celt) and its a mix of single and married.. If you wind up needing a real estate agent, just ask we found a great guy who worked with us online.I bought a small house at Snake River landing(mentioned above) my married kid bought a really nice sized house with property that you'd kill for in California, and my son is renting a gorgeous brand new apartment with amenities for less than 1/2 the price he paid for a not so great place in SF.Good luck with your interview!!

[banjomike]

Make museum plural, if you have the time.

We have the Museum of Idaho, the Art Museum on the greenbelt, just south of Broadway, and there are always exhibits in the Willard Arts Center, downtown, very close to the greenbelt. Our local newspaper, the Post-Register, always has an exhibit going in it's offices on the N. Yellowstone highway, just north of downtown.

They all get some spectacular stuff, and each is different from the others.

The Museum of Idaho in particular gets travelling exhibits that are seen nowhere else in the state, usually seen only in cities 4 times our size. Besides the traveling exhibits, this museum also has a exceedingly fine collection of local relics of all kinds that all came from here and the surrounding area.

The reason why this is possible is due to a local boy who made good. He became an internet billionaire, and while he no longer lives here, he's never forgotten his roots, and has endowed some magnificent civic facilities. They all charge a reasonable fee, but all are very well worth it.

Time restrictions will make your visit's decisions harder than the expense by far.

One way to give the kids a refreshing break while seeing some of our local vistas is to go east on Hwy. 26 to Ririe, about 11 miles or so. Pass Ririe and watch for the Heise Hot Springs turn-off; it's well marked with a big sign.

It will take you down into the Snake River canyon, crosses the river, and leads to an old natural hot-pool swimming pool complex that's been there for about 100 years. The water is much sweeter than most hot springs here, but it's still a little sulphuric. The canyon scenery is grand.

The big pool has a water slide, a zip line, etc. and is funky old school-great, and there are hotter soak pools next to it. The surrounding campground is right on the river, very cool, shady, and scenic.

Col. Heise's first hotel still stands, but isn't used for accommodations any more. He was a Civil War veteran, a medal of honor winner, and he piped the hot water that gushes out of the canyon wall around the wall, allowing it to cool enough to swim in. Some of his piping still exists.

He's buried in a tiny cemetery straight uphill, but it's now hard to see and it's on private property.

My parents met there during WWII. My dad was a lifeguard. I learned how to swim there, so I have a ton of fond memories, and I still like to go up and get a soak in the winters when it's below zero outside. Nothing finer in this world!

It can be a 2-hour jaunt, if you can get the kids out of the pool. There's a burger stand there and a nearby pizza parlor that serves pretty good pizza, and a fair 9-hole golf course.

[Theotherdude]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Ever been to Memphis, Richmond or even Boise? Just saying as much as the IF greenbelt is nice, my subjective opinion is it is not the nicest.
I know, it is a sin to say anything bad about IF.

A matter of opinion of course, the Boise River is nice but not as scenic. The snake cuts through canyons of black lava rock, contains waterfalls. I've been to many other large cities everywhere where the river is just a river with many parks and a trail system. The famed San Antonio river walk is cool but the essence of nature is non existant

[siege]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Ever been to Memphis, Richmond or even Boise? Just saying as much as the IF greenbelt is nice, my subjective opinion is it is not the nicest.
I know, it is a sin to say anything bad about IF.

It's not a sin, and I would always defend your right to have an opinion and post it here.....
Even when you're WRONG ! LOL