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Lake City or Live Oak, Florida. Great VA medical center, nice people, not so far south as to have hot hot summers and still have some though mild winter. Property taxes are reasonable and the people are nice. No state income tax. Sales tax varies between 6 and 7 percent depending on the county. In Live Oak, little kids say yes, sir, and no, ma'am, and hold the door open for you. Live Oak has a fantastic library.
My best friend lives in Hay Springs, Nebraska, not far from Rapid City, SD. Yesterday it snowed blizzard with minus 20 wind chills and today their high was minus 1. Currently (11 PM EST) it's minus 14. I'm a Florida girl, born and bred, and I sure don't consider that a bearable winter.
I do not know enough about the three cities to vote in the poll, so I did not do so. However, one of the OP's criteria caught my eye, "bearable winters". While I acknowledge that the word "bearable" is relative, I have a hard time conceiving that the winters would be bearable anywhere in either Idaho or South Dakota. Perhaps the OP is coming from the standpoint of winters in many areas of Canada or in most of Alaska? OP, please explain!
I picked Rapid City, because if you drive down a bit to Hot Springs you're in a banana belt with less snow than RC or points west. The whole area is beautiful and affordable. But Idaho is gorgeous, too. I don't know about those specific towns. Why not try living in each for a year then make a final decision? That would be kind of fun, wouldn't it?
I prefer Idaho Falls, to SD. SD, has too much wind for me. I like Idaho Falls, proximity to Salt Lake City, not too far from Boise. If you have ever priced a plane ticket from SD, it is crazy expensive.
I don't mind winters but like really really long winters that are brutally cold with tons of snow like somewhere in Vermont or maine I don't I would like. But somewhere that has four seasons even if it has a cold winter I can handle and I'm okay with,...as i like the seasons. I live in the Pacific Northwest in a large city currently that is too crowded and expensive so in my retirement I would like to go somewhere more rural and smaller, with less congestion and traffic and high cost of living. I happen to love mountains and nature and forests... hence one of my reasons for wanting to stick around the west coast. as well these three cities I have on my poll and that I am trying to consider, also have very low crime rates affordable housing not much population.. and have nice nature nearby . I appreciate and respect Florida, but the lack of seasons and hills and or mountains, might bother me in time. as well I really don't prefer to live in a state that is going to be more crowded than California eventually such as Florida. I am basically trying to live in a location with less population, low crime, pretty nature, nice people, and affordable housing for buying.
I've only been to Idaho Falls of the three as my department has a large federal facility there. It has a reputation for being very cold and windy although I don't know how it compares to Rapid City. But I noticed that the winter lows are in the 10's while Post Falls' lows are in the 20's and it is windier than Post Falls. The federal facility hires many highly educated technical professionals at good salaries and I would consider this a plus. They also hire a lot of ex Navy nukes which I mention because of your background. Idaho Falls used to be a federal "company town" but since the population has grown quite a bit, this may no longer be the case. Most of the people that I've met through my work enjoy living there and they seem very down to earth but reserved (but they are engineers). Don't know if the town is friendly or not.
The last time I was there, I was impressed with the downtown area near the river and I spent the weekend after my meeting at Yellowstone just a few hours away which was nice. Went to Jackson Hole on a couple of other trips. I remember the Idaho Falls area as more flat farmland and that it took a while to get to forests and mountains but I may be mistaken on this as have only been there about five times. And I'm used to living within 30 miles of a national forest. Idaho Falls would be a little isolated for my taste. I'd probably prefer Post Falls as it is warmer and close to Spokane and Coeur d'Alene but I'm a city girl. As far as crime rates and cost of living, you just need to do your research.
I don't know about the other two, but I lived in Idaho Falls in the mid-90s, and it was pretty boring to me (but I was newly married and in my 20s)! It is not mountainous, but trips to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were within a half-day drive (or less, if you go in the summer). You'll certainly get snow but not much "weather" as in active weather, thunderstorms, etc.
You'll also find the Mormon community there due to its proximity to Salt Lake City, and they are quiet.
Yes I guess I will have to visit each place which I plan on doing and spend a little time at each location to get a good feel. They all seem to have a lot of what I like in a setting. I do like rain though and it doesn't seem like Idaho Falls gets much precipitation annually. one thing I can say also is that each of these locations has very affordable homes for sale, for the most part with Idaho Falls having the cheapest median home values. yet I am Not sure until I get into Idaho Falls to have a look, if I'm going to like the terrain very much because from what I hear, it is extremely flat and very arid there. but the housing sure is cheap.
Last edited by folkguitarist555; 02-06-2014 at 02:02 AM..
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