Pros & Cons of Living in Boise Idaho

You're thinking of moving to the Boise and Treasure Valley area, but you want to know the real truth about what it's like to live here on a daily basis. This blog is everything you need to know about the pros and cons of living in Boise, Idaho.

Con #1 Traffic

There is a lot of traffic now in the Boise, Treasure Valley area. If you're moving from California like myself, I relocated here from San Diego. Then really the traffic is nothing like what you're going to find in Southern California, but because of the massive amount of people that have moved here in the last few years, traffic is certainly a lot worse.

And that's just because the infrastructure was not built to handle this much influx of growth all at one time, there are a lot of country roads, 2 lane farm roads, and they just are not built for that much traffic. You're going to be finding a lot of stop signs and traffic lights, where you get backed up at those lights.

Depending on where you're living, if you happen to be in Nampa or Caldwell in particular, you're going to be probably hitting a lot of traffic as you commute into work into Boise if you're working in town. Also Eagle tends to get a lot of traffic on Eagle Road. A lot of people complain about that. It really gets congested and backs up. You're certainly going to be hitting a lot of traffic.

We really only have one major freeway through here and that's I-84. There's 184 which is really a connector freeway, but predominantly it is I-84 that is the main freeway running through here. And that really isn't going to have much traffic on it. It's really these 2 lane roads that you're going to be hitting the traffic on.

The cool thing about Boise is that it is pretty much laid out on a grid. You can really figure out your way around pretty quickly, and you can kind of maneuver yourself around the neighborhood. If you are hitting traffic, you can kind of jog around and avoid some of the traffic.

Con #2 Influx of People & Increased Cost of Living

Related to all that traffic is a big influx of Californians to Idaho. Realistically, this has been going on for a super long time. There's a lot of talk about Idahoans, really not liking Californians. There's talk about you really need to change your license plate immediately when you move here because nasty things can happen to you, that is hit and miss. Sometimes it happens.

Sometimes you can get nasty things said to you, I've heard stories of cars getting keyed when people move here from California, that hasn't happened to me and I just would recommend changing your plates as quickly as you possibly can.

That being said most Idahoans, when you actually talk with them, they actually love the Californians living here. I was just talking to a guy the other day and he's like, "You know, I hear these stories and it's absolutely terrible when I hear it. And it's frustrates me as an Idahoan when I hear those stories"  but you got the few people that are really upset that you’ll run across that really are upset about the influx of Californians

And a lot of that has to do with the cost of living. That's really been driven up over the years because of the influx, not just the Californians, but of folks from Portland or Seattle that are moving in as well. And they're just frustrated with the high cost of living because wages are actually relatively low here in Idaho.

Tipped employees, they're actually at about $3.25 an hour. They do have a minimum that they have to hit with tips, a little over $7, but they're not making a lot of money obviously, hopefully making more with tip wages. But that being said, the minimum wage is around $7 an hour.

People are not making a whole lot of money in comparison to a lot of folks that have been relocating here and are working remote, which has been a huge part of the influx of the population. It's creating a larger divide of the poor and the rich and the middle-class, etc. That's becoming a big frustration where people that have grown up and lived here are now getting priced out of the market and have to move on to other locations.

That being said, if you are coming from California or one of these more left coast states, we'll call it, maybe check your politics at the door, unless, you're kind of aligning more with Idaho and conservative politics. That's the big thing that people complain about, "oh, they're bringing their California politics with them".

Well, have to be honest, a lot of folks have moved here because of the more conservative politics. Just try to fit in and let's not try to change Idaho to make it like California, cause that's probably why you're leaving in the first place.

Con #3 Wildfire

The other con that we should address is wildfire seasons. There are not necessarily a lot of wildfires here in Treasure Valley, however, because it's a valley and the way that the winds blow, we do get a lot of smoke from the surrounding states and areas where there are fires and that smoke comes and settles down in the valley and the air quality can get very poor.

Your kids really can't play outside. If you have respiratory issues, you're going to want to stay in the side. And you gotta be really careful when the smoke is in the valley, that it can kind of block out the sun. It gets dark and orange and hazy. That's a big factor here that certainly happens during the summertime, late summertime.

If you're not comfortable with that and don't want that, you may not want to move here. I'm from San Diego, we had wildfires quite regularly and we had some of the worst wildfires in the state back a number of years ago. And so it's kind of something you have to deal with as a San Diegan. You really don't have to deal with the wildfires directly here, we have to deal with the smoke.

Con #4 Heat

Kind of related to the wildfires, but not directly, of course, but as far as that real uncomfortability and why wildfires are caused is it does get super, super hot here in the valley. It will certainly during the summertime be in the 90°C and 100°C, and it's going to be very intense sun, high UV index. Definitely put your sunscreen on.

But it's super easy to just go over to the river or one of the great lakes and jump in. The river is going to be nice and cold and what a lot of people will do is put their chairs right in the river and just sit in the river of your feet and river. It starts cooling off and get too hot and you just hop in and it cools you off really quickly.

Con #5 Solstice - Long Days in Summer/Short Days in Winter

Something that really takes a lot of getting used to is the longer days in the summer and short days in the winter. If you're moving from California and Southern California in particular myself, it certainly takes a lot of getting used to, to having the sun come up early and go down late or come up late and go down early in the winter time.

In the summertime, especially, the kids, it's really hard to maintain a schedule because sun doesn't set until 9:30pm. It doesn't get dark until 10-10:30pm. And so it's hard to get them to actually want to go to bed during those summer months. That's certainly something you got to get used to.

And what happens too with the heat and the longer days is actually the hottest part of the day is in the late afternoon, early evening. Again, if you're from Southern California, like myself or Coastal City, you're used to getting hot mid day, maybe peaking around 2, 3 and 4pm at the latest, and then starting to cool down, especially as you get the coastal breeze, it really cools it down overnight unless you're having a Santa Ana come through.

But in Idaho, in the Treasure Valley area in particular, it actually gets warmer during the late evening. So 6-7 pm, it will start to peak around a 100°C plus depending on the time of year. That's something that really takes a lot of getting used to. Everyone kind of shifts their schedule later during the summer months.

When you're hanging out with a friend, you actually might be hanging out later at night just because it's cooler when you can actually go outside, do you wanna be spending some time in doors first and then hitting the patio porch at 8-9 pm.

Con #6 Wind Factor

Something else to keep in mind is the wind factor here. It can certainly get super windy. And when it's cold, that windshield factor makes it feel so much colder. And you'll see the snow drifts you'll see the wind or the snow getting blown across by the wind or in the summer when there's no snow, then you're seeing these kind of dust storms that move across from the wind, whipping it across the road.

And it's going to start drying out your skin. You're going to get kind of chapped and dry and uncomfortable. That's certainly something you need to be aware of as well. Now that's just because we're in a big valley, almost a plane, it's high desert, so it's dry. It can get windy. It's definitely something you just need to get used to, or be aware of when you're moving here.

Pro #1 Low Energy Costs

And of course, air conditioning is certainly a great option because power here is fairly cheap compared to other states. That's a great pro about Idaho is that the energy costs here are fairly low.

Run your power, run your AC a lot more because the power is so much cheaper. That's going to help keep you cool when you're living here in Idaho, but just be aware that it is certainly hot when living here in Idaho and especially in the Treasure Valley area.

Pro #2 Gun Law

Something else that is a great pro of Idaho. And it's certainly a reason why I was interested in moving here, not the only reason of course, but being from California, we have extremely restrictive gun laws here in Idaho. You have extremely few.

I asked someone what gun laws do I need to know about when I'm moving here? This was when I was looking at moving here and they just kind of chuckled and laughed and just said, "don't shoot a fully auto where someone can hear you".

You're definitely to be finding these a lot more. You're afraid of them, maybe you shouldn't be moving here cause you're gonna be seeing a lot more of these and it's a constitutional carry state. You're going to be seeing a lot more firearms, whether that be open carry or you can also conceal carry without actually having a permit.

You can get a permit, but you don't actually have to get one. If you get a permit that allows reciprocity into some other states as well. If you like guns and then certainly this is the place for you. Very, very few restrictions you're going to have here That's a super great pro if you're not into that, then maybe this isn't the place for you and don't go harass people that are wearing the guns because this is the culture of Idaho.

Pro #3 Outdoor Activities

Some other great pros too is the Boise River and the Snake River that cut through here. You're going to have the Greenbelt or long it with tons and tons of parks. There's a huge float you can do with a shuttle service during the summertime where you can float down the river for hours on your kayak or your canoe or your rafter, inner tube.

It's a fairly calm river for the most part, a few little kind of rapids draws, but not even class one, very, very light. You can certainly do with fairly young children. Don't want to take a baby on it necessarily, but that's a super, super fun float.

And there's so many parks around there with splash pads and huge playgrounds. These playgrounds here, they're huge compared to like San Diego or Los Angeles or Southern California, they're just massive, massive play playgrounds.

You can very easily lose your kids when you're there because there's so many structures. You got to keep a good eye on your kids, of course. It is a lot safer here, of course, too. And the other super cool thing are the splash pads that they have here. You just don't really see these in California. They are all over the place here in the Boise, Treasure Valley area.

My kids absolutely love going to these, it really cool them off during the summer. You don't have to go to a water park and pay to get in. You can just go to a splash pad. There are a lot of fantastic water parks around here as well that you can pay well water parks or community pools with big slides. You can pay a nominal fee to get into and have a few more hours of fun going down big waterslides of course too.

Pro #4 300 Days of Sunshine

Even though I said it gets hot, the cool thing about this is that there are 300 days a year on average of sunshine. Whether that's in the wintertime summertime, you're going to have a lot of daylight.

The sun, especially in the winter, you're not going to get as much vitamin D out of that. You're probably gonna want to be taking vitamin D supplements. But there is a lot of sunshine. If you want to be outdoors and enjoy the sun, this is the place to do it. You can golf and enjoy the great outdoors quite regularly because of the amount of sunshine that we get.

We are super close to the mountains, just 35 to 45 minutes, you're into the mountain just like that. You can get into Bogus Basin, there's skiing, mountain biking, and some other things do for younger children as well. And you're right in the mountains for an 1-1.5hours. You're at Cascade or into 2.5 hours, you're up to McCall at Payette Lake as well.

You are just a short, short drive away into the mountains and beautiful, absolutely gorgeous scenery here in Idaho. If you're living down here in Treasure Valley is just a short drive to get up to the super cool areas and super scenic areas, lots of great hiking or river rafting, etc. That's the super cool thing about living so close to all the mountains here in Treasure Valley is just easy, easy access to get to all the outdoor areas.

That is an overview of many of the pros and cons of living in Idaho.

Curtis Chism, Realtor
208-510-0427 | Mobile
boise@chismteam.com 
Chism Team | NRDS# SP56593
brokered by eXp Realty