Idaho vs California (Boise, Lewiston, Moscow: transplants, crime rate, co-op)

[ray3221]

I was amused to read all these comments on this subject all written by Californians. Now let a native Idahoan speak and since my family has been here since the 1800s and my father is Northern Piaute I think I qualify.Are we upset about all the Californians moving here? Hell yes! Do I believe all
Californians are bad? No but there is an exploitive attitude that is common with Californians.So many sell their homes in California and buy homes here they could never dream of owning in California. They bring their rude, liberal attitudes and try to shove it down our throats.They bring that stupid selfish idea called home owners associations, sit back in their gated communities and speak out on Idaho issues they haven't earned the right to speak on. So many Californians think of Idaho as their own personal playgound an extension of California with blatant disregard for the people who have been here along time before them. This used to be such a
beautiful state now you can't drive to Boise without it being an exercise
in road rage.Our cities are congested,our crime rate has tripled and our forests crowded and polluted. In fact many natives like me prefer (legal)
immigrants who tend to be more respectful of our culture and adapt.Californians are destroying this state.Now I
know change is inevitable so if you must move here please try to assimilate and stop trying to "Californicate" Idaho

[6thgen]

Well said! I'm a 6th generation, my family has been here since the 1800s and I am 1/4 blackfoot indian
We are pissed off about Californians coming here. They jack up the prices of houses, our streets are crowded, you can't even find a good camping spot anymore...
A lot of what has drawn so many people here is being trashed. What happened to the 'charm' that Coeur d' Alene used to have? What happened to the small town atmosphere, running in to people at the store and establishing relationships with the people who scan and bag your groceries? Not to mention they are building houses on every square INCH of this area, and it's SAD.
We don't hate anyone for moving here, but goodness, things have certainly gone downhill from this native's perspective since the influx of 'foreigners' this this area. It just seems like anyone who moves here has no respect for this area, or the history, or what it's supposed to be about here.
The wife and I are actually considering moving TO California because heck, all of them are moving out here! Oh, but I'd probably not be looked upon too keenly with my rifle hanging in the back window of my 1985 Ford Crew Cab. Well, I couldn't even DRIVE it there because of emissions, something I'm sure they'll implement here in the near future, putting several of the working middle class families in a bind because we can't afford to drive a car that would pass emissions.

[Sage of Sagle]

I'm going to let this thread run...but be advised up front, when it degrades into a flame war or personal insults (and it will, trust me) it will be not just locked, but deleted....

[sav858]

can you please name one state in this country where the natives haven't grumbled about an influx of transplants? Californians used to grumble about all the people from the East Coast and Midwest moving to their state and changing things, now it's illegals. The Southern states like TX, FL, NC, and GA complain about all the people from the northeast or mid-Atlantic moving to their states. South Floridians complain about the snowbirds and latin immigrants. Every state touching CA complains about us. People in AZ not only complain about Californians but pretty much everyone from the Midwest too.

It's called growth and change and brings good and bad with it. I'm never been to Idaho and just saw this thread and read it out of curiosity but I don't see how anything people in Idaho are experiencing is really any fundamentally different than most every other part if this nation that has experianced at some point or another. Some people are open minded and practical enough to learn to deal with changes the best way they can while others are set in their ways and don't want a thing to change.

[Sage of Sagle]

Here's my contribution....collected from various posts around about North Idaho life....

But it may give some people an idea of how you get along here...

And yes...it's tongue-in-cheek...so if you don't like it...RELAX...

1. That farm boy you just downed does more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym. Don't treat him like a country bumpkin. It's just insulting. And next time you need your roof shoveled to avoid collapsing, I bet he'll smile as he charges you $90/hour. And guess what? You'll gladly pay it.

2. It's called a "dirt road." No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dirt on your Escalade with your 20" chrome rims. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. The thick stuff in Spring -- it's called mud. If you like the color, don't wash your car for a couple weeks -- it'll be permanent. Just remember, if it's up to your axles, you have a problem. You may not want to wear Prada shoes driving around.

4. A lot of us started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it. YOU don't have to hunt to live here, but don't move here and start talking about bans on guns.

5. Tell your kid to pull his pants up. He looks like an idiot. What are you, lost?

6. If your cell phone rings while you're at a restaurant, don't be surprised when you get disapproving looks. There's this cool feature. It's called VIBRATE. Oh, and please don't chatter at the top of your lungs.

7. So, you have a fancy car. We're real impressed. We, on the other hand, will retire early because we discovered this neat little trick called "saving money" by driving our cars until well after they're paid off. Try it some time.

8. Let's get this straight. If I'm in front of you, I get to go slow, and you get to wait. Coming unglued will just mean next time you're stuck in a snowdrift, I keep on driving past you. And rudely passing a tractor is social death in this neighborhood...keep that in mind.

9. We eat dinner together with our families because we WANT to. Most folks go to church on Sundays and we go to high school football games on Friday nights. We still address our seniors with "sir" and "ma'am," and we sometimes still take Sunday drives around town to see friends and neighbors. Feels weird at first...but you'll get used to it.

10. We don't do "hurry up" well. You're in a hurry, why don't you jump on a plane to LA to get your adrenaline fix.

11. Yeah, we eat a lot of potatoes. And yes, there's a difference between our potatoes and what you bought at some steakhouse 1500 miles from here. Ever have "fresh Alaska salmon" in Mexico? Yeah...you get the picture.

12. Yes, they are livestock. That's what they smell like (money). Get it? Livestock -- income -- money? Get over it. Don't like the smell? Interstate 15 goes two ways. Interstate 90 goes the other two. Pick one.

13. So every person in every car around here waves to their neighbors? Yeah, it's called being friendly. Understand the concept?

14. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot...his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.

15. We have lots of trees. They have sap. It drips from them. You park your Navigator under them, and they'll leave a logo on your hood. In the windstorms they even fall on cars...park appropriately.

16. You burn an American flag in our state, you get beat up. No questions. The liberal contingent of our state legislature -- all four of them -- enacted a measure to stop this. There is now a $2.50 fine for beating up the flag burner.

17 You may be Houdini on a skateboard. But pull in front of my pickup towing my horses and they'll be writing a sad letter home to your mama. Learn to skate on the sidewalk, junior. Oh wait, there's no sidewalks. Stay out of the street and you may live.

18. OK. This one should be simple. It's called a "co-op". That means we all buy in bulk and save money, and the co-op store helps support that mission. Unhappy with grandpa who's trying to help you over in the feed aisle because he's not faster helping you lift a 150lb sack of feed into your Lexus SUV? Probably the wrong store for you. Fact is, probably the wrong state for you.

19. Yes, we shoot guns on Sundays, after we're done at church. Don't like guns? Think only the cops should get to own guns? Sure, you can vote your mind, just over that little line into what we call "Washington State" in that crime infested hole called "Spokane".

20. You start hollering at your kid from the sidelines in a sporting match, you better watch your mouth. See, we teach our kids to play tough but to play fair. You start getting all "WWF" on the sidelines is just going to result in your getting beat down by my grandpa, who can still kick your ass.

21. Yes, we have Mexican food at the grocery store. It's in the international section, which is less than half the length of the beef jerky section.

22. Agape at the motorcycles running around with helmetless riders? Wake up and smell Darwinism at work. Stupid people remove themselves from the gene pool, why should we get in their way?

23. You want to complain about the bugs in your state? We're not impressed. We have moths the size of bats (seriously), spiders that weave webs in treetops to catch birds (seriously), and carpenter ants so tough it takes a hardcover book to squash them. No, we don't have cockroach problems though...Florida gets those, and they can keep them.

24. OK, for those of you with your fingers primed to dial 9-1-1 every time you see a fire, you're going to be one busy (and unpopular) person here. Burn piles are going all the time during the wet season, and nobody is burning down the forest. Just learn how we do it, and get a permit in the dry season.

25. Like having your power on 24/7? Buy a generator. $5000 buys a decent 10Kw backup. Better yet, buy some candles and camp stoves, and keep wood ready for your wood stove.

26. Want plowed roads in the winter in a rural area? Better buy a plow 'cause you'll be paying for one 5 times over if you have to keep calling a service. And if you plow, look out for your elderly neighbors...it's what we do here.

27. Want to have "the government" pave your roads? You just made "most unpopular" in the area, since you are trying to raise MY taxes because your lowered Lexus doesn't like dirt roads.

28. Looking for somewhere "open minded" (aka liberal) to live? Try Washington...I hear it's full of them. We have some liberals here...they get to feel intellectually superior, and we try to humor them while we mock them later. They're a very noisy 10%. In fact, you have two main factions in Idaho. Red State in the south, and Libertarians in the north.

And last....No, we don't care how much better you did things in California or New York City. If it was so great there, why not stay there? If it's better here, then shut up already.

[ray3221]

To 6thgen-Right on.We have alot in common.I lived half my life in north Idaho (from Sandpoint to Moscow,Lewiston, Kendrick and Julietta and went U of I ).Half my
family is from southern Idaho and half my family from north Idaho.I really miss the old Idaho. To Sage of Sagle-Loved your humourous input I'm very much a Idaho country
boy and identify with what you said very much

[YanquiUXO]

I'm not so worried about Californians coming here as I am the sheer number of people coming here (though it so happens most of them do come from California).

I'm also greatly worried about the economic and political makeup of Idaho, because it more than supports and encourages growth and business, which in turn brings growth, congestion, and environmental exploitation. Businesses will come here while it's cheap, and then move on like it's nothing when they find cheaper.

My biggest agenda is to keep people from building (or buying) in our mountains, forests, and wilderness. Stop with the insane McMansions, the "planned" communities, the Avimor/Cliffs/Kastera b.s. - you're only dragging down the quality of life here.

Bottom line - I don't have a problem with people who move here because they genuinely want to live here. I do have a problem with people moving here because they're speculating and investing from their California equity, they raise prices here, flood the market, and then move on when they find something cheaper somewhere else.

I'm an Idahoan through and through, and it's hard not to be xenophobic when you see the change I have.

[ray3221]

I have nothing personal against Californians per se.Some are close friends.I believe it is a cultural thing endemic to the California mindset.
Got have "tude" to interact with people mentality or " I want it now and I
want it my way" type of thinking

[Arrowwind]

Originally Posted by ray3221

They bring their rude, liberal attitudes and try to shove it down our throats.They bring that stupid selfish idea called home owners associations, sit back in their gated communities and speak out on ... So many Californians think of Idaho as their own personal playgound an extension of California with blatant disregard for the people who have been here along time before them.

Hmmmm....this does not sound like a liberal attitude to me. It sounds repressive and conservative. True liberals live and let live. They don't live in fear and they believe and uphold the constitution. They are neighborly and respectful. Only conservatives live in gated communities. Only conservatives try to tell others what to do. Only conservatives have lawyers for best friends.

I think you have it mixed up.
DAM. All the conservatives in business and government have us tied up in so much dam red tap you can't even wipe your but without a permit! Hasn't it been conservatives running the show for a while?

Liberal people want freedom to carry guns. They want the freedom to do what they have always done. Conservative people will try to control you and take them away.

In Idaho things are much freer, so far anyway. Liberal in thought, liberal in letting your neighbor do as they want in their own back yard.

Someone once told me that in Idaho people may not understand your want for a particular freedom but they will die definding your right to have it. That sounds liberal to me, libertarian, someone who advocates civil liberty.

[Tioga]

..."Sage of Sagle"...I really liked your 28 "tips for newbies". Found this thread while checkin' out some other state forums. I live in rural upstate NY(yes there is a rural NY....Catskills, Finger Lakes, Adirondacks, etc...). With a few changes , many of your tips could apply to some of our recent influx of homesteaders...from Pa., NYC, NJ., etc..
One humerous example of newbie(lack of) common sense. A guy w/NJ plates drives out to talk to me in the middle of a 60 acre hay field...and locks his doors when getting out.