A realistic view.. (Boise, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls: sales, house, job market)

[dwsa4]

Hello everyone! My husband is a navy vet who completed his service a few years ago. We ended up staying in Southern California to finish his degree but now he's graduating and we feel like we finally get to choose where we want to live. We are a family of 4 with a baby on the way so we want a city or area that's safe for families. I went to Eagle Idaho last summer and fell in love but know that area is much more expensive then our family could afford. I'm also realistic in realizing that there are good and bad to every situation and the biggest issue we could see would be finding a job before we moved out there. Question is.. what does everyone do? What are the major industries? My husband has worked in construction coordinating while going to school but I'm not even sure if that's a big job market out there?



There are a couple more places that are options but it's our whole goal really to find a safe place with a slower pace for our family. (Originally from Texas but hate the constant heat)

[Willamette City]

Where is Eagle, Idaho? We lived in Northern Idaho years ago and love it. Sandpoint was a fun town to live in. I went to college in Twin Falls. Twin Falls was not a great place to live, but Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry were nice areas.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by Willamette City

Where is Eagle, Idaho? We lived in Northern Idaho years ago and love it. Sandpoint was a fun town to live in. I went to college in Twin Falls. Twin Falls was not a great place to live, but Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry were nice areas.

Google can be your best friend in order to find out where Eagle is.

How many years ago in Twin Falls? That city and area have grown tremendously and Twin Falls actually has a lot going for it.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by dwsa4

Hello everyone! My husband is a navy vet who completed his service a few years ago. We ended up staying in Southern California to finish his degree but now he's graduating and we feel like we finally get to choose where we want to live. We are a family of 4 with a baby on the way so we want a city or area that's safe for families. I went to Eagle Idaho last summer and fell in love but know that area is much more expensive then our family could afford. I'm also realistic in realizing that there are good and bad to every situation and the biggest issue we could see would be finding a job before we moved out there. Question is.. what does everyone do? What are the major industries? My husband has worked in construction coordinating while going to school but I'm not even sure if that's a big job market out there?



There are a couple more places that are options but it's our whole goal really to find a safe place with a slower pace for our family. (Originally from Texas but hate the constant heat)

https://commerce.idaho.gov/site-sele...ey-industries/

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/bu...f92800c35.html

https://idahonews.com/news/local/con...and-for-growth

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/lo...9-77feee936fb6

https://www.wsj.com/articles/it-jobs...bs-11553623183

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by Willamette City

Where is Eagle, Idaho?

Eagle is in the Treasure Valley, a little north west of Boise.

Dave

[banjomike]

I think it would be helpful to look for job opportunities all over the state as a first priority, DWSA.

Idaho's growing fast, and there are jobs available now that need workers. If Eagle is too expensive, there are other cities here that aren't so expensive, and the life you saw there isn't an exception.

Eagle is similar to other cities here, except that it's a part of the only real metro area in Idaho there is. Life in and around Boise is a lot closer to the big-city life than any other place in this state. Our other 'large' cities are all kind of mini-metros, each with their own thing going.

They do differ, but the only way you'll ever know which is the best fit for you is to visit them. This is a big state and our cities are quite spread out from each other, separated by lots of open country and/or wilderness. It may be helpful for you to plan to look at Idaho a section at a time instead of trying to see the entire state in one visit.

The state has a lot of guides on its website to help you in this:

https://www.idaho.gov

[Sandpointian]

Originally Posted by dwsa4

Hello everyone! My husband is a navy vet who completed his service a few years ago. We ended up staying in Southern California to finish his degree but now he's graduating and we feel like we finally get to choose where we want to live. We are a family of 4 with a baby on the way so we want a city or area that's safe for families. I went to Eagle Idaho last summer and fell in love but know that area is much more expensive then our family could afford. I'm also realistic in realizing that there are good and bad to every situation and the biggest issue we could see would be finding a job before we moved out there. Question is.. what does everyone do? What are the major industries? My husband has worked in construction coordinating while going to school but I'm not even sure if that's a big job market out there?

There are a couple more places that are options but it's our whole goal really to find a safe place with a slower pace for our family. (Originally from Texas but hate the constant heat)

if you asked these questions, 10 or 20 years ago, the replies would be more optimistic. Since then so many people have poured into the Boise area that it has begun to resemble the places from when the migrants came including the high prices.

Urban Idaho has become every bit as pricey as the rest of the West. We also see it becoming more crowded and rude on their way to mirroring other cities in the West, though for the meantime, with so many migrants enjoying a honeymoon from windfall sales of their pervious homes and the enjoyment of friendly Idaho itself, things are still good...for now.

It is the problem/reality of our time. I think Missoula lags Spokane which lags Boise which lagged Denver and Portland. It is simply a series of rotations within the West.


Boise and Spokane are your best bets for a mid-career move since the building in each area is strong. Both lack the really big paying jobs, but they are dabbling at the edges of tech.

S.

[banjomike]

Sandpointian's comment about how the problems are rotating around the West lis very perceptive.

Boise's housing problems exist, and it may be as bad as Portland's problems now, but the cities are handling them in very different ways. Spokane's solutions may be different from Missoula's, too.

The causes for growth in all of them were different as well, and the growth spurts have come at slightly different times.

The growth here has caused problems everywhere, but the problems themselves differ a lot from area to area and city to city. Here in the SE Corridor, the growth has caused the prices, more than the availability, of housing to go way up.

That's not such a big problem when local wages are high enough to make a move still a bargain.
The overall cost of living can still be lower here, even if the cost of housing is lopsidedly high.

The problem here has made for a lot of creative solutions in my neighborhood. A really large split level a few doors down was over-sized in comparison to the rest of the homes on the block, and was having trouble selling due to the size; it made the taxes on the place much higher than the others, and at about 50 years of age, lacked some of the amenities of the newer McMansions.

Two young families bought it jointly at a relative bargain, and have been re-modeling the interior in spurts ever since, for around 2 years now.
I don't know what they're doing, as I don't know any of them and haven't been inside, but it appears they're making it work for them, and while the house hasn't changed on the outside very much, they must be happy with what they're doing, at least from what I see.

So there are ways to overcome problems. Both my sons have lived in Portland for a very long time, and they both tell me about other ways folks have found living there.
In Portland, the housing is very critical as the city set it's limit boundaries a while back, and the city cannot sprawl outward any longer.
The city's refusal to accommodate sprawl has caused many other problems too. It has made the suburbs less attractive places to move to because Portland won't allow big highways to cut up their old neighborhoods.

So a commute from the outlying suburbs has made all the arterial streets in Portland clogged during the drive times throughout the city. All the commuter traffic is stuck in one traffic light after another for miles in all directions.
The citizen's answer to that was to abandon the automobile. Folks still own them and drive around town, but they use bikes or other means to get to work.

This ongoing perpetual traffic jam has actually decreased the home values in some of the suburbs, and has increased the housing pressure inside Portland's city limits.

That's the way it goes with city planning these days. One good solution to one problem brings on a slew of bad solutions to the new problems the first creates.

If someone who had lived in Portland for a long time was to move to Boise, they could think Boise's traffic isn't bad at all. I think it's terrible, but that's only because Idaho Falls' traffic isn't as bad. Yet.
It's all relative, I'm sure. I'm uneasy on an 8-lane Interstate too, but the locals never are.

So for anyone who's looking to move here, I think it is important to really look our entire state over and plan to spend some time here in person before making any final decisions.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by banjomike

If someone who had lived in Portland for a long time was to move to Boise, they could think Boise's traffic isn't bad at all. I think it's terrible, but that's only because Idaho Falls' traffic isn't as bad. Yet.

It's all relative, I'm sure.

So true! Coming from SoCal, I find the traffic here in North Idaho to be quite manageable. Many complain that it is getting horrific as the region grows. Then again, it might be because I'm retired and am rarely in a hurry anymore or I'm out and about during non-rush hour times when traffic is lighter.

[bobspez]

Don't want to be a wet blanket but being somewhere as a tourist is way different than trying to make a living. In the first case, you are putting money into the local economy so everyone is all smiles. In the second place you are taking money out of the economy, so you are in competition with the locals. Good luck.

As far as a safe place, there's no such thing. You can live in a nice neighborhood in any state or city with good public schools and it will be as safe as anywhere else. You can have an accident or illness anywhere and be as screwed as anywhere else.

Find a job that pays well and where you are comfortable with the environment and weather. That can be anywhere. I have lived in California and Washington state and Detroit, considered relocating to Denver and Phoenix and the only place that gave me the opportunity for good paying jobs, home ownership, raising a family and retiring in comfort was the NYC area.