Topic: Sick Of Portland, Thinking of Boise

[Evergreen]

I'm getting fed up with living in Portland area.  Right now I am in Hood River, but I have taken a major hit financially.  Well, I am going to have to leave my house, because I cannot afford the rent and was thinking of moving back to Portland.  However, I am seeing that the rents in Portland are just rising astronomically and the neighborhoods are starting to look scummier and scummier.  I really enjoyed my trip out to Boise last month and was impressed by how clean the place was, as well as how little traffic there was, well compared to Portland.   I still don't get how the downtown can smell and look so clean.  Downtown Portland smells like urine in a lot of places.  We've got so many damn homeless people who don't give a rat's a$$ about any decency and thrive off the system here.

I assume being Boise Shooters, that most people here favor Boise.  However, talking to a lot of people in Boise, everyone tells me how great is Portland, the city I have lived for over 10+ years.  Well, it does have a lot of greenery and some nice views, but the politics in the city are crap.  THe mayor has no concept of city planning and is a bleeding heart, gay liberal.  Literally, he is gay.  He serves the interests of the hipster/hippy sub-culture at the expense of hard-working, money-generating working class and small businesses. 

Well, I was looking for places in the $700-900 price range in Portland and my choices are either very small apartments or larger apartments /duplexes in pretty ghetto neighborhoods.  It just seems that the ghetto in Portland is really growing and I am not liking the feel of it.  I'm not sure why, but Portland really is developing a real criminal element.  SOme people are telling me that Nampa, Caldwell are also somewhat ghetto, but I never actually drove around those places.  Nampa, didn't look too inviting from the freeway , but the prices don't seem that much cheaper than Boise/Meridian, anyhow. 

Anyway, anybody know the best spots to look around the Boise area in the price range I am mentioning.  I was hoping I get a small house with 2-car garage in nice area. I would love to have a place to work on my guns, as well as have a little home gym to work out in.  I'm assuming Meridian and Boise proper are the best areas?  Anyone, have thoughts about Eagle or any other surrounding areas?   It seems like Boise has a lot more affordable housing and the neighborhoods just look safer.  I cannot afford to live too far from the city, as I want to save money on gas.. Every penny I save counts now.

 I don't know what it is, but if you are spending under $1400 /mo in Portland area, the houses look pretty grungy in most places.  And, the rents in Portland are only going higher.  Despite, having a horrible economy and high pricing, all the hip people around the country, still want to live in Portland.  People just move here, because they think it is cool.  I don't think any other city can be managed so horribly, be so overpriced and yet be considered "cool".  All this trendiness is helping Portland go to the toilet.

Also, what is the outlook for IT jobs in Boise?  Portland's job market is really crap as most companies are jumping ship and leaving Oregon, for more business friendly places like Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, etc.  I heard that Boise took at hit in the tech industry.  I was just wondering if my business start really going downhill, it would be nice to be in a place where I can get a job on the side.  I'm a software developer with 12+ years experience, but no college degree.  However, I have a wide variety of experience in various programming technologies, such as .NET and C++, and starting to train myself in web application development via languages such as Silverlight and ASP.NET MVC. 


BTW.. It would be nice to be in a more gun friendly place..  It would be a luxury being able to go out in desert and shoot. 

[idahobuckeye]

Look into the Star area....you could find a rental with some land and enjoy the peace and quiet with a short drive to metro Boise area or the gun ranges in Emmett/Nampa/Parma.  IMHO

IB

[ballardw]

For job information I'd start at the state labor department search site http://labor.idaho.gov/dnn/default.aspx .

I know that the state government has a few current IT jobs open but you'll want to start at the above to get details and see which interest you and look like a fit.

Kuna, Star are other places to consider. Commute times are likely to be a lot less than Portland. In most weather a 45 minute commute will almost get you from Boise to Mountain Home as well. There

The comments about Nampa and Caldwell being ghetto are a misnomer. They're both moderately agricultural and have a noticeable percentage of migrant labor. Ethnic surnames occur often on new reports about gang related activities but the level is no where near the major the city incidence.

Boise manages to keep cleaner partly by being a tenth of the size of Portland with the related limits of some "cultural" activities as well as the more limited crime and homeless population. Also the drier climate means things don't start to rot/mold/mildew and such as easily.

[RGinIdaho]

I assume being Boise Shooters, that most people here favor Boise.  However, talking to a lot of people in Boise, everyone tells me how great is Portland, the city I have lived for over 10+ years.

Seems someone once told me,"the grass is always greener on the other side."

I think they were really trying to tell me that I can be the source of my own success and comfort.

[Nomad]

 A man moving into a new neighborhood asks how are the people here?
 A reply by the man in the neighbor replies what were they like where you moved from?
 Some say where ever I go there I am..........

[Evergreen]

Well, the grass may be greener, but the mold is blacker too.  

I'm sure overall , there isn't much difference between Boise and Portland, except that Portland has a bit of a grungy hipster element to it.  THe city is also just growing out of control, rents are going through the roof and the ghettoes seem to be increasing.  Drive by-shootings and gang warfare is daily occurance in Rockwood and surrounding areas, which expands from 122nd ave to 202nd ave.  The funny thing about Portland and ghettoes, is that the ghettoes the West side and Inner NE/SE of 10 years ago are now all really upscale wealthy areas.  All the criminal element seems to have moved east, which is where all the affordable housing is located.  I cannot even find a 1 bed 800 sq ft apartment in Alberta district now for anything less than like $900/mo.  

One thing I will miss about Portland is all the trees and greenery.  The large rivers also are quite immaculate.  I will miss Mt Hood/Adams and the Gorge.  Although, the Gorge is getting overcrowded IMO.. We got traffic on hiking trails, especially on weekends, where you have to walk real slow because the trails are so clogged.  I, personally, prefer the rugged beauty and remoteness of the Sawtooths more.  However, they are quite far away from Boise.

Anyway, who cares about greenery when you living around drug addicts and thugs, which seems to be more commonplace in all of out SE/NE Portland, which is the only areas I can afford to live now.  About 12 years ago, I lived in Felony Flats in SE 82nd /Flavel area for a year or so and had my car stolen, heard gun shots at night and in generally was sketched out.  Underneath the trees would be garbage, hypodermic needles, etc.   All the beauty of Portland didn't mean much, when day to day life was in that hellhole.

[eddymunster]

Wow, and to think every time I drive into Boise I think it has become a cesspool. Eagle/Star area is a bit more expensive in the rental market, but worth it. Good luck.

[Evergreen]

A cesspool?  You guys don't know how good you got it.  I was shocked when I saw Boise.  It looks so clean and new.  For being a city, the Downtown seemed pretty sleepy, but I found it a lot more relaxing than Portland's overcrowded and traffic-ridden downtown.  Portland's downtown is like a mini-Manhattan.  Also, I didn't see all the homeless people, junkies and gangs I would see driving around Portland anywhere in Boise.  I'm sure they exist, but they certainly are not as easily visible.   Also, Boise's traffic is a joke.  I was driving around rush hour and things were moving pretty fast.  I mean I can sit in traffic in Portland for hours.  I took me over 1 hour to drive from Rock Creek to North Portland (about 10 miles) last week.   It seems in Boise they actually know that making the freeways bigger and building more freeways does help ease traffic congestion.  Portland's freeways have never changed size since I moved there over 15 years ago.  Despite all the money they put into Portland's public transportation, a majority of people still drive.  Also Portland's public transportation is downright dangerous at night, and even some places during the day.

[9Shooter]

It's all relative.  Those who have come here from out of state looking for a better standard of living find it to be golden in comparison to the nasty they are leaving behind.  For those who have been here forever, I'm sure it seems to get progressively worse over time.  That's one of the reasons I try to be active in politics; trying to keep it from turning into where I came from.

[Evergreen]

9Shooter, Well Said..

Sorry, I have to invade your state.  My thinking, Idaho it is.  I just cannot get a house in a nice, clean neighborhood in Portland for $700 or 800 a month in Portland.  If I did, it would be in the ghetto.  I want to save my money and not have to worry about some drugged-out thug jacking me in the middle of the night.

I will be happy to be in a Red State, as well.  Although, people keep telling me Boise is a very liberal town.  I just don't believe it can be as liberal as Portland, which is a freak show.

I look forward to the fact that there will be lots of places to shoot.  Another crappy thing about Portland, the only place to shoot is Tri-County, which is a good club, but gets a bit crowded.  Their action range is quite limited and has no cover.  Considering we have 9 months of rain, you cannot use it all that much.  

If my business fails, well then off to a city in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, some overcrowded, flat, crime-ridden place where I can get a decent IT job.  I'm hoping it doesn't happen, but these are tough times.  

If I had it my way, I'd love to live up in the Sawtooth Mountains..  That was, perhaps, my favorite place on the whole earth.  And, I have travelled around the world.


Why, I am leaving Portland 
Dream of the 90s - Portlandia on IFC

[han_cholo]

Evergreen if you can find a job out this way, I'd say go for it.  I finally fled California last week.  I've loved every minute of living here so far.  I don't think Boise is even remotely lib.  Then again I grew up in the SF bay area which is one big lib stronghold.  Boise has a pile of college kids, so maybe that's where some of the "Boise is kind of liberal" thinking comes from.  The greater Boise area reminds me a lot of the central valley area of Cali, except it's a lot cleaner.  People are friendly.  The area is really mellow, roads aren't messed up, DMV is disturbingly efficient (compared to Cali's).  Dooo eeeit!  Idaho can always use another hard working conservative.  

[Evergreen]

I am in Boise tonight and will spend tomorrow house hunting.  Therefore, it is too late, I am here   I am an Oregonian refugee.  Well, I am a software developer and have held the same job for over 12 years.  Our business is struggling and I may take a hit in pay, but I should have a job for at least a year and I am hoping that our business will pick up, as well , I am attempting to launch my own web-based software business.  One reason Boise will be better is it is a lot cheaper and safer to live than Portland.  For $800 or so a month I can get a decent place, whereas in Portland, I am living in a box or in the ghetto.  Either way I want to get out of Portland.  It is kind of a freak show.  Portland, SF and Oakland are all starting to become more and more the same.  Just that we don't have the benefit of having California weather. 

One problem with Portland is the trendy neighborhoods are getting more and more expensive and all the criminals and lower-income earners are moving out to the areas of Portland that use to be decent and cheaper.  Now, they are get slummier and even the prices are going up there too.  Heck, you cannot even get a 2 bed 900 sq ft apartment in ghetto Rockwood for less than $700/mo now.

[han_cholo]

Excellent!  Good luck with your search and I hope your business venture works out for you.