Idaho vs California (Boise, Pocatello, Sandpoint: fit in, amusement park, crime)

[KittyToy]

Can someone please explain to me if it's a REALLY BIG DEAL for someone to move to Idaho from California? I've looked over some of these threads posted by Idahoans {?} practically cursing the Californians migration towards the north. Nonetheless. I'm am somewhat afraid for my relocation to Pocatello now. Will I be shunned for my language, and speak? I move on October 1st from San Diego...and aside from the culture-shock....grrrrr I hope it won't be hard to make friends and fit in {25 years old...wanting to marry and start a family with my boyfriend}

[Torrie]

I can't answer for that area, but I can tell you in the Boise-Metro it's not a big issue. There are people out here and on this forum that will tell you otherwise but I'm from CA originally and it hasn't been a problem for me. My husband and I have lived here for almost 5 years.

Do give yourself time to adjust. I know for us, it took us a good year before we felt comfortable, made good friends, got involved etc. Some people have a hard time with adjusting and just give up.

[ArtMom]

Im from california too... and I can tell you you'll need to get your lic plates changed ASAP. You will be OK. Plenty of Calif folks up here, but no matter what the others have said, there are PLENTY of natives who dont want Californians here. Thats the plain truth. BTW... you dont have an accent or anything that may set you apart. We talk just like you do. Just get here and show people that you are a good person. You do know we are miles and miles and miles from any ocean right? Thats the biggest down-side. Best of luck to you!

[Anchorless]

Just remember - we don't have a problem with the people coming here (for the most part), but we tend to have a problem with the people coming here.

It's a legitimate gripe, and it has a trickle down effect. As a Californian you probably understand this all too well. Too many people have come there, drove up housing prices, clogged up traffic, created an atmosphere of tension and stress, and basically made the hassles of living there overwhelm the positives of living there.

It's a slighter version of that here for Idahoans. And Californians tend to be the scapegoat, rightly or wrongly.

As for any sort of harassment - I sincerely don't think you'll encounter any.

[fabforever]

You will be ok, if you have kids, prepare them to be harassed a bit, especially in the Boise School District. There is a anti-CA sentiment in the Boise schools, but it is getting much better these days.

[California Carl]

I'm finally moving up there next month from Northern California. I look forward to the change. Like Anchor said, we native Californians have seen growth that is unparalleled in any State. People just keep coming. I have lived here my whole life except while I was overseas in the service, and I can tell you something about growth. We have more illegal imigrants in this state than there are people in Idaho.
As far as being hassled, I did not exprience any while visiting the Boise area all this while wearing my Dodgers hat. I will glad to keep you posted once I move there though...

[Syringaloid]

I am friends with a few families which moved here to Boise from California, they are not white, and they love it here and will never move back to California. They always are amazed at the kindness of people here, the clean city, the family oriented lifestyle, the amenities of the city. I have never, ever, ever seen or experienced anybody hassling Californians. After all, half of Boise is from California.

[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...

[Anchorless]

Originally Posted by California Carl

As far as being hassled, I did not exprience any while visiting the Boise area all this while wearing my Dodgers hat. I will glad to keep you posted once I move there though...

You might for wearing a dodgers hat, now that you mention it.

Seems like everyone up here is a Giants fan, for some reason or another.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Anchorless

You might for wearing a dodgers hat, now that you mention it.

Seems like everyone up here is a Giants fan, for some reason or another.

Nope, some of us are Braves fans