I'm looking to in about a year, or two at most, to be getting the heck out of Southern California (the land of my youth) and moving up to the Boise area. I was wondering if there is anyone here that could clue me in on the area, like hobby shops, model railroad clubs, good railfanning areas, etc. Oh and maybe a little about the ecomony and weather up there as well.
I love California, don't get me wrong, but it just isn't what it was like when I was younger. Plus now that I have a young son and another child on the way, I can't see my kids growing up here. Ever since I went to Montana for College at MSU, I like the North so much better. I'll just have to adapt to the cold winters.
--Zak Gardner
My Layout Blog: http://mrl369dude.blogspot.com
http://zgardner18.rrpicturearchives.net
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Should move to Wyoming instead. Just as scenic, But no state income tax.
James
You should move to Colorado. Thes I could help you out a little bit.
-dekruif
Boise is alright. My sister's best friend lives up there and loves it. I've been through there a few times but never stayed very long. The UP runs through there on there way to Portland and should provide pleanty of railfan action. There is also a bunch of branchlines in the area that were UP lines and are now operated by a shortline (the name escapes me at the moment). Also the Railpower (ex Morrison Knudsen) shops are up there. The Blue mountains are not that far away either.
Let me guess...Is the city getting to ya again (or still). Perhaps you need to take a vacation like I just did.
chad thomas wrote: Let me guess...Is the city getting to ya again (or still). Perhaps you need to take a vacation like I just did.
Dude, I need a vacation like no other. You know what I'm going through. You've heard it from me before. I rather head back to Montana but the says no way in heck will she go somewhere so cold again. Colorado would be very nice but I don't think she would go for it. Boise has some people she knows, weather isn't bad, and prices are cheeper, plus there's work for me up there.
Los Angeles has everything that I could ever want and everything that I don't for my family. I'm hitting 30 next month and I guess that my perspective has changed. I don't get to go surfing everyday of the week like when I was younger and living at home in San Diego. Now I just want some land to call my own.
reklein wrote:I'm from Lewiston ID. Never been to Boise. But the word is that Boise is boomin. Big electronic businesses goin on there. Boise is now the third largest city in the PNW after Seattle and Portland. Theres enough modelers down there to host NMRA conventions and the like. Don't know what the weather situation is like. Lewiston has mild winters,hot hot summers and not much going on business wise. There is a MR club here,but not too progressive. Spokane 100 miles to the north is a MR hotspot though. Business opportunities are good there but they have winter although not near as cold as Missoula or over on the east side.
I don't know much about Lewiston, since I'm construction (the business part), how is building up there in your town?
I just Google Earth you, is that BNSF or BNSF/MRL or UP that goes through town
I do have a job offering up there for a builder. They have offered me over the phone around 75k plus bonus. Is that good for Idaho? Here in Cali, its peanuts.
chad thomas wrote:For 75K a year you could probably live like a king in Boise !!!!
As long as I get a house with some room for a layout. I'm hoping that they have basements up there.
I am planning to retire there as well but it is a few years off yet. I was there during 85-88 and it was great. There was a hobby shop with train stuff near Overland & Five Mile that I used to frequent. Great city - I enjoyed it immensely - floating the river that runs right through the city in the summer and so clear you can fly fish it. The ski area Bogus Basin is right above the city - ski five mountainsides from about 8 till midnight. I don't even remember hearing of any murders when I was there. Not to say there wasn't any - I just never heard of any - now Albuquerque, where I live currently, is another story - way too many for it's size and most people here suffer with allergies 11 months a year, warmer weather though.
Mike P
Albuquerque, NM
Sorry about the slow comeback. Lewiston is kinda slow constructionwise IMO. I do have a coupla builder freinds who are always busy though.. 75k would be more than adequate salary as the cost of living here is pobably the lowest in the PNW. I'm retired and my pension is around 40k and I do just fine.
The railroad history in the region is very rich. The railroad you see in the google images is the old Camas Prairie road originally built by Northern Pacific I think, but don't quote me. Its had a succession of owners over the past 100 yrs or so and a colorful history. I currently model the local area. If one looks back thru MR articles one can find several on the CP.Overland models even had a brass model of the rotating bridge at Kamiah. Pronounced Kam-ee-eye.
As I said weather is mild in winter,hot in summer. Schools are considered very good here. We have Lewis-Clark State college which has a nationally ranked NAIA baseball program. There is also Steehead and Salmon fishing on the Snake and Clearwater rivers. Plus all kinds of hunting specially deer and elk. As a matter of fact my contractor freind was complaining he couldn't get anything done this next two weeks because his crews were all hunting.
I would encourage you to come and take a look. I moved here from Alaska in 2000 and am very satisfied.
The local LHS is not all that greatfor trains but there are some great ones within120 miles and good swap meets several time a year.
tatans wrote:$75,000.00 a year? -----96% of people in the U.S. could not even comprehend those wages? what planet in what solar system are you presently on? Most people do not even come close to approaching this figure, wait till you get out in the real world, and I don't mean Monaco or Rodeo Drive.
Well, last I checked I was living in Planet Los Angeles in Solar System Southern California, where everywhere is overpopulated and expensive. With my wife working two days a week, and what I make, we pull in about $85k a year (Before taxes, of course) and we can't afford a house, and all of the other many expenses that this land offers. Now with the govenor election coming up our democrat canidate wants to raise taxes a bunch. If he wins, then I will be forced to leave. I just want to live in a good place for my son (and whatever else we are going to have). It's either that or I adapt the Hispanic concept and move in with all of my uncles, cousins, brothers, mom, and grandma.
Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the San Diego area and loved it when I was young and irresponsible, and living off of mom and dad, but now it's a different story. The beach is what keeps me here but now you have to pay to spend time there. The weather is very nice in the winter but it's getting too hot in the summer. Traffic and crime, well, I've had enough. It's sad when the closest place that I can take my son to see trains, we can't even get out of the car because it's a bad neighborhood. We shouldn't even be there in the first place.
I'm really hoping that they have houses with basements up in Idaho so I can have a basement layout like most of you. Plus I won't be in Montana, but I will be closer to MRL, the railroad that I'm currently modeling.
reklein wrote:Oh!! I forgot. Trainwatching. Some of the streets in Spokane cross the yard at grade level. I've been caught counting cars for 15-20 minutes. Locally in Lewiston the local road The Bountiful Grain and Craigmountain(no kidding) has a yard here plus a very large paper-pulp mill to work.
I can't remember if you told me what railroad runs through Lewiston. Does MRL?
Do you have any railfanning pictures of the town that you can post?
Yep, I'm all about the small town atmosphere but the wife didn't want any part of Bozeman. She's been a L.A. girl all her life and loves that fact that she has everything at her fingertips. I could have spent the rest of my life in Montana but I'm not a selfish person. So I figure Boise would have the best of both worlds.
Bozeman didn't have much in the way of model railroading. I did most of my shopping online or in Billings, 2 hours away. Bozeman did have Hobbytown USA but the selection was small. Livingston, the first town over Bozeman Pass had a Model Railroad Club but a bit far to travel. I often thought about starting my own club at the college but never had the chance to do so.
I hear that there are a few MRR Clubs in the Boise area, does anyone know anything about them?
tatans wrote:Say, isn't this strange? It seemed years back everyone moved to Californy along with Jed and all his kin, and it was THE place to be, now that everyone there is making wads of money, the life style is deteriorating in some cases and the new Utopia is Hooterville U.S.A. I'm glad some of these people are moving to small towns and able to see the benefits of smaller areas, I've visited Idaho a few times and it's great, and there are hundreds of other small towns all around North America, I'm sure you will be hearing from them in the near future when all the Boomers hit 65 in a few years.
I was an East Coast boy - grew up mainly in Northern Virginia. Got a taste of Coos Bay, Oregon and Juneau and Kodiak Alaska (also some less glamourous places) courtesy the American taxpayer, and learned what life and small towns are all about. Spent the past 7 years in San Francisco area learning that big cities and endless suburbs aren't our cup of tea. Plenty of people that really can't afford it won't live anywhere else, though. As for family and me, we're looking forward to moving to northern Idaho (Colorado being 2nd choice) next spring/summer and getting a house with a BASEMENT! And no, I haven't enjoyed the benefits of the real estate market during that time - the prices just always seemed insane to a charter member of the "buy high, sell low" club.
Fred W