Think hard before you "escape." (Boise, Post Falls: environment, hoa)

[lubner]

My husband and I moved to Coeur d'Alene from the SF Bay Area 10 years ago and have never regretted it. However, housing was a lot cheaper then and we have never made a lot of money up here, but enough to pay the bills and be very happy. I have read a lot of teachers wanting to move to the CDA area, please do your research. I have a friend that just finished the program here through UOI, and jobs are very hard to come by, even with the growth. Jobs do not pay much, so be sure to factor that into the sum total. I can see my husband and I relocating again in the next few years, this place is getting too crowded. Then again, don't know where we can run to that will not become this way. All I can say to those relocating, and I speak from experience, know it will be different, do your research, and most of all "WHEN IN ROME!!" I don't know why people (not all) try to make the place they are moving to like what they left, don't complain about the culture difference, just adapt and you will be fine and love where you are. It bothers me to see tons of SRV's on the road with drivers with cell phones in their ears, just like CA, and all the developement, ripping out of trees, every inch of ground built on. It just makes me so sad, I feel like CDA is turning into CA. Joni Mitchell had it right, paved paradise to put up a parking lot.

[qhgypsy]

Hi,
I am new here and have been looking at Malad as a possible relocation location, anyone on here from that area? As I have read through this thread I see a lot of warnings etc. to people from Ca. moving up to Idaho, maybe warnings is not the right word but you all get what I mean.
I am from Ca. and live in the sticks now! The problem we have here is people moving up from the city and then trying to change it. I am sure that there are other people like me who are country to begin with and the adjustment really will not be that difficult.

[qhgypsy]

Hi There!
It is a small world, I am over in Fiddletown above Plymouth, POP 100?
We have lived in Idaho at various times in various places and are looking at moving there permenatly. Yes Placerville has really grown. So too has the Shenandoah valley over here.
I think that we are about as rural as one can get so I am not put off about how far it is to a store or if we can handle country living. Some of us in Cal. are farther out in the country then those in Idaho. Depends on where you are.
I agree we probably feel the same way about bout S.Ca and the Bay area moving in on us.

Originally Posted by 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.

[Amharach]

Originally Posted by WarningVoice

I've seen it before. Californians sell their high priced homes and move to rural Idaho. What initially draws them are the very things that they attempt to change within months of arrival. That is why they are the source of much hatred and the butt of many jokes.

Yes, you can move here and live off the difference between what you received and the price of your new house. No house payment! Whooppeee! Now what you going to do? Work? Maybe. Maybe just use up every penny in your bank account. Seen it before. House prices are coming down, no work, used up all their savings and leave town with their tail between their legs - going back to California with nothing.

Retire? Great! Nothing like dealing with winters. Escape and snowbird? Sure. The gas prices will eat through your savings all that much faster. Don't forget the expense of winterizing your house so the pipes don't burst while you are gone. Nothing like having two houses or a motorhome losing value as your savings are eaten up.

Living in a small town can be painful. You are an outsider and will remain that way for a long time. Joining groups, glad handing the locals will not change it. You must get your groceries before the town shuts down at 6 PM. Want a special treat? Sorry, you have to drive for an hour to find a Baskin-Robbins.

Like your computer? Some places will never have DSL or Cable. You can go for miles and your cell phone is worthless. If you want to move to a city in Idaho, you may as well just stay in Santa Clara or San Jose. Gridlock has come to the towns that used to have fewer than a dozen stoplights.

Kids into soccer? Better do some hard research because tiny towns don't have extensive sports programs.

Want to raise your kids in a rural, safe place. Well, the meth labs beat you here. Nothing bad ever happens in rural settings? Think again. We just had Duncan murder three people, steal two children and murder one of them.

Want to see beautiful animals? Nothing like having a deer come through your windshield while driving home one night. If you are an animal lover, hunting season will be a thrill a minute for you as those magnificent animals are driven through town, dead in the back of a hunter's pick-up so all his buddies can marvel.

What about all those beautiful migrating birds? They are going to be blamed for bird flu quarantines some day. Maybe you can get a job killing Canadian Geese and the others that fly into town.

Power outages during winter - what you gonna do? Wood stove, fire wood cutting, need a pick-up, chainsaw. Speaking of winter - snowblower, plow... Or a great big pile of money to pay for these services. Have you ever had to pay to have someone shovel the rain off your roof? Snow gets really heavy when it accumulates.

I've seen people from out of town buy up "cheap land" and develop it. Sold $200,000 homes to Californians on the side of the hill with a view. Trouble is none of the people bothered to ask locals if it was a known slide zone. It was, but nobody bothered to share that info with them either. Now there is stopped construction, lawsuits and broken dreams and wallets.

Am I just being negative to keep people from moving to Idaho? No. I am trying to do the exact opposite of what people who want your money are doing.

I was born in the Pacific Northwest, but lived in California for most of my life. When I returned to my roots, there were many hard lessons that needed to be learned. I don't want anyone's dream to be a nightmare because not enough thought went into a major decision and move. I have seen it happen over and over and over because people were so busy looking back at what they thought there were escaping that they didn't look at what there were about to run in to.

Make a list of all the things you enjoy and love in life, then make sure they are waiting for you before you move. Don't ever underestimate how important a family can be when times are tough.

We just sold a piece of property bought in 1993 for $8,000 and sold for $175,000 to somene who thinks they are going to make a big profit off of someone outside our area. We know where we can buy a $10,000 piece of property and live quite happily ever after while someone struggles to make the payments on property that will be worth less in a very short period of time.

Please, look before you leap. Sometimes there is a pitchfork in that pile of hay you think will cushion your landing. I would have to make $51,000 a year now to equal what I made in California in 1977. I am making bunches and bunches less. Please, please think hard and come prepared before you make a life altering decision. Greed is not pretty and it is getting ugly up here. Don't be part of the group paying a heavy price for a failed dream.

I don't want unhappy neighbors struggling to survive. It doesn't always happen to the other guy. Sometimes it happens to you.

You might have been born in the Northwest, but it couldn't have been Idaho.
You lived in California just long enough to sound like one.

[Amharach]

I also have never had to pay anyone to shovel my roof. I've probably never seen more than a foot of snow on the ground (in Post Falls) and it starts melting right away. I've never owned more than a snow shovel and I can't remember my power ever going out in the winter (Avista Utilities). I've also never seen a hunter with a dead deer in the back of his truck. This person is ridiculous, Post Falls is a suburb of Spokane. I had more trouble living through a Florida summer than a Post Falls winter.

[wildberries61]

Originally Posted by Amharach

I also have never had to pay anyone to shovel my roof. I've probably never seen more than a foot of snow on the ground (in Post Falls) and it starts melting right away. I've never owned more than a snow shovel and I can't remember my power ever going out in the winter (Avista Utilities). I've also never seen a hunter with a dead deer in the back of his truck. This person is ridiculous, Post Falls is a suburb of Spokane. I had more trouble living through a Florida summer than a Post Falls winter.

You have never seen a dead deer in the back of a truck??? For the most part they are covered and just the rack sticking out. You must not have any lucky hunters up your way!! I live in the central part and come hunting season it's all about camo and hunters getting there game!!!

[Tiffany76]

The Ganges you speak of. Well, that Trash is moveing with a lot of people. So those who move, to get there kids out of Ganges, move to smaller area and are bring that bull with them. Enought, people trying to get their kids out of that mess and they end up forming them elsewhere. I know all about CALI. I have a really good Friend who grewup around Riverside.

[Tiffany76]

NO PLEASE stay in California. That was my home until it was destroyed.
Problem! Yes. My problem is that you all want to move to a smaller town. And then want to change it. The Praire has homes all over. Coeur d' Alene and Post Fall are almost one.
The rancers were forced to sale Land. WHY? Because you city people, move to a place like that and complain about the Ranchers burning. Get into the City Council and change the rules ,to plump up your pockets. Noone can just come and injoy North Idaho, for what it was. The crime rate has gone way up. We decided what the heck, will just move to Spokane and just get ahead start on living in a city. It's funny, you can't handle smoke from the ranchers burning their fields and makeing a living. But didn't have a problem with all the smog.

[Tiffany76]

Originally Posted by Amharach

I also have never had to pay anyone to shovel my roof. I've probably never seen more than a foot of snow on the ground (in Post Falls) and it starts melting right away. I've never owned more than a snow shovel and I can't remember my power ever going out in the winter (Avista Utilities). I've also never seen a hunter with a dead deer in the back of his truck. This person is ridiculous, Post Falls is a suburb of Spokane. I had more trouble living through a Florida summer than a Post Falls winter.

Never had power go out!! BULL... The Ice Storm that happend here in i believe 1996. Power was out for days, power lines down, trees fell. It was a mess.

When the he!! did you live in Post Falls! My Mom lives there and they have seen more then a foot of snow on the ground.

Your from Idaho? Then you have seen a deer or elk in the back of someones pickup. Especially, if your from North Idaho. That is where P.F. is located.
It's like a major sport here.

Hard to believe you have ever put a foot over here, since you have never seen any of these things. LMFAO

[Sage of Sagle]

Tiffany76...keep it civil. You can disagree with someone without needing to be rude or condescending.