Think hard before you "escape." (Boise, Sandpoint: travel, income)

[middleoftheroad]

Originally Posted by JohnnyQuest

Thanks for the info Brian.
Actually I lived in Phoenix for 4 years. Did much exploring while I was there. Cottonwood is a nice place but I can't make a living there. Relocating is one thing. But since I am working class it's not easy to find a livable income without moving to a large city. Yet I enjoy smaller towns. Catch22.

I guess the admin doesn't like my out-take on Californians. But since I was born and raised here 49 years you get to know the people and the politics thoroughly.

I have two close friends who made the move to New Zeland. It's no different than trying to relocate to any other country.

If you have NO blood relative to a Subject of the Queen, or a company branch, you, under NO circumstances, will be allowed citizenship, or permanent status in New Zealand, Austrailia, Scotland, Ireland, etc! Period! I've researched it!

[middleoftheroad]

what is it, STEVE? A secret? Are U a typical L.A. type...think they have the inside line on something 'just for them!' C'mon.....break that mold. SHARE. What city?

[grimalkin]

Originally Posted by StampinTami

I hate having to admit that I am from Ca also! I don't have any close friends and ones that I have had, did just that. I am hoping to meet some nice people when we finally get to move! So far when we have been there, the people have been very very friendly! We started out talking to people and when they would ask where we were from, they were surprised when we would say Ca. A lot said we would fit right in...I'm hoping so! Not every one from Ca is like what we are thought to be like (haha, if that makes any sense...its late!). I think that people from the valley area and No Cal are completely diff from the people from So Cal and the Bay Area. Not every one is the same and what people see on TV is not what we are all like. Hopefully they won't judge us before meeting us. Have a great trip out there!

This is a great thread, but I can't help but say that part of the problem about facing change is the way people generalize about other people. Northern Californians dislike southern Californians. Idahoans (and Washingtonians) dislike Californians moving into their states. Remember, the same thing happened to California, it just happened sooner, because of the great weather. My husband and I were both born and raised in San Diego, lived in Orange Co. for 20 years, and now we're back in SD. Our beautiful city has become so crowded we can't stand it anymore. There are twice as many souls living in San Diego County as in the whole state of Idaho. My husband and I treasure privacy and peace, not shopping or high speed internet. We realize we will have to deal with snow and other inconveniences. These are realities that we would choose over noise, pollution, litter and crime. Should we decide to move to northern ID, it will not be to make a financial killing but to purchase some space and serenity.

[lesliekirk]

Yes, my husband and I are thinking about idea of moving to Idaho. We don't want to change a thing about it - that's why we are interested. I lived in Idaho for a couple of years while my ex-husband was stationed at Mountain Home. Before you through stones at me when you read that I live in Alabama, hold on, I'm not "from" there. My father is retired military and so is my ex so I'm not really "from" anywhere. My current husband was born and raised in eastern Tennessee, so the minute you talk to him you'll know he's not a native. I hope that won't be held against him.

Yes, we have a lot of factors to consider before we pack the UHaul and head west. Jobs being at the top of the list. I don't think I want to live in Boise (LOL - I enlisted in the AF there). I'm a web developer. My husband has started down a new career path after 15 years in commercial & residential construction as a shipping & receiving clerk. I've just started scratching the surface of the move research and have seen comments about low wages. I bush most of them off because I have to assume the cost of living offsets some of that.

Two of my unasked questions have been answered by WarningVoice - DSL & cellphone coverage, two things I need for the type of work I do.

I'm hoping to find quality information to make an educated decision.

Many thanks,
Leslie

[newcreation00]

Tami - we sound a lot alike. I was born in No Cal, Placerville, and I do not feel like a Californian! We are single income, conservative, Christian family who just wants to raise our children in peace and quiet and safety. My little town is bulging at the seams. When my daughter was a toddler, I was in a mom's group, and I was the only one who wasn't from the Bay Area or Southern Ca. I do feel like they are trying to change Placerville, and now we have 4 Starbucks in a 5 mile radius. Three years ago we had none. It's easy to understand how native Idahoans feel about us because that's how I feel about the So. Cal people who move here sometimes. But I think you and I would fit right in in Idaho, probably better than we do here! We aren't moving now, but maybe in the near future, and Idaho Falls sounds great to me. I've been researching it. I wish you and your family the best, thanks for sharing.

[Sage of Sagle]

newcreation00,

YOU are EXACTLY the kind of person who would be welcome in Idaho. I must say that I read on forums about people from California being "outsiders" and "shunned". What I found for OUR family of 6 moving to Idaho was a warm welcome, caring neighbors, and up here half the people ARE ex-Californians. Our realtor was from San Dimas (SoCal). Our mortgage broker was from LA. 2 of our closest neighbors were from SoCal and NorCal. And they almost all left for the same reasons.

The only things I noticed negative are that there is an assumption that if you come from California, that you have some fat bank account from selling overvalued CA real estate. So you have to watch a bit when getting quotes from service people if they know you're a California transplant. But you know, we experienced that even in SoCal. I had a very nice Porsche, and people who would come bid home improvement work took one look at my car and started acting like I was rolling in dough, when in fact I was simply busting my rear in overtime to have a neat car for a while.

If you come to Idaho, and start complaining that you want paved roads and sidewalks, and you expect people to jump to tune of the California pace of life, you will find some serious resistance. Where we are, tractors and skip loaders have absolute right of way on the road, and if you come unglued sitting behind them and make an unsafe pass, they're going to remember your car as "those rude people".

And quite frankly, if you are a stay at home Mom conservative Christian, you're more or less the demographic of who seems to be popular here. I don't know about IF (since it's LDS-heavy compared to the Panhandle), but I do not feel that you should have any worry about being accepted. People are people, everywhere you go....

[kukla1]

Sage of Sagle,
You are the one I hve been trying to track down all afternoon. You're the retired officer, right?
My family is just looking to find a little better life. My concern, as I wrote on some thread somewhere before - and don't laugh or roll your eyes - is dealing with snow. My parents, who are in their 80's, would be relocating with us. We have all lived in bakersfield CA all our lives. It's not just the "inconvenience" of snow...it's my parents adjusting to it that concerns me.
All we want is a smaller town- Bakersfield is almost at 1/2 a million, (we were thinking of Coure d'Alene [hope I spelled it right]), cleaner air, relatively less crime, friendly people who will wave at you on a country road, and a community where Christian-bashing isn't a national passtime.
I am especially interested in schools as we have a 7 year old, and my husband and are both English teachers.
We are coming to spend a few days in Cd'A at the beginning of Easter Vacation (or "Spring Break" if we need to be politically correct. Hope we see what we are looking for. Doesn't everyone want to live in Andy Griffith's Mayberry?

[Sage of Sagle]

Yes, I'm the retired LA gang deputy. (Thank God!)

I think some things in this thread are correct...don't forget there are problems everywhere in the world, and North Idaho has its share of knuckleheads, like the rest of the country. But IMHO it's a different mindset from the REST of the community that makes it better.

Let me give you an example....a story I related elsewhere on the forum....

We were at a burger joint in town recently. Bunch of teens in there getting squirelly of course. But the "swear word" getting thrown around was "freakin", and when one kid quietly used the F word, the other teens jumped his case, and the young lady who was apparently managing told him that there were families present and told him he had to leave, and he did, rather sheepishly. Just a different mindset.

You will find that people are more friendly IMHO. But then again, folks where we moved from were friendly....they were just too busy chasing their economic goals to be friendly most of the time, ya know?

North Idaho is no Mayberry RFD....but I feel that we stepped into a much better overall scenario (my wife calls it "REAL America") compared to California. But she's from England by way of Wisconsin, so she had always compared CA to WI, where I grew up in SoCal but spent summers on a family farm in Nebraska learning the "value of a day's work".

[kukla1]

Sage,
Sadly, I know that there is no Mayberry. But a town the size of CDA is perfect for us. We just have to get out of California before my son gets to high school. We have a few years to play with, but the sooner we put down roots the better. And my folks aren't getting any younger.

In Bakersfield, people are pretty much house-bound for the summer because it's so hot. Sometimes the evenings are bearable. I am figuring (hoping) that the house-bound season in Idaho is, like, mid-Novemeber through Feb. Is that about right? I am also figuring (hoping) that 50 inches of snow doesn't come down all at once. It snows a foot or two, then goes away? So tell me about winter in northern Idaho. I don't think the cold will bother us too much, but it's always good to hear a dose of reality from some one who knows. And since you remember SoCal pretty well, your opinion matters. Pray, enlighten me.

[Sage of Sagle]

House-bound? Not by any means! Cross country skiing, snowmobiling, hiking on solid ground or snowshoeing, ice fishing for the patient type, skiing at Schweitzer (about 50 miles from CdA)....you just have to find winter sports you like....

It doesn't fall and then go away. Remember, it stays really cold. So 8 inches will fall, pack down to 4 inches. 8 more inches will fall, that packs down to 10 inches. 6 more inches falls, it backs down to 12, etc. Right now, even though it's up near 50 in the days, we still have snow covering our property to about 8-14" deep in the shade, 4-6" in the sun. But with the spring melt in full swing, this will turn to mud soon. Be ready for MUD in the spring. Mud as in "find a way to get into your car without having to touch your car" type of mud. But it doesn't last. Summers are awesome, fall is beautiful, winter is breathtaking.

So coming from the SoCal mountains where it would snow and then melt off 2 days later, or MAYBE 1-4" would stick around for a week or three, this was a huge change. And the amount of time it would stay cold was a change for us.

CdA is a great place. We just really wanted acreage and to be by the lake AND the ski resort and we liked how Sandpoint had a much smaller town feel than CdA. But when I want to hit Olive Garden or run down to Best Buy.....it's a 30 min hop down 95 to the Hayden area.

For your folks, just be sure you're in some place where the snow won't be a problem for them. If you get a place in a neighborhood development, just be sure to keep de-icing crystals handy after you shovel. If you go outside town, be ready to help steady them when they walk outside.

Getting up there FAST and putting down roots is what it's all about. We found that when people we met saw us bringing a big family and a business, we were accepted quickly, and also because we didn't want to try to "reshape" Idaho into Orange County. The other day, I heard a lady talking about how they needed to get the county to put in sidewalks. Sidewalks? The roads aren't even paved, for pity sake! And you'd be surprised at the people who just come unglued when they have to sit behind a tractor for a mile on a highway....it's a slower pace of life, you gotta embrace it....