Need advice from parents of teens in Eagle area... (Boise: for sale, foreclosure)

[modorob]

Hello ! I have spent the last 3 months reading this great forum getting lots of information about Boise/Eagle !! This is my first post because I need some help with questions about a posible move up there this Summer!
First a little background...My husband is a retired police officer and we live in Orange County, Ca. He also is a General Contractor which he now does full time. We have two kids. My daughter is in her 2nd year at Cal State Fullerton taking her pre-nursing requirements. She is almost finished with thoses and then she can start the process of trying to get into a BSN nursing program. She is totally on board with moving to Eagle so no problems there !!
My son is 18 and a senior in high school. He really does not have a solid plan for what he wants to do after he gradautes. His grades are average . He says he will probably just go to a junior college next year. He has considered joining the military but is undecided about that
Now my Problem ..... My son doesn't want to move! .
I think he is worried about making friends etc .which are valid concerns.
We are taking the kids to visit Eagle next week . Hopefully seeing it in person will help ! We would rather not leave him back in the OC living with a friend or something. But he is 18.....
My husband and myself really feel that the move to Eagle would be a good one for our family for a variety of reasons .
Now my questions ........
Has anyone moved their teen right after high school (esp. from So.CAl.) to the Eagle area and how was that transition for them?
How is the junior college in the area ??
Also how hard is it for teens to find part time jobs??

Thanks in advance for any imput you can give me !!!!!

[Sage of Sagle]

Yup, that can be tough. Our oldest was 16 when we moved here. If he's 18, and likely to stay, then he needs to start preparing now to fend himself financially after graduation. You can always "leave the door open" should he be unable to support himself and need to live under your roof again. But if someone has the ambition, they can certainly be self supporting immediately out of high school.

If he's at loose ends, then I guess the idea should be that he should TRY Boise and live free under your roof...he can always choose to move back south and become self-supporting if he doesn't like Idaho life...

[TreasureValley50]

There are two major junior colleges in the area. Treasure Valley Community College has its main campus in Ontario, Oregon-which is about 45 minutes up the freeway. They also hold classes in Caldwell, which is a little closer. The school has a good reputation. There is also College of Western Idaho, with its campus in Nampa. That's about 20 minutes from Eagle. It's fairly new, but I haven't heard anything bad about it at all.

An 18 year old shouldn't have any difficulty finding part-time employment anywhere in the Boise area.

[858to208]

When moving with kids/teens, just involve them in the process and things go much better. We recently moved to Boise from Del Mar, CA and we love it here. We have a 16 yr old son who was very resistant about moving but we showed him around town to all the cool teen spots when we first arrived and included him on the home we moved into. Good luck. Anyone moving here will find friends fast. People here are super friendly and polite.

[Idaho5]

I just moved here from Orange County the first week of September. I have twin high schoolers in 10th grade. We live in Eagle and my twins go to Eagle High School. The kids in high school are not very friendly, my kids have not been able to make friends yet and they are very outgoing and active and had lots of friends in California. I realize some of it is the age, most high schoolers have there friends already, and some of it is the mormons who do not socialize with non mormons. Don't kid yourself we found out quickly this is a common thing here. Your son is out of school already so this should not be a problem but realize this does exist. There is a Mormon temple next to every school and one is on the campus at Eagle high School. We are renting while looking for houses as we want to find the right area and the right house and not be in a hurry. Also the number one thing is house prices are going to come down more according to all the current statistics and several realtors have told us this too. The job market here is really bad, we have seen 2 neighbors on our street just lose there houses due to job loss and we have only been here a few months. My husband was able to do his job here so we were lucky. Jobs for teens may be easier to find but I am not sure. Eagle is different then towns around it we have found. Eaglefornia they call it. Most of the people we have met are from California and most of them told us they are upside down on there homes due to them taking there equity and buying large, pricey homes and now the market crashed. There are tons of home for sale everywhere, take your pick. This is a nice place to live and certainly alot cheaper and slower paced and lots of outdoor recreation. We are acclimating to the weather as it does take some getting used to the colder climate. Boise State has a great Nursing program I have been told and the state has a new incentive program and is giving lots of grants to keep Idahoans going to College in the state. 3.5 GPA and a good ACT score and you qualify. Being from out of state I am not sure but they do have the WUE program for out of state scholarships for non- resident fees. The College of Western Idaho is supposed to be a good school is in Nampa so it is very close and a community college. Anyway I hope I gave you some valuable information and feel free to email me.

[Idaho5]

Forgot to tell you the only thing I really miss is Trader Joes!!

[Niners fan]

Eagle is full of Californians so there won't be culture shock with the move. (I don't miss Trader Joes but there is a disappointing number of Taco Bells )

I can't speak to whether your son would make friends easily or not. Our kids have had no problems making friends. We are LDS but since most of my kids' friends at school are not LDS I don't think religion has been the key reason why.

Not to change the subject of the thread, but I will throw this out.... I would be more concerned about your husband making a living as general contractor here than your son making friends. I know a lot of people in construction and all of them are struggling. There is some construction going on but there are way more people than jobs in that industry right now in the valley. Just a thought.

[Deena160]

Just to correct Idaho5--There is one Mormon Temple in Boise. What she's talking about are seminary buildings that are built next to the high schools. LDS teenagers all over the world have the chance to attend seminary--a scripture study class. In many areas it is available before school, but since there are enough LDS students in the Boise area, they are able to opt to have it as one of their high school classes(although I don't think it counts toward gpa, but they do look at it for entrance to BYU). Idaho law is set up that any religion could do this for their kids if they wanted to.
I'm really sorry that you have had a bad experience with your Mormon neighbors. I'm sure there are plenty of them that would be really sad that you and your children have felt shut out if they knew how you felt. :~) D

[kelpforest]

Modorob,

There have been some good nuggets mentioned above. I'll second a couple and throw in my perspective for what it's worth.

It sounds like you are looking for quality of life improvements with some spare change to boot, and you're looking in the right direction. I have a good friend in the Meridian area and often visit, while scoping the region for a good fit of my own. I'm gravitating toward NID, but that's not the point.

As far as the contracting, I don't think there is a lot of work in the OC or Eagle unless it's rehabilitating foreclosure properties, so that being said, it is frequently said to bring a job with you or have one already.

As far as your daughter, it sounds like she isn't going to loose any ground by moving between prerequisites and a BSN program. she should be researching BSN programs right now, since the application periods are probably in full swing. She will be paying out of state tuition for a year, but she probably has three years to go either way, so it will wash out. Also, since I work at a California college, I can tell you it is going to get ugly for a few years. The largest number of HS grads in history are graduating into a state that is sharply cutting college capacity. It's going to get harder for her to get her classes (or get into the BSN track) at CSU Fullerton as this unwinds. Nursing capacity in the California colleges is significantly less than what incoming students and the workforce in general demand. Economic downturn aside, the reality is most practicing nurses are about to retire within 10 years, and I don't know where the replacements are going to come from, but it's not California.

Your son is graduating right into this as well. Community colleges are impacted just as badly, and if he hasn't already applied to a CSU, it's probably too late. Nov 30 was the cutoff for most campuses.

If he doesn't have a strong opinion about his own path, I don't see how he can justify holding everyone in OC. [ Let me re-phrase that. He can look at this move as a chance for the whole family to turn a new page ] It's not like he is wanting to stay for his senior year. He'll be graduating. He thinks it's all about his friends now, but they are going to scatter to the four winds in about six months. He may keep track of a few, but this is a great opportunity to find himself as he starts college, joins the military, or whatever he does.

Going to school in ID will probably give him a great opportunity to connect with new people. It's not like HS where everyone has known everyone for ever or since 4th grade. College is like a reset button socially. He can get his bearings at community college in ID and move forward from there. He will be starting a new chapter in his life regardless and this is where the family support can be a help.

858to208 suggested getting their involvement. This is excellent advice. If they have ownership of the move, it will smooth things out considerably. Maybe finding a link to his interests in the area will help. There is an amazing range of outdoor activities in the area, but you probably know that already. This could be the key. Check out BSU. They have a vital campus community and their football team rocks.

I don't see any benefit to subsidizing him in OC, since this is only delaying the inevitable. He needs to understand your motivation for wanting to move and he will need to be independent eventually. Giving him a clear picture of his options and the consequences might make a move to ID not such a bad idea. (Free room in ID, or $1,500+/- rent he will need to come up with in OC)

Please keep us posted though!

Sorry this was so long.