Would love to move to Idaho.. help please. (Twin Falls, Athol: sale, home)

[sadinca]

Intro:

I, unfortunately, have lived in California all my life. I have lived up & down the state. While some may praise & rave about California being the greatest state ever...I do not concur.
I am not your typical "Californian". I don't care about partying all night, drinking, being loud & rude to my neighbors, road rage driver or acting high & mighty as if I was better than all, which I am not.
I am a quiet introvert, well mannered & old fashion person, as some will say. I believe in fairness & treating people with respect. Privacy & modesty. I have seen many changes over the course of 35+ years. I understand about growth & the pros & cons that it brings. My complaint is the overall attitude of the "I don't care about you, it's all about me, I'll do what I want, when I want" people have nowadays, especially in the area I reside in. California is officially the Entitlement state. There is no consideration, common courtesy, because yes, I want to hear your music until 2am....everyday... The diversity of where I live is 75% of one particular race. I would consider myself culturally diverse as the majority of my family were born outside of the USA. I love a melting pot of many cultures, within reason, it brings a flavor of tolerance & respect for one another & we can definitely learn & apply it but come on... 75% in entire city, more or less the county I live in?!

My question:

I am looking for a new state/city I can finally call home. I have never felt at home here. I don't "blend in" or will ever lower myself to be someone I am not. My priorities are as followed. Affordability (more bang for my buck), a safe area, and like minded people who have core values. I am NOT a liberal or affiliated with any political party. If anything, maybe more moderate or independent?? I would prefer to live on the Western portion of the USA since I love nature & the ocean or even Idaho, but at this point, anything must be better than California!?

I apologize if I offended anyone but it's hard not too since I really don't belong here and not a "true" Californian. I can't just be laid back and act like this is normal behaviour to treat people like crap. What happened to good ol' friendly people and respect? Scotty, beam me up

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Good luck to you. I suspect people have a better time of relocating when they are moving towards something and not away from something. People who are not content at place A will often find that they are not content at place B. I don't get any feeling at all of what sort of place would suit you.

Maybe take a couple of vacations in Idaho to see how it feels?

[banjomike]

I think what you need is a road trip, sadinca. Looking around would do you some good. It seems to me that what you really need are some fresh perspectives the most. At least right now, before you pull up stakes impulsively and move without knowing anything at all about what you might be getting into.

It's hard for me to say if Idaho is the place for you or not, but only some time spent here will tell you if Idaho is right for you. But if you haven't ever been out of California, its possible another state might suit you better than Idaho. Or not. Again, that's only for you to discover.

[Sandpointian]

^^ Listen to Banjomike. Take a bunch of road trips. Take them when the weather is not so nice. When visiting, eschew touristy things for observing how the places function, meeting locals, and taking note of jobs and prices.

If you are not leaving a high paying job, then save your money and come for a year to try it out. After a year, you will know a ton more about the reality of Idaho and how it resonates with you and your particular skill set and ambitions.

Just so you know, we are no different than other states: we have the full spectrum of humans. We are no slam dunk. And remember, that because we are a small state with a smaller government role, there are going to be a few things that are not going to automatically available.

But I do hope as I do for all young people, that you find the place that best suits you. If you feel you are done with CA, you have 49 more states to choose from. And the non-CA West is booming left and right. If you think Idaho suits you, then give it a shot with both feet planted firmly on the ground.

[Forrestdreams]

You might consider Colorado as well. They are about 50/50 politically with a lot of independents. Everybody seems to always be in a good mood, pretty happy people, no entitled attitude. I'm moving because it's getting too crowded for the kind of retirement I desire and I'm a very conservative Christian. And the legalized marijuana annoys those of us who can enjoy life without being chemically altered. Otherwise Colorado is awesome. Best wishes.

[Teufelshund20]

I never stepped one foot in Idaho, but picked up and moved here. I was looking for four season's and here in Athol it's perfect.

That was one year ago next month and wish I would have done it 10 years ago.

[dcisive]

My wife and I are looking at our retirement move probably next summer. We have 2 places lined up as possibilities. one is in Washington State (no State Income Tax) and the other in an area about 30mi West of Twin Falls. If the Washington one falls through we'll likely jump on the Idaho option. Both are in a 55+ restricted community (my kind of place for peace and quiet). My only quandary is that I won't be getting rid of dealing with State Income Tax in Idaho if it comes to that. But the several folks I've discussed this with have assured me with the lower cost home we'd build, coupled with our minimal income (almost entirely Social Security) the taxes hit up by the State would be minimal to non existent. I'll be doing a bit more research on this before I'd make any final moves, but it seems reasonable. The property tax in Idaho on the land we're zeroing in on would actually be even less than the Washington one (which is already pretty decent). So that is not a bad thing either. Time will tell. It' all about laying the groundwork to set the stage for a possible sale of our home in May and heading out to settle elsewhere. We shall see........

[Cnynrat]

When looking at your three specific priorities I think Idaho most likely meets all of them.

Probably 4 or 5 other states do as well though, so I think you need to give some more thought to what other criteria you might have to help you make a decision.

Dave

[Teufelshund20]

Originally Posted by dcisive

My wife and I are looking at our retirement move probably next summer. We have 2 places lined up as possibilities. one is in Washington State (no State Income Tax) and the other in an area about 30mi West of Twin Falls. If the Washington one falls through we'll likely jump on the Idaho option. Both are in a 55+ restricted community (my kind of place for peace and quiet). My only quandary is that I won't be getting rid of dealing with State Income Tax in Idaho if it comes to that. But the several folks I've discussed this with have assured me with the lower cost home we'd build, coupled with our minimal income (almost entirely Social Security) the taxes hit up by the State would be minimal to non existent. I'll be doing a bit more research on this before I'd make any final moves, but it seems reasonable. The property tax in Idaho on the land we're zeroing in on would actually be even less than the Washington one (which is already pretty decent). So that is not a bad thing either. Time will tell. It' all about laying the groundwork to set the stage for a possible sale of our home in May and heading out to settle elsewhere. We shall see........

You might want to look at property taxes in Washington, they can be screwy. They can change dramatically$$$$$ in price from year to year.

[volosong]

Doesn't Idaho have some type of scheme whereby a retiree can defer his property taxes until he dies or the property is sold? Not that I'd want to do that, but if true, it might be something those on a tight budget might want to look into.