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While it is true that CdA is surrounded by mountains, lakes/rivers, and other incorporated cities; government land/reservations really don't constrict the growth potential of CdA, (north of the lake/river anyway). There is still a lot of in-fill in CdA that can occur.
The greater concern is the urban encroachment by Post Falls, Hayden, and Rathdrum upon the Rathdrum Prairie. The Rathdrum Prairie can easily accommodate between 500,000 and 750,000 people if it were completely built out. Heaven help us if that ever happens! Probably will eventually, but hopefully it is many, many, many decades away.
I hope the farmers don't buckle to the pressure and lure of big money. That will make it happen sooner.
I probably would agree with mistyriver and Shaner on the gunshots. Though I don't have any nearby me due to flat level ground and nearby houses, there will be on properties further out. In fact if I lived in a more suitable location there would be a pistol range on my property. If this might bother you then you may want to look elsewhere.
I’d have to think about that for sure. My spouse isin’t crazy about guns, but that’s when they start shooting and setting off fireworks.
Taz, I'm a realtor here and one of the first sales I made was to a couple from Seattle that wanted enough land for a shop but not so much that they had to spend their free time taking care of it. I found them a place in Post Falls that is upscale and allows horses, but only on about an acre. It's close-in, you can jump on the interstate and be in Spokane or Coeur d'Alene quickly, and there is good internet. Streets are paved and maintained, and there are CC&R's to keep your neighbors from trashing their yards. Buy-in might be a little more than $500k but it really depends on the size of the house and the other structures. Lots are around one acre. Lots of area nearby to ride, and you wouldn't be the only horse owner.
Well it seems close to what I was thinking. The only thing is, an acre is too small since we have several horses. I’m going to look at Post Falls anyway and thanks.
My spouse and I moved to the Olympia area last year from Phoenix. To say this area has been a disappointment is an understatement. The rain is fine, but the area is far from any big city amenities that my spouse and I miss. The area we ended up in is sketchy and more than one neighbor throws trash in the yard including mattress, grills, every kind of junk. We needed a horse property and bought this one.
My spouse has a Masters in electrical engineering and works at home. I also work at home selling insurance. We had originally wanted to move close to Seattle, but the housing market is too crazy. This area is not what we like, my spouse really hates it here, although the house is beautiful and surrounded by fields. Big trees hide the awful houses.
Would Couer d’Alene be a better fit? The requirements would be a few acres for the horses, a fixer house, maybe somewhere between 400,000 to 500,000. It would have to be an area where professionals or people who take pride in their home live, a lot of our neighbors have poorly kept houses and seeing 800 square foot homes piled high with junk in the yard is awful. The nearest towns are depressing to look at and are noted for having a meth problem. No, we didn’t take more time and look around, but should have. We had to buy, since no landlord would rent to people with four dogs, the Phoenix house had closed and we needed something quick.
This is not the right place, hubs hates the rain, we both dislike the isolation, a lot of locals are either rude or surly, there are no good restaurants or shopping for many miles, Olympia has a bad homeless problem, meth seems to be everywhere. His siblings live closer to Seattle, although they bought homes years ago.
We definitely plan a move in 2019 and I’ve heard good things about CDA and living in a clean, upscale area not too far from a major city is important. It’s not far from Spokane which would be big city with the nice restaurants and shopping my spouse misses. Anyway, this town is on the radar along with a couple of other places, and I was hoping to pick up more information on the town and general area.
Just wondering if you would consider southern Idaho since you could get alot for your money down here. The horse properties are more prevalent and you would have access to so many more urban amenities. Just a thought! All the best
After my spouses parents passed and we settled the estate, I thought it was time for a new start, couldn’t take anymore Phoenix summers and my allergies were miserable. Turns out dust is the main thing I’m allergic to. Have you ever seen those giant dust storms during the monsoon season? Anyway, his siblings live here and I thought Washington would be a good starting place. I don’t care about fancy stores that much, but hubs really misses Scottsdale. We’re living out here with a third of our neighbors in the Bumpus family range and I thought moving close to a city would take out bad neighbors and give him more to do. I’m trying to find someplace with nice homes, not too far from civilization. We don’t care much for Olympia and Seattle is going to be too expensive. A friend mentioned CDA so that seemed like a good starting place. You say that CDA is a poor rural area, but I’ve read that a lot of wealthy people move there.
I didn't say that CDA is a poor, rural area. Plenty of rich folks are drawn there and Hayden Lake. But the small towns and rural areas where you are more likely to find small horse properties outside of town arent necessarily rich and many would appear to be poor and rundown. This isn't just Idaho and the northwest. Its the same in rural areas all over the country. Surely you've seen the small horse properties in outlying areas of the Phoenix area that are run down and ratty looking? I found it far worse there because there was no foliage to hide them.
But again, if your husband misses Scottsdale and youre hoping to find something similar in CDA, I would say he is going to be very disappointed. Scottsdale is part of the metro Phoenix area...one of the largest ciities in the country. CDA, Post Falls, etc. is very dependent on Spokane for a lot of restaurants, theatre, concerts, shopping, etc. And Spokane is merely a medium sized city. It will never compete with a major metroplis like Phoenix for that kind of thing. and CDA is never going to have the kind of wealth in it that Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, etc has.
Just wondering if you would consider southern Idaho since you could get alot for your money down here. The horse properties are more prevalent and you would have access to so many more urban amenities. Just a thought! All the best
Thanks! After considering Seattle and realizing the area is too high priced, I used CDA as a starting point. I’m open for suggestions, our house won’t go on the market until spring so that leaves me with time to research different areas and hopefully not make the same mistakes again.
I didn't say that CDA is a poor, rural area. Plenty of rich folks are drawn there and Hayden Lake. But the small towns and rural areas where you are more likely to find small horse properties outside of town arent necessarily rich and many would appear to be poor and rundown. This isn't just Idaho and the northwest. Its the same in rural areas all over the country. Surely you've seen the small horse properties in outlying areas of the Phoenix area that are run down and ratty looking? I found it far worse there because there was no foliage to hide them.
But again, if your husband misses Scottsdale and youre hoping to find something similar in CDA, I would say he is going to be very disappointed. Scottsdale is part of the metro Phoenix area...one of the largest ciities in the country. CDA, Post Falls, etc. is very dependent on Spokane for a lot of restaurants, theatre, concerts, shopping, etc. And Spokane is merely a medium sized city. It will never compete with a major metroplis like Phoenix for that kind of thing. and CDA is never going to have the kind of wealth in it that Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, etc has.
Are you set on staying in the west?
That’s a good point about out of town properties being poor and run down. Yes, run down properties in Phoenix with only cactus to hide them were ugly. At least the 80 ft fir trees hide the bad stuff up here.
He misses Scottsdale and the neighborhood engineers he used to go walking with. I’ve been trying to find something with a nice area so he would be around professionals, not meth and weed heads. Also, an area with decent restaurants, he dosen’t like the farm cooking type restaurants they have around here. I think if he could have those two things, he’d be a lot happier than he is now. I mentioned the larger city because he dosen’t really like the mall in Olympia, that’s the best shopping they have. Also, he was and is active in a local Phoenix sailing club, he is still on the board for new members and does a teleconference meeting with them once a month. Horses and gardening fill my spare time. Anyway, that’s pretty much it. I made a huge mistake in choosing this area and am trying to fix it.
Well he was raised in AZ, and has never wanted to move back east. At any rate, his family is around Seattle. Why, what were you thinking?
That’s a good point about out of town properties being poor and run down. Yes, run down properties in Phoenix with only cactus to hide them were ugly. At least the 80 ft fir trees hide the bad stuff up here.
He misses Scottsdale and the neighborhood engineers he used to go walking with. I’ve been trying to find something with a nice area so he would be around professionals, not meth and weed heads. Also, an area with decent restaurants, he dosen’t like the farm cooking type restaurants they have around here. I think if he could have those two things, he’d be a lot happier than he is now. I mentioned the larger city because he dosen’t really like the mall in Olympia, that’s the best shopping they have. Also, he was and is active in a local Phoenix sailing club, he is still on the board for new members and does a teleconference meeting with them once a month. Horses and gardening fill my spare time. Anyway, that’s pretty much it. I made a huge mistake in choosing this area and am trying to fix it.
Well he was raised in AZ, and has never wanted to move back east. At any rate, his family is around Seattle. Why, what were you thinking?
Just wondered. I’ve lived all over the country with horses. New England, Georgia, the Midwest, southwest and northwest and was thinking about places back east.
Have you ever looked in the Skagit Valley or in Anacortes? Horse properties come onto the market and it’s really lovely there. We lived there for about a year and it’s a place with a lot of money, incredible sailing with great marinas and it’s the gateway to the San Juan’s. Excellent restaurants and there is Seattle not horribly far away and Everett. The Skagit Valley has to be one of the best places on the planet for gardening too.
But if you do come to northern Idaho, do yourself a favor and drive the back way to Coeur D’Alene from Spokane by way of the Palouse Highway. Some of the most beautiful farmland and prettiest little horse properties you can imagine. Rolling and green with the mountains behind. It’s a fairly new discovery for me and it’s a gorgeous way to get to CDA.
My husband is an engineer as well. I know they can be picky. He’s a former sailor too though we have a power boat now.
That’s a good point about out of town properties being poor and run down. Yes, run down properties in Phoenix with only cactus to hide them were ugly. At least the 80 ft fir trees hide the bad stuff up here.
He misses Scottsdale and the neighborhood engineers he used to go walking with. I’ve been trying to find something with a nice area so he would be around professionals, not meth and weed heads. Also, an area with decent restaurants, he dosen’t like the farm cooking type restaurants they have around here. I think if he could have those two things, he’d be a lot happier than he is now. I mentioned the larger city because he dosen’t really like the mall in Olympia, that’s the best shopping they have. Also, he was and is active in a local Phoenix sailing club, he is still on the board for new members and does a teleconference meeting with them once a month. Horses and gardening fill my spare time. Anyway, that’s pretty much it. I made a huge mistake in choosing this area and am trying to fix it.
Well he was raised in AZ, and has never wanted to move back east. At any rate, his family is around Seattle. Why, what were you thinking?
There is a fair amount of technology and manufacturing and a reasonable engineering community for the size of the area. I'm a mechanical design engineer and there are fair number of MEs, EEs and CEs in the area, as well as every other profession of course. CDA is becoming something of a tech hub and pushing hard to be moreso. Unfortunately the engineering payscale hasn't kept up with the increasing housing costs in this area.
Scottsdale is more than just a suburb of Phoenix, it is one of the most affluent ones in the nation. There is a lot of cash in that town...and very little from what I've seen in the line of blue-collar jobs and housing affordable to those working in such positions. There are some very affluent neighborhoods around CDA (including hobby farms). They have very nice houses and landscapes, without the rougher areas you want to avoid. But like Scottsdale, 1/2 mil isn't getting you in those neighborhoods. Prices have skyrocketed on rural property within 1/2 hour of CDA. It's tough to get a newer, midsize (1600-1800 SF) home on 5 acres or more for much less than $500k in those areas-and even then you are not in a "upscale" area that will drive out blue-collar wage earners. And that's without a barn, fencing and sub-irrigation for horses. Not to say you can't find all those things in the price range you specified, but it won't be easy.
Further north, closer to Sandpoint or Priest River is significantly more affordable. I've been looking to move closer to CDA to reduce commute time and get down from this mountain and so much snow (riding season is way shorter than in CDA!). But my place up here on 20 acres, a lake and with great views won't cover the cost of a move to a smaller rural property in the CDA area.
After my spouses parents passed and we settled the estate, I thought it was time for a new start, couldn’t take anymore Phoenix summers and my allergies were miserable. Turns out dust is the main thing I’m allergic to. Have you ever seen those giant dust storms during the monsoon season? Anyway, his siblings live here and I thought Washington would be a good starting place. I don’t care about fancy stores that much, but hubs really misses Scottsdale. We’re living out here with a third of our neighbors in the Bumpus family range and I thought moving close to a city would take out bad neighbors and give him more to do. I’m trying to find someplace with nice homes, not too far from civilization. We don’t care much for Olympia and Seattle is going to be too expensive. A friend mentioned CDA so that seemed like a good starting place. You say that CDA is a poor rural area, but I’ve read that a lot of wealthy people move there.
Wealthy people “summer” here. Some upper middle classes are moving here. I think you are trying to make cda work for you, but really it is not what you say you are looking for, imho.
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