Salmon population? (Arco, Challis, Atomic City: real estate, camping, closing)

[OurNextAdventure]

This question is for folks who live in Lehmi County/Salmon.

Are yall seeing Californians moving into the area like they are everywhere else? They have ruined my small town where I am from. I need to get my kids out of here, and into another small western cowboy town. The town has quickly and in short time become a city, and the city is growing around us and it's full of the color blue.

[NW Crow]

Use this tool with Lemhi County and "inbound" to see where people are coming from. https://flowsmapper.geo.census.gov/map.html?
Some from CA, rest of west coast, rest of Idaho, a few spots in MT, etc., even your area. Modest amounts.

More recent info? Call a Salmon real estate agent or maybe the county clerk.

Lost 100 people in last 9 years. I dunno about 2020.

[jadbad2004]

A lot of those moving here are from California, they have bought up most of the hones that have sold in the past few years but especially this past year making real estate prices jump.

[mtngirlatheart]

Originally Posted by jadbad2004

A lot of those moving here are from California, they have bought up most of the hones that have sold in the past few years but especially this past year making real estate prices jump.

Yes. There seemed to be a major influx of Californians especially over the last year. It's kind of crazy how quickly the real estate prices escalated everywhere in the area.

Also, HI jadbad! Are you back in Salmon?

[volosong]

About four years ago, the owner of a gun shop in the high desert of SoCal closed her shop and moved with her family to Salmon. The typical reasons. She had a small shop, but could get anything, (that CA laws allowed). Great prices too. Her gunsmith was first rate.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Don't forget that the recent civil unrest situations are prompting people in Portland and Seattle to seek quieter pastures. The influx from OR and WA may equal the CA influx. I just saw a YouTube show from early September where people were camping in trailers and RVs in NID, fleeing CA, OR, and WA, waiting to make a bid on any property that becomes available. That may be a temporary crisis response, but it is real, nevertheless. Whether it also applies to Salmon and Eastern Idaho, I don't know.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by volosong

About four years ago, the owner of a gun shop in the high desert of SoCal closed her shop and moved with her family to Salmon. The typical reasons. She had a small shop, but could get anything, (that CA laws allowed). Great prices too. Her gunsmith was first rate.

CA. roster of firearms is shrinking that's allowed to be sold in this republic.

[banjomike]

After all the money went out of logging and mining, Salmon has had a hard time making money there ever since.

It's too hard to reach to attract much new businesses, and just a little too remote to become a population hub that's much larger than the city is now.

This is not unique; Challis is very similar, as are several other small cities in central Idaho. Their only reasons for existence have disappeared or changed, but they are all so old and well-established there is a core population in them all who will never leave.

It's quite similar to the situation I saw in Colorado, where there are dozens of small little towns that stubbornly refuse to die. They have all suffered so many hard times that the suffering has become a part of life in them all and is accommodated.

It's very beautiful in Salmon for sure, at least when it hasn't caught fire. The last big burn was around 20 years ago or a little more, so the forest has recovered pretty well, as pine forests usually do.

Maybe it will be a long time before there's another major fire year there, but in Salmon, there are no small wildfires. The area is so steep and rugged any fire is slow to fight.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by banjomike

After all the money went out of logging and mining, Salmon has had a hard time making money there ever since.

It's too hard to reach to attract much new businesses, and just a little too remote to become a population hub that's much larger than the city is now.

This is not unique; Challis is very similar, as are several other small cities in central Idaho. Their only reasons for existence have disappeared or changed, but they are all so old and well-established there is a core population in them all who will never leave.

It's quite similar to the situation I saw in Colorado, where there are dozens of small little towns that stubbornly refuse to die. They have all suffered so many hard times that the suffering has become a part of life in them all and is accommodated.

It's very beautiful in Salmon for sure, at least when it hasn't caught fire. The last big burn was around 20 years ago or a little more, so the forest has recovered pretty well, as pine forests usually do.

Maybe it will be a long time before there's another major fire year there, but in Salmon, there are no small wildfires. The area is so steep and rugged any fire is slow to fight.

Like Arco, Atomic City = small cities in central Idaho.

[mtngirlatheart]

Originally Posted by volosong

About four years ago, the owner of a gun shop in the high desert of SoCal closed her shop and moved with her family to Salmon. The typical reasons. She had a small shop, but could get anything, (that CA laws allowed). Great prices too. Her gunsmith was first rate.

Do you know what she did in Salmon? Did they open up a small sporting goods shop by chance? Just curious. Everyone in Salmon seems to know everyone and I remember meeting a gal/owner the one time we stopped in to the new (at the time) sporting goods store and we got to talking. This was in 2016. They ended up closing up a shop a year later and moving back to CA. Just wondering if by chance it was the same person. She had daughters that played ice hockey for the local team.