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I am due to retire later this year and plan to move to southwest Colorado and rent for one year. My first choice is to retire in the area, but for the next year, it functions as a base of operations from which to explore.
I thoroughly enjoy the outdoors. I already car camp, rock climb (not extreme stuff), canyoneering, hike and explore. I could easily get into backpacking and kayaking as well. One of my concerns about CO is just how it will grow for the next couple of decades, after significant growth already. At least that are the projections.
To escape the rush, many will go elsewhere, e.g., Washington state. But I don't hear much talk about Idaho, and Idaho is more intriguing to me. I think it has a wealth of natural features for outdoor activities. I would like to visit there from Colorado to evaluate its retirement potential. I don't know where to start, so let me set some parameters.
1) Is Idaho a "friendly" state for retirees? There are "tax friendly" and not so friendly states for retirement. Not having an state income tax may or may not (e.g., Texas) be relevant, since total tax burden has to be taken into consideration.
2) The biggest drawback about Idaho, in my mind, is the weather, with concern for winter. Are there areas in the southern half of the state where the winters are more moderate? Though I live in TX, I did spend seven years in Chicago in the 1980s, so I have some idea what a real winter is like.
3) I once considered Boise or its outskirts. What is this city like culturally and politically?
4) Any promising smaller cities to check out in the southeast corner? And I may need to be within an hour or so of a mid-sized city, just for maintenance healthcare, groceries, etc.
5) What about housing costs? I know that can vary, but CO has experienced lots of housing cost increases, and not just in the big cities.
Idaho has a lot of retirees, so I guess its a "friendly" state.
I have met many people who worked in CA or other high cost areas.
They retired and brought their pension and cash from the sale of their old home and live a very nice life in Idaho.
Idaho winters are cold, eastern Idaho seems to be about 10 degrees colder in winter than SW Idaho. I used to live in Pocatello before moving to the treasure valley and enjoy winters here more than I did in Poky. When I moved here, my neighbor called SW Idaho the "Banana Belt of Idaho."
Boise is the most "urban" area of the state in terms of culture and politics. However, just outside the city in the suburbs and surrounding counties, its much more conservative politically and culturally. That being said, Idaho is pretty conservative and culturally "normal" compared to other parts of the country. Crazy ideas and attitudes don't get too far generally, as common sense tends to be the rule. Young people looking for the wild life probably wont find it here. I hear all the time how great it is to raise a family here, and I tend to agree with that.
Pocatello and Idaho Falls are the only mid sized cities in E. Idaho. Outside of those areas, you have towns like American Falls, Blackfoot, Shelly, and other small towns. They tend to be farm towns, not quaint little mountain towns like you might find in CO.
Pocatello and that area seems to be the lowest costs of living, but it comes at a price. I recently looked at the 30 yr average of home appreciation for Pocatello and its not good. "Everyone in Pocatello eventually moves to Boise" is a saying I heard a lot when there and sure enough, it turned out to be true for us.
Have you looked at Emmett? Its less than an hour to Boise most of the time, and its less expensive than Boise. If you can be two hours from a big city, Valley County is just up hwy 55 and has some of the most beautiful scenery ever. Its higher elevation as you are leaving high desert and going into the mountains.
1) Kiplinger says it's mixed/middle of the road, which sounds right to me. Not much different from the situation in Colorado. If your economic situation will be fine in Colorado, I can't imagine it will be terribly different in Idaho.
2) I'd be more worried about winter in Southwest Colorado than Southern Idaho. It's cold on the western slope! Average high/low in January for Durango is 40.9/14.5. Montrose, 35.8/15.9. Boise is 37.8/24.7. Boise also gets much less snowfall than most of Colorado. I would imagine the biggest difference is going to be sunlight in the winter time. Colorado is further south so it will have longer days vs Idaho, and Southern Idaho is going to be cloudier. Not nearly as bad as the PNW/North Idaho, but Colorado has an abnormally high amount of winter sunshine.
3) I'll let others speak about Culture - it's been a while since my last visit in and I'm sure it's grown and changed alot since then. Politically, Boise the city is a "blue dot in a red state". The most urban part of the state, and one of the most liberal. That said, the entire Boise metro area is more Republican. Meridian, Nampa, etc. make up the majority of the population and lean Republican. It's similar to many other cities where the core urban area is left-leaning and the suburbs and rural areas are right-leaning.
4) Define "mid-sized city"? Pocatello and Idaho Falls are the only cities of note. MSA of Pocatello is north of 80,000. Idaho Falls a bit over 135,000.
5) Depends on the area. They haven't increased anything like Colorado's, but housing out west always seems expensive compared to most anywhere in the South. Especially compared to most of Southwest Colorado, I would imagine you could find similar or cheaper properties in Idaho. Depends on what kind of property type you're looking at. A small, modest house in Ouray or Ridgway would set you back a pretty penny but you can park a trailer in the prairie outside Cortez for a lot less. Idaho is the same, IMO, just probably a level less expensive.
My wife and I are headed up to a place 30 miles west of Twin Falls for our retirement. I researched Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon and ended up going for Idaho After an extensive discussion with my accountant who will continue to do our taxes, we won't be paying any which really thrilled me. so of all those states Idaho won't be taxing my SS and what little added income from my internet part time job would be. So we happy as can be about this decision. I wanted nothing to do with the greater Boise and west area. I prefer the clean air and spring water we'll be having. Indeed I'd say Idaho is retiree friendly to say the least.
My wife and I are headed up to a place 30 miles west of Twin Falls for our retirement. I researched Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon and ended up going for Idaho After an extensive discussion with my accountant who will continue to do our taxes, we won't be paying any which really thrilled me. so of all those states Idaho won't be taxing my SS and what little added income from my internet part time job would be. So we happy as can be about this decision. I wanted nothing to do with the greater Boise and west area. I prefer the clean air and spring water we'll be having. Indeed I'd say Idaho is retiree friendly to say the least.
And the greater Boise and "west area" collectively breathes a sigh of relief. I hope you enjoy your new area.
Thanks for all your replies. I think I'll visit there, but from the information you've provided, should probably rule it out for retirement. The reason is b/c I was hoping to squeeze into the southeast portion of the state, and yet to do such is to choose a location that has more severe winters than, say, the southwest portion. I wanted to be in the southeastern portion b/c this places me closer to areas I have vacationed in, plus my son lives in Denver. Even the southeast portion is a stretch for Denver, but the southwest more so.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply. It has really helped.
Thanks for all your replies. I think I'll visit there, but from the information you've provided, should probably rule it out for retirement. The reason is b/c I was hoping to squeeze into the southeast portion of the state, and yet to do such is to choose a location that has more severe winters than, say, the southwest portion. I wanted to be in the southeastern portion b/c this places me closer to areas I have vacationed in, plus my son lives in Denver. Even the southeast portion is a stretch for Denver, but the southwest more so.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply. It has really helped.
Idaho winters are always unpredictable, and they are unpredictable from one region to another within the state, too.
If you were seriously considering moving to the SE corridor, don't let a winters severity or lack of it become a major concern. Our geography is so diverse and extreme that studying our average winter temps to determine where to live is not going to be very accurate. Nor is it the most productive to arrive at a choice.
The fact is on any given day in any given winter, one area can be much warmer or colder than another. And that situation can completely reverse itself within 24 hours here. If you think of winters here, it is best to just consider they will probably be fairly snowy, usually fairly cold, and will linger for about 4 1/2 months. Past that, it's all pretty much day by day.
Just last week for example, the panhandle was being buried in snow, followed by cold temps, while SE Idaho was 51º and sunny. Those extreme differences are very typical of our winters.
Boise winters are mild compared to Chicago. I don't like any winter but it's no worse here than Colorado.
Boise is very conservative for a city (to me a good thing.)
Lots and lots of retirees moving here.
I am due to retire later this year and plan to move to southwest Colorado and rent for one year. My first choice is to retire in the area, but for the next year, it functions as a base of operations from which to explore.
I thoroughly enjoy the outdoors. I already car camp, rock climb (not extreme stuff), canyoneering, hike and explore. I could easily get into backpacking and kayaking as well. One of my concerns about CO is just how it will grow for the next couple of decades, after significant growth already. At least that are the projections.
To escape the rush, many will go elsewhere, e.g., Washington state. But I don't hear much talk about Idaho, and Idaho is more intriguing to me. I think it has a wealth of natural features for outdoor activities. I would like to visit there from Colorado to evaluate its retirement potential. I don't know where to start, so let me set some parameters.
Idaho is the fastest growing state in the nation. So the cat is out of the bag already, and has been for a while.
Every one of those states you've listed have areas experiencing high growth pressures, and areas that are losing population, extremely rural, low cost of living, etc. It depends on what you're looking for.
1) Is Idaho a "friendly" state for retirees? There are "tax friendly" and not so friendly states for retirement. Not having an state income tax may or may not (e.g., Texas) be relevant, since total tax burden has to be taken into consideration.
Generally, yes it is. Again, depends on what states you're comparing it to. You'll have to do your own research here.
2) The biggest drawback about Idaho, in my mind, is the weather, with concern for winter. Are there areas in the southern half of the state where the winters are more moderate? Though I live in TX, I did spend seven years in Chicago in the 1980s, so I have some idea what a real winter is like.
Southwest Idaho, and Lewiston (north-central) are generally more mild. Still, moderate is relative. Even in SW Idaho, expect 4-5 months of inclement weather, meaning: lower temperatures, rain, snow, sleet, wind, fog, inversion, ice, cloud-cover, etc. It's generally fairly dark and dreary in the Boise area from November until mid-March or so. Worse if we have an inversion.
3) I once considered Boise or its outskirts. What is this city like culturally and politically?
Boise is generally moderate culturally and politically; the surrounding areas more conservative and/or religious-conservative.
4) Any promising smaller cities to check out in the southeast corner? And I may need to be within an hour or so of a mid-sized city, just for maintenance healthcare, groceries, etc.
Hard to say. There are a lot of neat communities throughout the state. Driggs and Victor might be the most "promising," but also most costly.
5) What about housing costs? I know that can vary, but CO has experienced lots of housing cost increases, and not just in the big cities.
It's increasing, to be sure.
Thanks.
I've provided some answers in bold, above.
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