Idahfornia (Boise, Nampa, Pocatello: to rent, crime rate, home)

[Cali2ID]

I hate to admit it because I am part of the problem, but Idaho's population will swell in the next 10 years due in part to the onslaught of Californian's like myself who want to get away from the crime,taxes,traffic,pollution, and high cost of living. I've been looking at Idaho for some time now and it appears that I'm not the only one. I'm almost thinking of NOT moving to Boise because of this disturbing trend. I want to move from California for reasons mentioned above, but it seems that if I were to move now I would only find myself in Boise complaining of the same stuff I am complaining about now. Maybe I should move to a small town in Montana...

[dallasfan]

I grew up in a small town in rural Idaho, and now also live in California. I livedin LA for several years, and now live in the Sacramento area. I keep teasing my wife (who is from CA) that we need to move back to Idaho. The truth is, I would do it in a heatbeat, but the job opportunities are not as good as here in Cali, nor would my wife, who is a Ivy League schooled professor, be able to get the type of job she wants. I miss the pace of life there, and when I go back to visit my parents I'm amazed at how slow things function there, compared to CA. I can see why people are moving there, but it distresses me to see the growth and the influx of people moving in. I see what happened to parts of Montana that has become attractive to "outsiders", and also what happened and is happening to the Jackson Hole, WY area, include the Idaho side. The people who have lived there for generations, farmed the land and raised families there, can almost not afford to live there now. The local economy is growing, but at the expense of the people who made it such a great place to begin with.

Now I'll get off my soapbox...

[Sandpointian]

It is all ebb and flow. Waves of folks migrate to California from elsewhere. A generation or two later many kids/grandkids head elsewhere, and often to "pretty" areas.

THe boom in Seattle in the late 80s and 90s was largely due to Californians moving up north. Within a generation they are all absorbed. The same thng happened a generation back.

In Sandpoint, so many people I encounter are transplanted Californians. Unless you are a member of the Kalispell tribe, the only real question is when you or your family bit the bullet and moved. A one or two generation "local" means very little.

In fact, it cracks me up when someone who moved within the past 10 years developes the ultra local attitude...no need. Bottomline? The only thing that really matters are the quality of person one is and whether that person can enhance to beauty of the community. If a great person moves to SP and bring a sense of enthusiasm, care, and responsibility, then I don;t care if they are from Mars...

One great things about SP is that one does find a high quality of individual moving up there. In the long run, these migrants will sustain SP.

[melaguy]

Most Californians will love their first week in a small Montanta town. By the second week they will be looking for movies to rent, by the third week they will be planning a "vacation" back home to visit friends and family. By the fourth week, well by then they won't be doing anything. By then they will have placed a gun in their mouth to end their boredom.

If you want a great place to live, come to Boise and vacation in Montana.

Francis Harlow
[url]removed[/url]

[scoobs]

Boise doesn't have that many jobs? What are all of these Californians doing for work?

[JAB]

Originally Posted by melaguy

...love their first week in a small Montanta town....second week they will be looking for movies to rent, by the third week they will be planning a "vacation" back home to visit friends and family. By the fourth week, well by then they won't be doing anything.

More or less...it really depends if they can find work or enough social activities....otherwise, they will get "cabin fever" within several months.

As BB King noted, "the thrill is gone..." if they can find something to do...

[gmmhastings]

Isn't it disturbing what people do...good, bad or indifferent. It doesn't seem to matter to so many anymore. I lived in Northern California for many years, left there to live in the mid-west (what a mistake that has proven itself to be). With everything going on these days, it's difficult to figure out where to go. My California memories, for the most part, are a big part of who I am. It's what I identify with. Unfortunately, to find another part of the country that even somewhat compares to life, as I knew it there, has been very difficult.

[soon2Bazrefugee]

Cali2ID.....I too feel the same way. I live in Mesa Arizona. Moved here 17yrs ago from a rural area of Upstate N.Y. because the weather was nice, there were jobs in my field, and it had a somewhat country atmosphere, AT THAT TIME. Now it has all changed. There are entirely TOO many people moving here. I used to be able to launch my boat at the nearby lake any day of the week with no problem for FREE, now they charge you $$ for the privledge of fighting the crowds, so not fun anymore that I sold my boat. The same goes for any other outdoor activity that I used to enjoy. The crime rate here according to this websites latest statistics is higher than N.Y.C. or L.A. Of course the traffic has gotten worse, and now they want to institute more taxes. Anything I've ever heard from people I know who have lived in Idaho and visited there has been good. They always made it sound like a place that would be fitting for me. I hope to do our vacationing in Idaho this summer. I think I could even brave the cold again if it is as nice as they say. Does it get as cold as Upstate New York?

[Ok4Now]

The Treasure Valley (Boise, Caldwell and Nampa) are growing too rapidly. Yes, many problems currently existing in California are occuring in Boise too.

Have you checked the eastern part of the state? Idaho Falls, in Bonneville County (County Population ~ 100,000), is a wonderful small city. It's 2 hrs. from Yellowstone National Park, Less than 2 hrs. from Jackson Hole and the Tetons and 2 hrs. from Sun Valley.

I don't know what your profession is, but the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) which is suppose to be the lead nuclear lab in the U.S. (and training international students, too) is building new programs. Many spin off companies and high tech area.

Idaho Falls is about 56,000, but that is very misleading as the boundary for Ammon is on the east side of Hitt Road with Idaho Falls being on the west. Ammon is another 10,000 people.

Idaho Falls is the hub of retail, medical and many other business actities for southern Montana, western WY and eastern ID. Unlike Driggs, which use to be the small town in ID close to Jackson Hole (but is now around 5,000 people and growing rapidly, given property costs), Idaho Falls is still affordable. It's also progressive. Many Ph.D's with INL and spin-off companies. Idaho Falls has the second largest airport in Idaho, being served by 5 carriers as of June, 2006. Only Boise has more.

These web sites may be useful: http://www.eastidaho.org, http://www.ci.idaho-falls.id.us (look at Visitors and view the webcam of the river in the middle of town) or an extremely useful site packed with information from the economy, to media, to education to recreatonal things to do, let alone opinions etc. is: www.idahofallz.com (broken link). I'd encourage you to especially check out the last website, as the amount of links to all sorts of information about Idaho, includiing eastern ID.

Good luck in your decision-making and good luck checking out these websites.

[altaina]

Pocatello is great, too, & the Californians haven't discovered it yet, I think. It has Idaho State University so has a lot of the conveniences of the big city without the crime or traffic.
There's also Twin Falls area in the south-central region, but it is only about 30,000 so not sure how jobs might be. It depends on what your specialty is.

As for climate, I understand upstate New York is quite humid. We have extremely low humidity here. It's "high desert". So even if it's cold, it doesn't feel as cold. Winter temps average in the 20's in south-central Idaho (daytime) for a couple months, rarely into the teens; and summers in the 80's, occasional 90's, rarely over 100.