All the more reason to move to the City of Trees! According to Yahoo Finance, Boise took the # 3 spot based on our combination of highly educated work force already in place and low cost of living/high quality of life. Over the past few years Boise has received many accolades as a fantastic place to live and work, frequently ranking in the top ten in many national publications. While not immune to the economic downturn, many employees that have taken leave of our high tech employers (Micron, HP) and remained in the Treasure Valley going into business for themselves.
For those of you that may not check out the article (it’s not that long, but I understand you may not click), we were beaten out of the top spot by Buenos Aires, Argentina & Winnipeg Canada. Check out the news for yourself, http://xrl.in/27d5.
Well, Boise’s growing up and with it comes some improvements to our trash collection and curb side recycling programs. Over the summer all Allied Waste (formerly BFI) customers will be receiving new trash and recycling bins. While some customers have already upgraded to the newer wheeled bins, they have been optional and even resulted in an additional rental cost for the convenience. Under this new program, all residents will be upgraded and there will be no additional cost associated with the use of the new cans. Yes, if you’re already using one and getting billed for it, expect to see that drop off shortly.
Along with the automated trucks that will be rolling up and grabbing our trash cans from their quiet resting places on the sidewalk, we’ll see a completely new recycling program roll out. Not only will we be parting company with the barrage of small blue bins (we have 4 here at my house) for our cardboard, cans, plastics, paper, but once the change is in place sorting recyclables will be a thing of the past. Brand new huge blue cans, similar to the new garbage bins, will be delivered to residents wishing to participate. All recycling will be deposited in the solitary recycling can and collected every other week. Sorting of the various recyclables to be handled offsite. This move alone cuts half the amount of recycling trucks roaming neighborhoods in half, add to that that the new collection trucks added to the fleet will run on compressed natural gas. A double win for those keep score on environmental impact.
Full details, ordering options and more is all available at the http://www.curbitboise.org website. Check it out, it’s worth noting that here in the lovely City of Trees, residents that do not participate in the recycling program do pay a premium on their garbage bills, so get with the program and start recycling.
Now… if only we had a real mass transit system! 
You may not have heard, but now there is even more money available to first time home buyers, up to $7000 (seven thousand dollars) actually and the beauty of this new money is that it can be used at the time of purchase to put towards your down payment. As with everything in life and home buying, there are rules, restrictions, and qualifying that have to be addressed. The good news however is that if you’re a first time home buyer and you meet the qualification for the $8000 (eight thousand dollar) tax credit you’re well on your way.
This is a very new program and has enormous potential to help even more first time home buyers (FTHB) achieve their goals of home ownership. Coming up with thousands of dollars in closing costs and down payment is difficult at any time, today is no exception. The good news is that rates are at historic lows, prices are down, and inventory abounds in most price points here in the Treasure Valley. Rates are not likely to go much lower and when the FED begins curtailing their involvement in the purchase of mortgage backed securities rates will almost certainly rise later this year.
If you’re thinking about purchasing your first home, I’m here to help. Give me a call at your convenience and we can get started putting together a plan to get you into your new home in time to take advantage of all the fantastic incentives available to you. In fact, feel free to try out the new Google connection widget, top right of every page on this site. Just enter your name and your phone number and click connect.
