Cant decide between Boise, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls (Hope: insurance, how much)
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We are looking to move in the next couple of years and are trying to decide what area would be the best for us. We have a teenage daughter who would be just starting high school at the time of our move. Can anyone help with the differences between Boise, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls. Any information that you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
It might be easiest if you let people know what you are looking for in terms of housing (cost and setting), jobs, cultural amenties, schools, recreation activies, etc first and then it will be easier to provide recommendations! Good luck in your search.
In brief; Boise largest population in the state which gets you a wider selection of big box stores, higher housing costs, higher insurance costs yet also a wider variety of eateries, shopping and the like.
Twin Falls, south centrally located, has a junior college, still a decent size farming community and more of a laid back atmosphere than the larger city of Boise.
Idaho Falls, a thriving area that still has a focus on spud farming only more large company than the previous times of family farming. We have Yellowstone National Park as our backyard, plenty of fishing, rafting, boating skiing and many other outdoor activities to be had. We also have a mall, airport, warehouse type grocery stores and plenty other services one would normally use.
I suggest taking a trip out to Idaho and exploring all three areas and getting a feel for the locales. Make certain what you're looking for is there in terms of housing, schools and jobs.
Thank you both...we have been searching the housing market and have noticed the higher cost of housing in Boise of course compared to Orange County its a blessing. I know my wife is really concerned about the winters. How much snow? How cold? Also which of the areas as the best high schools available. I know having a mall, target wallmart or something like that is also important to my wife. We do like going out to dinner once in a while so a little variety in restaurants would also be great. Hope this doesnt make us sound picky as for me I just want to get away from 15 million other people.
Average snow fall is 21 inches though I have only seen that once since we've been here. Most of the time it melts in a day or so. Buy a house that faces south and the snow will melt faster. January is usually the coldest month. It can hit a low of 0 degrees but rarely have I seen that for more than a day or so. The nice thing you will notices is even though it's cold the sun still is out. You don't need chains to live in Boise. Unless the weather patterns change drastically they are not needed unless you go up into the mountains.
Boise High and Timberline High are suppose to be really good high schools. Depending on what you want to spend on a home will dictate which area in the Boise-Metro you will be able to live in.
Boise has some great restaurants to chose from. Check out the thread, Visiting Boise, a lot of us have offered suggestions on where to eat.
Like any city you will find there are some downfalls, but having lived in So. CA myself, I think you will find that the positives will out weigh the negatives. Please come and visit and see what you think.
Boise would have the mildest of the three in terms of winter climate for sure. There is not a lot of precipitation each year, and although there are some cold days in the winter, there is not a considerable amount of snow. City-data as well as other sources can give you the average daily temperatures for the year as well as precipitation. In my opinion Boise has the best schools available just due to the sheer number of options available. There are some very good private options as well. Just due to population Boise would have the most variety in terms of restaurants. I do agree a trip is always the best way to make decisions.
Also too, Boise Airport is a cinch to fly in and out of. Flights will be less expensive than out of Idaho Falls or Twin Falls because it is a larger city. You can fly non-stop into ONT on Express Jet for $69 or somewhere around there. Having a larger airport is nice as you can have family and friends come to visit and it's still affordable.
Boise sits at the foot of mountains. Idaho Falls and Twin Falls have mountains nearby, but they are in the distance.
insahmniak, the whole Western US is probably under an air alert because of all of the wildfires everywhere. That is the reason Boise has an alert today, wildfire smoke carried in the atmosphere from other areas. Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland, and much smaller cities than Boise all have alerts today because of fires.
And I think you have a misconception about Nuclear power plants. They are cleaner and safer than most others, and the plant proposed for Idaho is still a decade away from being built if it even gets built. Many, many states are building coal power plants which pollute the air, but Idaho isn't building any.
Wind Energy is becoming the rage in Idaho as is the prospect of Geothermal Energy and Boise has tons of geothermal energy potential.
Great post Syringaloid I was going to say the same thing. Idaho's air quality was terrible for about a month last summer due to the wild fires all around us not just in the state of Idaho. Many areas have experienced the same issues as Idaho because of the same reasons. Bad air quality is not the norm here from my experience. It is something to be aware of, because Boise is near forest land and you will have a risk of smoke in the metro area if a major fire or fires are close by, but I wouldn't let that steer you away from considering Boise.
And yes that was my understanding about the Nuclear Power Plant, it isn't even an approved project yet, it is just in the works. You can go to the Idaho Statesman website and see if you can pull up the article.
Wind energy is also becoming popular like Syringaloid said. Shoot I just sent an article to a client considering this area otherwise I would give you the title in case anyone wanted to look it up, but it was also from the Idaho Statesman
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January is usually the coldest month. It can hit a low of 0 degrees but rarely have I seen that for more than a day or so. The nice thing you will notices is even though it's cold the sun still is out. You don't need chains to live in Boise. Unless the weather patterns change drastically they are not needed unless you go up into the mountains.
