Reviews & Comments
Boise City, ID
re: -
12/26/2008Hi Roxy, I lived in SLO for almost 20 yrs and there is just no other place like it in the US. We moved to Las Vegas because of a business we had but dearly missed SLO. We found Eagle, Id (which is a suburb right outside of Boise) while looking at a business out here. We fell in love with the area and bought a house here a year later. We still miss SLO but if you look at the cost of homes it is so incredibly inflated. We still have a ranch there and were lucky to buy that several years ago before the area became so popular. It is hard for a new family to start there because of the inflated home prices. But as far as the weather, people and attitude it is the best place in the US that we have found, although it is smaller town living you have the beaches and the moutains and average temps around 70 degrees. In Eagle/Boise because of the economy home prices have fallen drastically you can easily buy a fantastic home on a decent piece of property (1/2 acre) for about 300,000. I don't know what your price range is but there are foreclosures everywhere. If you can find a decent job here you would be in good shape. On the other hand there is not a large multicultural population here, but I for one would welcome it!! I hope this helps.
Eagle, ID
Pros and Cons -
12/26/2008We moved to the Boise area about a year ago via Las Vegas, but are originally from the California coast (lived there for 30 yrs) My fiance and I are in our late 30's and work from home, so we have not had the opportunity to experience the work force or pay scale.
Pros of living in Eagle
1. Low cost of housing, beautiful well built homes on acerage for under a million
2. Low crime rate (but home invasions seem to be on the up swing)
3. Friendly people
4. Beautiful seasonal changes and scenary
5. Lovely parks and walk ways especially the green belt
6. Great outdoor activities
7. In shape people, (we have found that most everyone in our neighborhood runs, bikes, hikes, skis or does something athletic which we love to do as well)
Cons of living in Eagle
1. To far from the action in Boise/ no tolerance for drinking and driving (which is good don't get me wrong but $$$ to take a cab if you plan to have some drinks)
2. Lack of entertainment, only a few good restaurants no decent bars with music.
3. Not dog friendly. Although many people have dogs there are no dog parks in the Eagle or Boise area where dogs can run around in a fenced area with other dogs. We haven't found any place to board our dog that has an open area for the dogs to run around, most facilities crate their dogs. Good opportunity to open one here!
4. Great airport but not a lot of flights out. We found out the hard way that flights to California usually are not direct and the Boise airport (although very easy to find your way around) only has about 4 or 5 flights a day into LAX, and no late night flights.
5. Poor city planning. It is a real hassle to get in and out of any shopping center, the city for whatever reason usually only has one way in or out to get to your local grocery store, Target etc.. so there is a ton of traffic and people drive very, very slow here.
6. High LDS population. Not a fan of LDS.
7. Not multicultural - we could use a little more ethnicity here - I wouldn't want my kids thinking the whole world is white!
Overall, I would put Eagle/Boise high on your list if you are planning a move out of California especially. We also considered Austin, Santa Fe and San Diego. Eagle gives you the biggest bang for your buck if your from Cal. and love a lot of land. It also had the best year round weather (with seasonal changes) and the most out door activites. Just wish we had a Trader Joes here!!