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Answers to most of the OP's questions can be found in past threads guided by the relevant key word. People appear not that interested in covering that ground again here. At least so far. Giving in, here are a few quick answers: There is a graduated state income tax. Some might consider it high, some moderate. Depends what you are used to. Moderate sales tax. Lower than average property taxes but it will vary depending where you live. No tax on Social Security but my understanding is that most or all other retirement incomes are taxed. Boise gets about 205 mostly sunny days per year, right at national average. North Idaho is probably 20-30 less. Some spots in southeast Idaho might be 10-20 higher.
Star and Middleton would be good areas to check for listings IF you will tolerate driving moderately for almost everything. Should be better prices / more acreage parcels than Eagle but you could look just outside Eagle too for less driving. Meridan seems too suburban for your interests.
Weiser is a modest sized commercial hub for a conservative farming area. It might get a bit more snow than Boise some years. Ontario, Nampa, Boise, etc. all reachable if your interests / needs warrant.
Riggins is a tiny village (500-700 people) in a deep valley. The economy is river sports and feeding & gassing up visitors. It gets less snow than typical in north Idaho but can get very hot in summer. It is a pretty extreme landscape.
McCall is a nice resort town of 5,000 that gets tons and tons of snow that sticks around for a long winter.
Rexburg has an attractive location near enough to many mountain ranges and Idaho Falls. It gets moderate to heavy snow. It is fast growing. 75% of the town will be young Mormon students at BYU-Idaho or recent graduates and their families. Most of the rest will be Mormon potato farmers & small town merchants and some ex-Mormons. And some non-Mormons.
I don't think Riggins makes sense for either of you. Same probably with McCall, a 100 miles from Boise. Weiser, maybe. I doubt Rexburg fits but if you just do your own thing, maybe.
Pocatello has low cost housing / acreage, services & amenities enough for many, beautiful city trees, great outdoor options. One attractive area: Buckskin Road east of town (and the university). Crime gets splashed on the front of the local newspaper. Not sure if average or worse. Probably ok for middle class / older people not into drug scene or rubbing right up against in poorer in town neighborhoods but worth checking further. Predominantly LDS (60-70%?) but not as extreme as Rexburg.
Nampa? There are a number of old threads if you want to learn about it.
Weiser is a modest sized commercial hub for a conservative farming area. It might get a bit more snow than Boise some years. Ontario, Nampa, Boise, etc. all reachable if your interests / needs warrant.
Riggins is a tiny village (500-700 people) in a deep valley. The economy is river sports and feeding & gassing up visitors. It gets less snow than typical in north Idaho but can get very hot in summer. It is a pretty extreme landscape.
McCall is a nice resort town of 5,000 that gets tons and tons of snow that sticks around for a long winter.
Rexburg has an attractive location near enough to many mountain ranges and Idaho Falls. It gets moderate to heavy snow. It is fast growing. 75% of the town will be young Mormon students at BYU-Idaho or recent graduates and their families. Most of the rest will be Mormon potato farmers & small town merchants and some ex-Mormons. And some non-Mormons.
I don't think Riggins makes sense for either of you. Same probably with McCall, a 100 miles from Boise. Weiser, maybe. I doubt Rexburg fits but if you just do your own thing, maybe.
Pocatello has low cost housing / acreage, services & amenities enough for many, beautiful city trees, great outdoor options. One attractive area: Buckskin Road east of town (and the university). Crime gets splashed on the front of the local newspaper. Not sure if average or worse. Probably ok for middle class / older people not into drug scene or rubbing right up against in poorer in town neighborhoods but worth checking further. Predominantly LDS (60-70%?) but not as extreme as Rexburg.
Nampa? There are a number of old threads if you want to learn about it.
Riggins, Rexburg and Rigby are far away from Boise so that you won't get the traffic or development of those areas close to Boise that are growing fast with a new incoming population.
Weiser sounds good. So does Sandpoint, and Sagel further up north.
Last edited by volosong; 01-05-2019 at 01:16 AM..
Reason: missing letter in NID town name
Lewiston is one of the worst places in Idaho.
It's ugly, it stinks, you're driving up and down
hills all day, and the housing is way overpriced.
I can think of literally zero good things about it.
Riggins, Rexburg and Rigby are far away from Boise so that you won't get the traffic or development of those areas close to Boise that are growing fast with a new incoming population.
Weiser sounds good. So does Sandpoint, and Sagel further up north.
tHE small town of Grangeville would be better with less population. How about that town of Salmon?
Hayden, or Bonners Ferry?
Grangevile has a nice location... if you like the outdoors or just being away from cities. Moderately heavy winter. Pretty long drive to a few big box stores in Lewiston or even longer to bigger cities beyond with more. Grangeville only has a small number of national name stores. Ace Hardware, Chevrolet, UPS, UHaul, Subway and maybe a handful or two of others.
All the others you mentioned are smaller than Grangeville in themselves. But Hayden is close to CDA and Bonners Ferry is reasonably close to Sandpoint and within reach of CDA is you want it enough to do the drive. Salmon is about 150 miles from Idaho Falls or Missoula. 100 to Hamilton MT.
You'll need to eventually decide how far you are willing to drive to your favorite, very big box stores or any box stores. And how few people you really can work with in your hometown.
By the 10th, 50th, 200th or 500th trip to the bigger city, you might decide you don't want to that remote considering those trips. Or maybe you tolerate the tradeoff or take to doing most stuff online.
...But Hayden is close to CDA and Bonners Ferry is reasonably close to Sandpoint and within reach of CDA is you want it enough to do the drive...
Hayden and CdA are for all intents and purposes the same city. They are only separated by a street; not even a boulevard. On the eastern side, they are separated by the small semi-rural enclave of Dalton Gardens. At least there is some open space between Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry. What is it, about 40 minutes to get from one to the other?
Grangevile has a nice location... if you like the outdoors or just being away from cities. Moderately heavy winter. Pretty long drive to a few big box stores in Lewiston or even longer to bigger cities beyond with more. Grangeville only has a small number of national name stores. Ace Hardware, Chevrolet, UPS, UHaul, Subway and maybe a handful or two of others.
All the others you mentioned are smaller than Grangeville in themselves. But Hayden is close to CDA and Bonners Ferry is reasonably close to Sandpoint and within reach of CDA is you want it enough to do the drive. Salmon is about 150 miles from Idaho Falls or Missoula. 100 to Hamilton MT.
You'll need to eventually decide how far you are willing to drive to your favorite, very big box stores or any box stores. And how few people you really can work with in your hometown.
By the 10th, 50th, 200th or 500th trip to the bigger city, you might decide you don't want to that remote considering those trips. Or maybe you tolerate the tradeoff or take to doing most stuff online.
We will have to see because as a whole the homes in Idaho appeal to me more than those in Wyoming and maybe even Montana so far.
Because of the newer construction of homes in Idaho (2005+) but don't get me wrong. I don't want to get stuck in a subdivision with no privacy or deal with teenagers racing their cars up and down the streets because those streets are shared by other households in that type of subdivision.
Perhaps a rural subdivision would be the right fit for me but we do want to be away from all the traffic, congestion and waiting 10 minutes or more in long waiting lines at stores. It would be great if one could pull into a Wal-Mart without having to take time to find a parking space like we do here.
32 miles from Bonners Ferry to Sandpoint. Yeah probably 40-45 minutes for most, depending on driver, traffic, weather.
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