Idaho vs California (Boise, Pocatello, Twin Falls: transplants, real estate, house)

[Torrie]

Nope we're Mariners Fans!

[pimit2]

Don't be paranoid. It is not exclusively an Idahoan mindset. You can see it in many states where folks are happy with their lot in life. They don't want change.

From personal experience, the movies, television, and so on some folks in the more rural, low-populated states see Californians as hard-driving, fast-paced, party-goers who might force their lifestyle on us. That's the mindset, real or perceived, of a small number of us.

In the final analysis, your acceptance will not be because of where you are from, but who you are as a person. I don't know the numbers, but I will bet that a large part of Idaho's population is people who moved here from some other state. If they learned to fit in with our way of life, it will be fine. Acceptance will be fast and sure. Those who want to bring great change to the way we live, will probably be unhappy.

It's called "fitting in" and we've all been practicing that in everything we do for most of our lives.

pimit2 (Bob)

[Sage of Sagle]

Absolutely Bob. One thing we found is that 75% of the folks we have met are FROM California, whether they moved here 5 or 25 years ago...

[KittyToy]

Please do keep me posted Carl...on your move. And thanks everyone for your resopses....I mean, all I want to do is fit it and have a safe comfortable life. THANKS!!!

[DESERTRYDER]

The following has got to be the best thing I ever read on this site.
Thank you sage for helping our family feel better about our move to Idaho.
We just want to be us. The locals will soon realize we are also good people just like them.

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

I moved here from a small town (pop under 3000) in rural CA. For us, it was moving to a MORE populated area. We fit right in.

But what I've seen already with some people who have moved into this area is that they expect it to be like all the GOOD things (according to their definition) California "used to have" without the BAD things (defined as crime, congestions, smog, etc).

The problem is that so far, a lot of their pre-supposed definitions are wrong. For example, the power goes out and they all gripe about how the power company doesn't have it back on ASAP. Well, we're RURAL and we have a Co-Op (Northern Lights). That means that WE are the ones paying for it all eventually. So your power goes down, you better fire up a generator and suck it up. Angry calls because "we pay our power bills" don't fly here.

Also, I've noticed that Californias have become used to swearing. Well, here we take a more civil view. We bought our place last fall, and I've heard foul language maybe 5-10 times since we moved. I know that MY own kids (and their peers here) view the word "freakin" as right on the borderline of bad language. But people move here from other areas and their kids have been brought up that the F word is normal. NOT HERE, it's not.

Theft? yeah, it happens, but it's SO outside the accepted realm, your kid better not get caught or MEN will beat his ass. You come on my ranch to steal something, you better think about getting away before I get my hands on you. We were at Silverwood amusement park a couple weeks back and I noticed that people STILL leave their personal belongings laying around untended and NOBODY steal them. I mean purses, sunglasses, etc. TRY THAT at Raging Waters.

We have DIRT roads in 90% of the county. And while it might be nice to have them paved, we DO NOT want to pay more taxes, so we leave them dirt. Already we have a neighbor on a crusade to get roads paved because it makes so much dirt on her Range Rover. Ummm...buy another car...or hose of your car. Don't drive up MY taxes because your roads were paved in San Jose.

Don't like guns? Don't move to Idaho. When we moved here, I was going to be a good neighbor and build (cinder block and steel) my own shooting area. First weekend here, I heard gunfire all around us. Neighbors having a good time, and hunting. So we saved a lot of $$ not building a range, but my 10yo kids have more gun safety than most adults I knew in SoCal. Misuse a gun and it's pretty harsh.

Congestion is an issue, even in Sandpoint. They've been struggling with that for a lot longer than the population boom. A 2-lane bridge and a highway that runs right through town. Bypass along Sand Creek is planned (but a subject of much debate), and a new long bridge is apparently in the plans. But it's nothing like driving around CA. Maybe you wait an extra 5 minutes to get somewhere, but you shouldn't live here and be a in a big hurry.

Smog isn't an issue where we are. Water quality is good, but we're concerned about some mining in MT that could be very bad for Lake Pend Oreille, so people are vigilant about keeping it clean AND trash free. Here, when we see litter, we pick it up, even though WE didn't litter. I'm not saying we're out cleaning Highway 95....what I mean is that most people we know here respect the place we live.

So it's not Nirvana, and crime DOES happen since we do have our share of white trash in some areas. But people don't tolerate it, and punishments are still pretty severe compared to CA sentencing guidelines, so we have a LOT less career criminals than CA (I'm a retired cop so that was noteworthy to me).

If you come up to live a quiet rural life and FIT IN, you will find nothing but acceptance and friends. DO NOT worry about a California stigma...just be aware that people will have some initial reservations about you until they see that you're not "one of those Californians".

In closing, I think the issue is that Idaho welcomes people who want to become IDAHOANS...and that means a different mindset from where you're coming from....just be aware of it...

[Sage of Sagle]

You're welcome. I'm very flattered by your kind words, and glad that it helped put you at ease.

[eyetech]

Sage, your description of Idaho sounds terrific. The power outtages and dirt roads, yeah, that's just life. But tolerating foul language, selfish littering, careless gun use--those are the things that define a person...or a community. Years ago, when my now grown kids were little, I decided to risk looking foolish, bending down to pick up someone else's trash--at the mall, in the park, and once, uprighting and cleaning up an entire trash container at my kids' high school , then another mom rushed over and helped me ! This was in the Phoenix metro area, where in my opinion, conformity means apathy or arrogance. I'd like to live where rebellion means going against THAT! (Maybe I should clarify, though. I don't want to bash Phoenix; in a metro area of over 2 mil. people, they're not all selfish, or apathetic, or arrogant. It just seems to be contagious, especially in certain settings.)

[Sage of Sagle]

Yeah, North Idaho is a great place. Strange since I hear about things in other parts of Idaho that definitely have the whole "Californication" problem...even close by in Coeur d'Alene where the dining/shopping district along Sherman could double for Laguna Beach with trendy bistros, art galleries, nightclubs, and ginchy shops. But the problems just 45 miles away don't really spill over into the Sandpoint area AS MUCH, since we do have our issues with downtown being pretty crowded...

I think it has much to do with the natural barrier of the job market. In many metro areas 45 miles is nothing to commute. Up here, it would just about kill someone to have to make that daily commute. An hour in the summer, two in the winter. So if a person can't land a JOB in the Sandpoint area, they're not going to LIVE in the Sandpoint area. At least that's my take. Pimit2 or Pacalady can feel free to correct me as they've been here longer and have more depth to their understanding of this area than I have...

[pimit2]

You are correct, Sage. In many ways, Sandpoint is an island. A great place to live, but with some inherent problems. Like jobs.

There are two large employers that provide good job numbers. Both are in a growth pattern demanding more employees. Coldwater Creek, now a retailer of international importance, has its headquarters and catalog service center here, and the refrigerated salad dressing company expanding throughout the country, Litehouse, Inc., has its main plant in Sandpoint. Smaller employers include local retailers, the timber and wood processing industry, various service organizations, government entities, health care providers, and the school system. Two of the retailers - Wal-Mart and Home Depot - are large enough to offer quite a few jobs.

Wages and salaries are lower in Sandpoint than in larger metropolitan areas, and the benefits often don't measure up to large population places. On the other hand, the cost of living is lower here than those metro areas. Still, most who choose to move here find they have to alter their lifestyle to some degree.

Some Sandpoint residents work outside the community, facing long commutes in varying weather conditions. I know one - I am sure there are more - who commutes daily the 160 miles roundtrip to Spokane, Washington to work. Like you said, Sage, in a metropolitan area like Southern California, that's not unusual. But, here, the winters can bring heavy snow and treacherous icy road conditions, and here in North Idaho, we lack a modern freeway system like the metro areas have.

Its funny. While some voice problems with "outsiders" moving to Idaho, in Sandpoint that has been a valuable asset. Some new residents from other places have brought jobs for us with them. They open businesses and employ locals to work in them. For some reason, I have noted that many of these new businesses have been opened by folks moving here from - Oh, My God - California! This part of Sandpoint's growth spurt brings more than just jobs. It brings a larger tax base - from the new residents and the new business.

The city's population - about 8.000, and quickly rising - and its remoteness, brings other problems for some. We have a hospital, but it lacks facilities and equipment to handle the more major medical emergencies. Major trauma cases and catastrophic medical situations are stabilized only and moved to Coeur d'Alene or Spokane for further treatment. A friend of mine who suffered a heart attack recently was quickly flown to Spokane by a medical helicopter after receiving preliminary assistance in our local hospital.

Sandpoint is growing faster than most of us would like. The infrastructure is not growing with the increased population, as has been pointed out in other threads in this forum. The city and surrounding area is a tourist magnet, with Lake Pend Oreiile, the wilderness, and the Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort. This tourist traffic, plus the added traffic from additional residents, along with the highway with cars and over-the-road trucks we have passing through the heart of downtown, is a dilemma not easily solved.

For a variety of reasons, more and more people are looking to North Idaho as a relocation site. For many, it will be a great place to live. For others, it will not be their Shangri-La.

pimit2 (Bob)

[boucinaround]

Ya it really is true that idahoans hate californians! My husband is from cali. and he always says he is from idaho just cause of the responses he has gotten. There is alot of californians going to twin falls and pissin off alot of people just by showin up.