Boise, ID

“Nigal --

Eye Where a suite every day.”

“Pathman - it has sounded to me like you've been in an unsustainable position at work. It would be nice to see you get to have more time and energy for your family and your self. And it would be really nice for you to organize some backpacking trips in Idaho!

Lots of desolate mountains plus long, flat, quiet roads.....Good luck to ya!”

“Thanks toejam, you've got the situation here pegged, and what is attracting me to Boise.”

“The work location is considered "downtown". Its also right next to the Connector, which drops traffic from I84 into downtown Boise.

One of the nice places to live that are close to your work location is the "north end", which is older neighborhoods with mixed older houses. Some north end neighborhoods are old and beautiful, some are just old. For the same house, you pay more in the north end than in West Boise, where the newest developmemts are going in, but the access to downtown saves you a commute in high traffic freeways or main streets. You should have lunch in "Hyde Park" which is a north end neighborhood with a few businesses, including some places to eat. Boise tends to be more liberal than the rest of Idaho, and the north end is more liberal than anywhere else in Boise.

Another very nice place to live is the foothills. There are several routes in the foothills with very nice to average homes, all very close to downtown. Houses there can cost millions, but some older ones are $200,000 and up. There are about 5 different sections of foothills homes. We live in one of those and love it. We live in Foothills East, East of St. Luke's hosp, and we love it. Our school, Roosevelt, is great. The schools of all the foothills areas are all the best in town, and all to go Boise High, also an excellent HS. The foothills tend to definitely cost more for the same house than anywhere in town, and they also appreciate faster. Some houses have a view either of the city or of the foothills. All the foothills neighborhoods are upscale, usually with 20 year old houses but some new developments.

Southeast Boise is also desireable, and fairly close to your work. SE Boise is E of Broadway, and S or the river. There are fantastic communities there, like River Run (very expensive, very beautiful), and well established nice neighborhoods, such as S. of Boise Ave.

The "Bench" is an area of older neighborhoods S of the Boise River, adjacent to downtown. This area is on a bench about 100' higher than the river. Some of these are very nice older houses, but some neighborhoods are pretty rundown.

West Boise has dozens of different areas, all with newer homes, higher traffic, fewer trees, way farther from downtown Boise. If you are going to live in a new home in a new neighorhood and commute to work you might as well live in California, except the commute is way shorter here. Many zones of huge new stores are going up there, and the center of population in the valley is shifting there. Towns include Eagle, Meridian, Star. Main drags are Chinden, Fairview, Eagle Rd.

You might try to hit the North End, the Foothills, and SW Boise to get a feel for those areas.”

“I want the best of all worlds, easy into work, easy out of town!”

“I'm going to be in Boise for Christmas visiting family. I just found out Bogus Basin is closed until they get more snow - DRAT!!!”

“Bogus Basin is a real place? LOL! I always thought someone made up that name. *giggling*”

“Real Estate Agent Tues. Staying at the Red Lion Downtowner.
last edited: 12/23/05 5:28:53 PM”

“Here is a great site with Idaho backpacking photos. On Owen's home page is a link to the outdoor group Idaho Outdoors.

http://www.catpeople.com/id/index.html

Makes me want to get out and hike to hot springs!”

“It finally stopped raining and I got a ride up to Bogus and tour of downtown by potential partners wife. Boise State made a huge comeback in the MPC Bowl and then lost it. I am a glutton for punishment and it looks good for a job offer. May know tomorrow.

Dinner at Cottonwood Grille, Gino's Grille and Chiang Mai (sp?) Heading out tomrorrow afternoon.”

“PS: Visited World Cycle before dinner at Ginos. :D”

“Boise still looks promising, but no immediate answer as they are going to interview some more.

Not wanting to keep all my eggs in one basket, looking elsewhere too. Job in Yakima looks interesting...”

“Pathman: whats happening with the Boise job? I hate to tell you, but Yakima is a s**t hole. I used to live there. A recent visitor said it was like being in a Turkish prison for a week. There are nice things about Yakima, but some real serious drawbacks. Lets talk before you accept that job.”

“Yakima is good for wine! And Mexican food! LOL!

Hey Bob, I was just out in Boise, Caldwell and Jerome last week for business. Looks like you guys are having lots of rain too.”

“man, its been raining all day. I hope its snow in the mountains. What kind of bidness brings you out here?”

“I was in Boise last week for biz, I go there quite a bit, LUUUVVV Boise! Look at those mtns all around... you're, what... 20 minutes from great hiking?

What else is there?”

“20 minutes from fair hiking. 3 hours to great hiking (the Sawtooths, the Pioneers, etc). Actually I can walk out my door and be on a trail in the foothills in 20 minutes. But usually I do a 5 minute drive, then hike up the hill overlooking town for a 1 hour walk.”