Hello to Idaho locals. My husband and I are tired of the Florida heat....we have friends that moved to Idaho Falls two yrs ago and we are thinking of joining them. It seems there is so much to offer, lower cost of living and not only everything within the state, but the surrounding states........but Florida to IDAHO.....bit scared. My husband is in residential contruction and I%26#39;m in the mortgage industry. Any thoughts on growth in the real estate market and the change in lifestyles?
thinking of moving to Idaho from Florida......
HI
depends which part of Idaho you are thinking of.
In Boise the residentail building peaked last yr and has dropped way off this year I am doing 50% of what i was last year. I think it will be a slow winter then pick up in the spring I have been doing residential finish work for 27 yr %26#39;s here
boise has gotten big but is still kind of the good old boy in finding work here you have to put in your time and pay your dues all of my work is word of mouth.
as the realestate goes so does the mortgage unless you are commercial specialist
but commercial work is still going strong.
If you can sell out and have a good savings now would be a good time to buy here then wait it out until things pick back up in a few yrs
the change in lifestyle will be huge. far less people huge landscapes with nobody in sight pristene mountians. snow ,ice ,cold
what is your age? what are you looking for.
Boise has become a favorite retirement area not just Boise but all of Idaho
I would say 70% of my work is for retirement and familys moving here for the lifystye
come up for a visit in both summer and winter
right now it is 102 but it is a dry heat LOL
thinking of moving to Idaho from Florida......
Wow, I learned so much from the last post! Thank you!
Here in Twin Falls, the town seems to be still in mid-boom, but I don%26#39;t pretend to be a professional here. We recently had a groundbreaking for the new high school, which means we%26#39;ll have two now. The plans will be to put ninth grade in high school and use the extra space in the two junior highs to accommodate sixth graders. Each of the six or seven grade schools will then have more space to accomodate growing enrollments for grades k-5.
Our new Mormon temple appears to be nearing completion. I believe it will be the fourth in the state? Perhaps the fifth? Housing is booming by the temple, but there also continues to be growth throughout the Twin Falls area. Perhaps the chamber of commerce could give you a more factual account of the growth in the Magic Valley area.
Crime rates are lower here in Idaho and nearby states than in other parts of the country, but they%26#39;ve increased tremendously in the last decade with the continued rise in meth use/sale. I still feel safe in this area, but I%26#39;m also cautious.
I drove a Volvo here when we moved here. The nearest Volvo dealerships are 130 miles away in Boise and in Salt Lake City, Utah. I traded that car in. You will be amazed at the distances here. While daunting at first perhaps, it%26#39;s really cool. Between population hubs, there is seldom any traffic.
As the other poster said, it%26#39;s very dry here. Moving from the East Coast, my skin and lips were always crispy in the beginning. The heat index is actually LOWER here than the temperature in the summer given the lack of humidity.
Did I touch on anything you actually wanted to know? :-)
Thank you both for the great information. We visited July 06 and Dec of 06 for skiiing at Grand Targhee......we%26#39;ll see what happens, I%26#39;m sending out my resume. We are thinking about Idaho Falls.
Jannell43(?), how long have you lived in Twin Falls and was it a difficult adjustment moving from the East? We are not Mormon, but thanks for the info regarding the Temple.
We have lived here almost 14 years, having moved from the DC area. I will admit that it was quite an adjustment at first for several reasons.
There is very little water here! I was accustomed to rivers, many trees, humidity. Twin Falls is high plains desert which is irrigated for farming. At first, I thought it completely lacked color -- the blues and greens. Now I realize that the colors are here, but far more subtle. Think sagebrush and lichen, lava rock, and one narrow, lazy river carving an incredible chasm through solid rock. Also for black and white photography purposes, you get truer contrasts here because you seldom have to deal with clouds. :-)
Mormon is the predominant religion here and moreso in Idaho Falls. For us, it has meant that sometimes our children don%26#39;t play with the children they enjoy the most because that community is very close. The church has a very positive effect on the community as a whole. Overall, I%26#39;m glad that we live here and have this influence.
When we first moved here from the DC area, I was desperate for shopping! Since then, the internet has really bloomed and also the community has grown tremendously. Plus, we can see hockey or other types of entertainment in Boise if we plan it.
I truly very much enjoy living Idaho. We seldom have had extreme weather, unlike my relatives back East. I much prefer the smaller town living compared to the gridlock we left in the East. Also, I prefer Idaho values over what I see in other parts of the country.
Good luck with your decision. It isn%26#39;t one to be made in haste. We%26#39;re rather remote! It%26#39;s hard to get back East -- it%26#39;s at least 3 flights and 8 hours from Twin. Let me know if there%26#39;s anything else I can help you with!
We moved to Idaho Falls when I was in ninth grade...I spent 5 years living there and DO NOT have fond memories. I don%26#39;t want to bash Mormons, but if you are not one and you have young children, it can be AWFUL for them.
I am now 36 years old and still recall the sting of isolation from the community. I pray things have changed. I am sure your friends can give you the most valuable feedback.
If you are starting a business there I would stongly recommend you research that. Mormons patronize mormon business FIRST. My mother had no luck with her business there and shut it down after a two year stuggle. It%26#39;s a tough market, not that you cannot be successful but it can be very difficult.
Boise is where I attended college and still visit often. It has a completely different atomsphere on all levels...I encourage you to check that area out. It is fabulous!!!
Boise area for sure, there is so much more to offer. I won%26#39;t put down the other cities mentioned here, but feel the same as the last poster. Boise is an up and coming very cool city. They have lots of cultural options, arts, food and educational programs. The downtown has been reviatalized and we love to go there. Feel like we are in a big city and still not. enjoy
Hey - first of all I%26#39;ve just got to say that I thought that this was a travel forum , not a relocation forum. I don%26#39;t mind answering questions from people who want to move to Idaho, but I think we should keep it to sights and things-to-do.
That said, the above posts remind me of an old Chinese fable: a young couple are moving to a big city, and as they approach the city wall they encounter an old man sitting by the gate. ';Old man';, they ask, ';what are the people like who live in this city?'; ';Well';, replies the old man, ';what were the people like where you come from?'; ';Oh they were wonderful!'; the couple cry. ';We had so many friends, everyone helped each other and it was very difficult to leave them. Everyone was nice and friendly and we%26#39;re scared to move to a new town.'; The old man nodded his head and said ';Ah, well, you will find that the people are exactly the same here.'; So the young couple enter the city with confidence that things will work out. A little later another young couple approach the city wall. ';Old man';, they say, ';we are moving to this city. What are the people like here?'; ';Well';, replies the old man, ';what were the people like where you come from?'; ';Oh, they were horrible!'; the couple reply. ';We hated it there. Everyone was mean and tried to take advantage of us. We couldn%26#39;t trust anyone. We couldn%26#39;t wait to get away from them.'; ';Ah';, the old man replied, ';well, you will find that the people are exactly the same here.';
The point being that every place you are is what you make of it. We%26#39;ve lived in Idaho Falls for 12 years. We%26#39;re not mormon - we%26#39;re actually atheists. We have lots of wonderful mormon friends, I%26#39;ve worked for two very mormon companies, and my kids don%26#39;t seem to be any worse for wear attending predominantly mormon public schools. Is it conservative here? Absolutely. Is it stifling at times? You bet. But there are lots of ';non-mormon'; things to do in Idaho Falls, too. There%26#39;s an annual beer fest every summer and a big catholic wine tasting fund-raiser in the winter. We have beer clubs and democratic party meetings. There are bars and taverns and coffee shops. Yes, the mormon religion is predominant - but it%26#39;s not a theocracy.
We%26#39;ve lived all over the country (Portland, OR; Eugene, OR; San Francisco, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Charleston, SC; Boston, MA; Vancouver, WA; Milwaukee, WI and now Idaho Falls, ID), so I believe that I can speak from experience - worry more about the weather than your neighbors and you%26#39;ll be just fine wherever you decide to go.
So - enough said about that.
As for jobs, this area is currently booming. There is new construction going up all over the place. Wages are typically lower here (because the cost of living is lower) - but that%26#39;s beginning to change. There are ';Help Wanted'; signs in almost every retail establishment (tend to be the lower-end, service jobs I%26#39;ll admit) and my company is having trouble recruiting enough people to fill vacancies.
This side of the state is vary barren - it%26#39;s nothing like Florida. The hills are scrubby, brown, dry and rocky; and we have very low humidity. We%26#39;re technically ';high desert';, and we%26#39;ve been experiencing a drought for the last 10 years - we%26#39;ve received less 3 inches of rain this year. If you like wide open spaces (and I mean WIDE OPEN, where you can see for miles and miles), you%26#39;ll like the scenery. It%26#39;s not green, though. We%26#39;re close to lots of interesting things (Sun Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson, WY, Salt Lake City). We don%26#39;t have many bugs (no fleas, gnats or cockroaches). We moved here from South Carolina and really enjoy the climate and outdoor opportunities (it%26#39;s great to play soccer without the heat).
I don%26#39;t expect my kids to want to live here after college - but it%26#39;s a great place to be FROM. Very 1950%26#39;s Norman Rockwell Americana. We like it.
Hope you find a nice place to settle.
Parentsof3: Love the story! I%26#39;m from Twin Falls but have lived more than half my life in North Carolina. Do I miss Idaho? IMMENSELY. Where else could you take a long weekend in Yellowstone or the Tetons or the Sawtooths or Salt Lake City or Arches National Park? Where can you see hot springs and lava tubes and mountains and desert ... all along the same road? Thanks for your perspective!
Have enjoyed ALL OF YOUR MESSAGES, even though this is a travel website I so appreciate all the input. My friends picked up and moved from Florida 2 yrs ago, five kids, not LDS, but wanted to be near a beautiful part of the country. Has it been easy? NO, but not terribly hard either. They don%26#39;t count on local economy for income, but both me and my husband would. Needed local input and I%26#39;m so glad everyone has been nice enough to respond, thank you so much. Almost everything I%26#39;ve had a concern about has been addressed.......LDS, real estate, other parts of Idaho. Boise might be the place for me, but the cost of living is closer to Florida%26#39;s and I want some place cheaper......but I do like shopping, Starbucks and good martini%26#39;s. We%26#39;ll have to see where God leads us.
Well, I moved to Boise from central IL recently and here are my thoughts:
You two should do great here since Idaho (specifically, Boise) is in a building boom (be warned, however....residential is a bit overbuilt). I have never seen as much residential or commercial construction as is being done here. Reminds me of when the western suburbs of Chicago were being developed.
I can%26#39;t speak of Idaho Falls but here are comments on Boise:
Definitely more traffic and congestion here but not as bad as Chicago or St. Louis. Road construction here is awful! Air quality can be an issue. More to do here than central IL but not nearly as much as a larger metro area. My wife laments the lack of up-scale shopping; she misses Bloomingdale, Crate and Barrel, Michigan Ave.
Heat is nowhere near as bad as FL. We vacation in Destin, FL and 95 degrees here is not the same as 95 degrees there. No humidity here!
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