Rural Idaho (Boise, Pocatello, Idaho Falls: real estate, low crime, house prices)

[Mr. Bighead]

I currently live in Knoxville, TN. I've never even been close to Idaho, but most of what I hear and read about it sounds good. I can tell you that most of the stereotypes about Tennessee and the Appalachains are true to some extent. That makes me wonder if there is any truth to the stereotypes I hear about Idaho. Based on things I heard in the 1990's, it seems that rural Idaho is full of crazy militias, skinheads, and mormons. What do you locals think? Is there any truth to these impressions? I plan to visit Idaho along with some other parts of the northwest in the next year or two. I'm used to dealing with inbred baptist hillbillies, so I think I can handle mormon skinhead militiamen. I just want to know what to expect.

[shades_of_idaho]

OK First of all Mr Bighead. You are supposed to post spew alerts at the BEGINNING of your post to let us all know to swallow our mouthfull of beer before continuing to read, when you are about to post something funny.Now that I have cleaned off my monitor as best I can and pray my laptop is not going to short out in my lap I might try to answer a couple of your questions.

You might have some of your information right. We are crazy as bed bugs here. I think it might be the long winters. Google "You might Be A Redneck if" That is us for sure.

Honestly I think every where a person looks around for a place to live they will find weirdness. I am trying to be nice here. LOL I have also heard of the skin heads and other groups you mention but then I put old bed frames and satellite dish pieces in my front yard and glue junk glass pieces of things together and smash plates and stick the broken pieces on things (mosaics) and call it all art. Am I crazy and weird. OH YAH!!!Not mormon sorry. So come on and join the fun. Idaho is a great place to live. I do not want to leave this state.I love it here!!! If those other weird people are here I must have missed them or I am too crazy to notice or care. :P

Chris

[dallasfan]

You're last line was pretty funny, and that's coming from a Mormon who grew up in rural Idaho. I think some of the sterotypes you hear about Idahoian is probably true, but every place has it weirdness. I've lived in LA for several years, and now live in Sacramento, CA, and even CA has it weirdness. The people here aren't all surfers and laidback. But back to Idaho, I think its a great place to live and raise a family. The skin heads use to be up north in the panhandle, but are mostly gone. The leader of their clan went bankrupt and sold his compound to a Christian group (go figure). But the southern part of the state, around Boise is nice and seeing how it is the biggest city in the state, there is more "stuff" to do. The eastern part of the state is dry and quite nice. Northern Idaho is more "liberal", although not probably want you are use to, and southern Idaho is more conservative. The Mormons are friendly, and pretty easily to get along. They do have their quirks, but are mostly a good people. Just don't move there and think you're going to get a metropolitian attitude, because it is rural.

[nhmtnman]

Hey Bighead,
Here in Northern Idaho, aka the Panhandle, everyone is armed and ready to defend life and property at a moments provocation. The skinheads are gone, but the spirit lives on. For further information on Richard Butler, founder of the Aryan Nation, now deceased, go to :http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/Arya...cked=3&item=11

This area is like anywhere else, if you have respect for yourself and others, you will get along just fine.

LIVE FREE OR DIE

[altaina]

I've lived in 5 states & Canada, & I plan on staying here in Idaho till I die!
The people are friendly. If you have a flat tire, they'll stop & help you (unless you have a California license plate:-) We're in southern Idaho, and there are no skinheads around here. Lots of Mormons, but they make great neighbors - they're moral people (the polygamists are all in southern Utah).

Ok, so what's so great about Idaho?
No traffic. No pollution. Low crime. Cheap real estate (outside the Boise metropolitan area). Lower prices, lower property taxes. Yes, wages are lower, but you don't need as much to live on. A million dollars worth of scenery. Peace and quiet: meadowlarks and doves. Occasionally a coyote or fox (or skunk). You can see the stars at night and the sunrise and sunset every day.
Obviously, I don't live in Boise. Gosh, that place is becoming another California city. Stay away from there. Idahoans can't afford to live there anymore, and they can't keep up with the traffic from the population explosion.
Go to south central Idaho - Twin Falls, Burley, Rupert- or SE Idaho - Pocatello and smaller communities like Blackfoot or Inkom.

[StampinTami]

Originally Posted by altaina

I've lived in 5 states & Canada, & I plan on staying here in Idaho till I die!
The people are friendly. If you have a flat tire, they'll stop & help you (unless you have a California license plate:-) We're in southern Idaho, and there are no skinheads around here. Lots of Mormons, but they make great neighbors - they're moral people (the polygamists are all in southern Utah).

Ok, so what's so great about Idaho?
No traffic. No pollution. Low crime. Cheap real estate (outside the Boise metropolitan area). Lower prices, lower property taxes. Yes, wages are lower, but you don't need as much to live on. A million dollars worth of scenery. Peace and quiet: meadowlarks and doves. Occasionally a coyote or fox (or skunk). You can see the stars at night and the sunrise and sunset every day.
Obviously, I don't live in Boise. Gosh, that place is becoming another California city. Stay away from there. Idahoans can't afford to live there anymore, and they can't keep up with the traffic from the population explosion.
Go to south central Idaho - Twin Falls, Burley, Rupert- or SE Idaho - Pocatello and smaller communities like Blackfoot or Inkom.

Well, hopefully we don't get any flat tires before we get our Idaho plates. I read all the posts that you responded to and I did not see any mention of Idaho Falls, is there a reason for that? You also mentioned a couple of times that "central" Idaho is the coldest parts of Idaho. What do you consider to be "central" Idaho? You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about the area so I would appreciate any feedback. We are looking at the Idaho Falls and Blackfoot areas. Thanks!

[altaina]

I didn't mention Idaho Falls because I've only been there a few times & don't have much knowledge of it. Blackfoot I know, as I did my student teaching there. It's a nice small city, and I can recommend the high school as excellent, and the real estate as reasonable (at least it was 10 years ago).
I talk a lot about Pocatello because I went to ISU there & know a lot of folks living in that area.

"Central Idaho" is that mountainous area between the Snake River plain and the northern "panhandle." It is colder simply because it is higher elevation.
I mean, we're at 4200 feet here in the south-central region but those mountains go to the upper 9000's, so all settlements up there are subject to snow & cold. However, if you like peace & quiet and want to be remote, that's the place to be. We love to camp up there - in the summer

btw, I have nothing against Californians. I was born there & lived there till 14, so I am also a transplant (although I came by way of Washington, etc....). Some people in the state resent the massive influx that has driven up real estate prices and traffic (and the Californian image is of people who drive too fast), so the flat tire joke is a common way of poking fun around here.

[StampinTami]

Originally Posted by altaina

I didn't mention Idaho Falls because I've only been there a few times & don't have much knowledge of it. Blackfoot I know, as I did my student teaching there. It's a nice small city, and I can recommend the high school as excellent, and the real estate as reasonable (at least it was 10 years ago).
I talk a lot about Pocatello because I went to ISU there & know a lot of folks living in that area.

"Central Idaho" is that mountainous area between the Snake River plain and the northern "panhandle." It is colder simply because it is higher elevation.
I mean, we're at 4200 feet here in the south-central region but those mountains go to the upper 9000's, so all settlements up there are subject to snow & cold. However, if you like peace & quiet and want to be remote, that's the place to be. We love to camp up there - in the summer

btw, I have nothing against Californians. I was born there & lived there till 14, so I am also a transplant (although I came by way of Washington, etc....). Some people in the state resent the massive influx that has driven up real estate prices and traffic (and the Californian image is of people who drive too fast), so the flat tire joke is a common way of poking fun around here.

Thats ok. I understand that you were just poking fun. I just hope that people don't judge us just by our plates when we move and get settled in there. So far, when we have been there looking around the people have been nothing but super nice and encouraging to us about our move. I totally understand why the people from Idaho make the comments about Californians, thats why we are getting out of here! We live in Central Ca, which when I was growing up had a lot of farms and farmland. In the late 90's people from the San Francisco Bay area started moving out here. Our farmland is all going away and our house prices have quadrupled since then. They brought all the problems of the big city with them. Besided the fact that Ca is just too liberal for us! Before, the central valley was a little more conservative. We want some land and a smaller town...something we can't get around here anymore, unless you have a bunch of money, which is something we don't have!

Thank you for all the info. I think we have pretty much settled on Idaho Falls to the Blackfoot area. We can't wait to get out there!

[Wooly]

Originally Posted by StampinTami

Thank you for all the info. I think we have pretty much settled on Idaho Falls to the Blackfoot area. We can't wait to get out there!

I think that is a wise idea. Not to pick on South Central Idaho, but I think most people will prefer an area with a bit more society. So. Cent. is just about all farming, and it's not as prosperous. Boise area is getting crazy. In the Pocatello, IF, Blackfoot area you have a nice mix of rural and community. I don't think So. Cent. is a good idea for people not used to the rural west. It will be a tough transition for most, especially if they have the expectation of services like in CA. They just don't have that there. But if you find you can handle that kind of drastic change, it's a great place for people looking for a simpler, slower life. My only specific advice is to avoid Rupert/Burley. I have spent some time there, and I am not impressed with the direction it's heading.

But let's face it, the economy anywhere outside of Boise can't sustain all the new move ins either, so make sure you have your finances in order and a job. IF is the most likely town to get a good job in. If you have science or engineering training you might check out the U.S.D.E installation out there.

[StampinTami]

Originally Posted by Wooly

I think that is a wise idea. Not to pick on South Central Idaho, but I think most people will prefer an area with a bit more society. So. Cent. is just about all farming, and it's not as prosperous. Boise area is getting crazy. In the Pocatello, IF, Blackfoot area you have a nice mix of rural and community. I don't think So. Cent. is a good idea for people not used to the rural west. It will be a tough transition for most, especially if they have the expectation of services like in CA. They just don't have that there. But if you find you can handle that kind of drastic change, it's a great place for people looking for a simpler, slower life. My only specific advice is to avoid Rupert/Burley. I have spent some time there, and I am not impressed with the direction it's heading.

But let's face it, the economy anywhere outside of Boise can't sustain all the new move ins either, so make sure you have your finances in order and a job. IF is the most likely town to get a good job in. If you have science or engineering training you might check out the U.S.D.E installation out there.

We were actually considering Twin Falls and Pocatello when we took our first trip out there. I decided that we should just go up to check out IF since we were that close anyways but I had already ruled it out. When we got there we just fell in love with the area...instantly, it fel like home! We can not wait to get out there! Twin Falls actaully has quite a bit compared to what we have here. We don't live in the San Fran Bay area or in LA or San Diego so we are not over run with tons of shopping/eating choices. A lot of the stores/restaurants that I saw there, we did not even have when we were double the size of Twin Falls. It's crazy but when we told our family that we were moving out there they all thought we were nuts because we would have no where to shop or anything. Then we informed them that they have everything that we do here...well that we go to anyways. The only difference is it is much easier to get to and you don't have the rude people as much or the gang bangers! I won't even go to our mall here because there have been several shootings there in the past. I'm not going to take the chance with a 2 and 4 year old. Now, we would not go south of Pocatello, there is just nothing there!

As far as work goes, that is a little harder. My husband is a Computer Programmer and I have not seen much for that. There is however a lot of networking jobs that I have seen listed. Luckily we have some fixed income coming in since my DH is a disabled veteran. His aunt is moving out there with us as well and she is on a fixed income, so the job thing isn't as big of a worry...something small will do for us if need be. We just feel that it is the responsible thing to do, to get these kids out of this environment. My DH's aunt has 4 adopted kids and they have been through heck in their short lives. I can't wait to have our land for the kids to run around and chase things like I used to on my grandparents farm before all the land got taken over with houses or became way overpriced. Anyways, I am rambling now. Thanks for the advice, everyone we have came across has been so friendly!