PLEASE help me in where to live in southern Idaho? (Boise: fit in, real estate)

[movingagain2012]

Hello all,

Due to a painful divorce and my lease being up soon I am going to move from NW Arkansas in a week or two. I *was* planning to move near family outside of St. Louis, MO but I cannot stand humidity at all (I am from Memphis and have been trying to get out west for years).

I need to find a small house/trailer/teepee (LOL)/whatever (not an apartment due to noise & privacy issues) preferably in an area I could possibly start a small hobby farm at some point later. I am looking to rent somewhere now in a safe area for up to $525/mo. (not including utilities - if they are included I could pay a little more). I am pregnant and need a good midwife, and would like an area with a good homeschool group because I also have a child beginning homeschool this year. As a single mom, I am very concerned about safety (again I am from Memphis, so I worry).

Should I move to the Boise, Twin Falls, or Pocatello general areas? I am not Mormon so don't know if I would fit in around Pocatello since I have heard it is mostly Mormon.

Can I garden in any of these areas or is it impossible? I really want to have a small farm at some point.

Thank you so much!

[lovecda]

Any of the areas you mentioned are good for a small farm if you're on the outskirts or in the rural areas. I'm not sure what rental rates would be for a home with land, that's something you'd need to speak to a local real estate agent about. As far as the Mormon influence, it's not terrible in everyday life, especially not if you're homeschooling. One of my siblings lives in Idaho Falls, which has a huge Mormon population, and she notices it most when it comes to the schools. You're going to find good medical care in any of those areas, and good midwives.

If you want to be away from a predominant Mormon population, the Boise area would be best. I highly recommend the towns outside of Boise, especially south of Meridian and south of Nampa in the unincorporated land there. You still have quick and easy access to Boise's amenities without having to be in the "Big City." I would say the Treasure Valley area (around Boise) is probably the best for finding a good homeschool group. If you do decide to go with a non-homeschool education for your kids at some point, do look into Idaho's charter schools. Two of my siblings have kids there, and they're getting a superb education. I also know a ton of families with kids in Coeur d'Alene's charter school (and I know some of the teachers there), and they're very satisfied with it.

This is just a general observation from a brother's move several years ago, but he found a very affordable rental (I'm not sure of the cost) in Pocatello--a 2 bed, 2 bath house with a finished basement that served as a great room, sitting on about 3/4 of an acre, inside the city limits, and his family was able to have a good-size garden. They weren't hassled by the Mormons, but didn't like the town and ended up moving again once their lease was up.

[banjomike]

Hi, moving again...
The first thing I suggest is to go to the city-data home page. Click on Idaho, and you will see 2 maps; the upper one shows where the major population centers are, and the major highways connecting them. A smaller map below shows the geography of the state.

That second map will show you that Idaho is really 2 states divided in half by impassible mountain ranges. Out here, if you go 40 miles out of any city you will be in either a rural area with very low population or wilderness.

Northern Idaho's climate is different from the south. It is more similar to W. Montana and E. Washington than the south; more lakes and pine trees, more hilly, cloudier and a bit more moderate in the winters, often with more rain in the winter, and somewhat cooler summers on average.

Southern Idaho, from Boise south, is drier, sunnier, and has many more changes in elevation. Some places in S. Idaho are very similar to N. Idaho- especially Salmon, Ketchum, and the places east of Boise, while others are higher in elevation as they bump up agains the western Rockies. The Upper Snake River valley towns- Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls and Rexburg are all located in this area, with Poky being the lowest. All these towns have foothills to the east and big farming areas to the west.

Further westward from the Snake River valley, the Arco desert (which is actually a high steppe, similar to Mongolia) takes up the center of the state. This area had large volcanic flows about 3000 years ago, about the time Moses was crossing the Red Sea, which makes some of it un-inhabitable, but there are many pocket valleys throughout with small towns in them.

South and west of the Arco desert lies Twin Falls, the only large city in the S.W. portion of the state. Large in Idaho is 30,000 people or more. Twin's population is around 40,000.

Boise is the only true metroplex in the state and has the highest population. The Upper Snake River valley is next in population, then then the Coeur d'Alene area, and the Twin Falls area last. The Upper Snake's population is more spread out, but is close to the Boise area, with Idaho Falls and Pocatello the 2 largest cities in this area. I.F. is slightly larger than Poky now, with a population of around 65,000 in the city.

The cost of living in Idaho is low overall, but so are the wages. Housing prices are higher in the Boise area and in the Coeur d'Alene's than in the south.

Job diversity is greater in the south; N. Idaho was the area where mining and logging were the predominant industries (but there are also mines and forests in the south), and S. Idaho has always been the big agricultural area of the state. S. Idaho farms can be very large, and there are a lot of processing plants that are mostly centered on our potato production, and the large farms are seasonal employers.
Boise and Idaho Falls are the two largest tech centers of the state. Boise has Hewlett-Packard and other high tech corporations, and Idaho Falls is a big engineering center. Both have the largest and most extensive medical facilities in the state, while Coeur d'Alene is the major med center for the north.

From the middle of the state southward, Idaho still has a lot of cowboy culture. Lots of cattle and livestock, and lots of horses. It's up there in the north, too, especially around the Grangville to Moscow areas.

Coeur d'Alene is the major service city for the north, Boise is the big service center for that area and S.W. Idaho, and Idaho Falls is the service center for all of the S.E. side of the state and also serves W. Wyoming and S.W. Montana as well.

The north is basically alpine scenery, and the south has a huge variety. The wilderness area of the state is all mountains, but the biggest mountains in the state are in the south. There are more lakes in the north, but the south has them as well. The Arco desert has terrain that is found nowhere else in the US.

Home schooling is done all over the state, as many families here live out in the boonies. The state has well prepared home school programs in all school districts. Midwifery is, as far as I know, practiced all over the state as well. I believe that midwives are licensed by the state.

Idaho is generally a very safe state to live in. Much more so than in other areas, and similar to other states here in the Intermountain west. Property crimes here are more common than crimes against people.

You don't have to worry about fitting in here with the Mormons. In Idaho, Mormonism is an old established religion much like Southern Baptists are in the south and Catholics in the east. People of all faiths live here peaceably, and there are churches of all religions here. In general, Idahoans are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet, but the entire state has a strong streak of self-dependence, which can cause outsiders some problems in making close friends at first. But, as anywhere, the more a person gets out and meets neighbors, the quicker friendships are made. Idahoans are very quick to help anyone out of a jam, but if someone continually counts on others to get them out of problems, they're just as quick to quit helping if they feel they are being used.

Living here re-defines laid back. Folks everywhere like to take their time and visit with everything they do. We chat with each other while doing business, talk to the neighbors, stop on the roads and talk to passing friends, and look each other up here. This seems to be ingrained, and can sometimes startle newcomers.

Winters here are generally colder than in the mid-west, but are much drier, except in the north. The snowfall here can be deep, but most often, it's powder snow. You can expect Halloween to be cold, sometimes freezing, and the temps will generally be 30-45º from late October to late March (and often into April). In january or February, the temps will often go down to zero or below for anywhere from a few days to 10 days, and cold snaps can go down below zero, typically -10º for a few days. During these cold snaps, the air is always at it's driest. Learning how to drive on wintry roads is a given, but a person does not need a 4 wheel drive to get around. Winter tires are a must, though, and sometimes chains after a major storm. A big winter storm here can dump 3 feet of snow, but more often, a typical storm leaves 2 to 6" at a time. On occasion, snow can fall here in mid-summer in the higher elevations.

Summer temps really depend on where a person lives. I live in Idaho Falls; the average summer temp here is around 87º. Boise is hotter at around 91º, and Coeur d'Alene is about the same as I.F., but has a bit more humidity.

The small towns here can be tiny- 300 to 1200 population is common. Depending on where you live, driving to a major service center can be 60 to 100 miles one way. The distances out here are vast.

Hope this helps.

[chevpu1967]

Lots of good information, BanjoMike. I'm looking at NID and am just trying to narrow it down. Got 2 years left where I am.

[tlmax77]

I've been offered a job in Twin Falls, and am also wondering about the schools and where to live. I am looking to compare communities within twin falls, best area to live, places to avoid, etc. I would also like to know about the surrounding towns Twin Falls, Buhl, Kimberly, Filer..... School districts, specifically high school. Any issues with gangs..... I realize it's small but that stuff is everywhere.