How would Idaho Falls Be For Non-Mormon, Single 30 Something Male (Boise: chapel, how much)

[RotseCherut]

Hi, I lived in Boise a couple years ago and it seem to be mostly a large suburb with mostly older residents and families and also had a large Mormon population. I am assuming Idaho Falls has even larger Mormon population and even less 20-30 type of people, especially those who are unmarried.

I have a home software business and was thinking of potentially doing a year in Idaho Falls or somewhere else with a low cost of living to save money. I, originally moved to Seattle, because I was attracted to the beauty of the area and also thought I may need to get IT work. I may eventually have to find IT work in Seattle, but for now, the home business is going on. The cost of living in Seattle with my meager salary from the home business is not adequate in a place where most households take in combined incomes of over 100k. I'm paying almost $1000/mo for a small 900sq ft duplex.

I am just wondering how a single Jewish guy in his mid 30s would do in a place like Idaho Falls. I'm not a Mormon and wonder if I will more or less be treated as a heathen or like an outsider by most people. I also notice in places like Boise, that most people either marry very young or move to larger cities like Seattle or California to pursue careers. I'm amazed at all the single young people in Seattle, but in Boise, I was amazed at the opposite. Would you say Idaho Falls would be a very hard place for a non-married, non-Mormon 30 something guy to integrate? I would assume dating scene, etc is non-existent there, as even in Boise, it was limited.

I guess a move to Idaho Falls would be financially motivated. THere are some things I love about Idaho. The rugged and open wilderness, plentiful areas for shooting/hunting and people seem friendlier over all then Washington, where smiles are replaced by sour-faces, which are more the norm here.

[tmp4]

I, too, am a single, non-Mormon, thirty-something who recently moved to I.F. It's perfectly fine here. Everybody has been warm and welcoming. And, believe it or not, folks won't go up to you and ask about your religion. You can keep that as anonymous as you'd like.

The biggest thing is you really have to go out of your way in order to meet people. Especially if you have a homebased job, be prepared to get out and about. There's no single's scene here. Seemingly every female in I.F. was either married before age 20 and still lives here, or the good ones all moved out.

Unfortunately, if you struggled in thriving Boise, you'll really struggle here!

[RotseCherut]

Thanks for the input tmp.. So, it sounds like you are probably going to be staying celibate there. I, too, would probably have to stay celibate. I am planning on saving money so I can travel the world while living there. I would probably have to wait to do a soul-mate search/dating when I leave the country, which is my plan.

Yeah, Boise, surprisingly is very limited for dating. Most people marry very young, as they meet in their churches and many know each other from high school. I am sure I.F. is even more like this than Boise. I was amazed at how many girls I saw with 2 or 3 kids following them around, who looked like they could be my own daughter.

I actually attended a single meetup group in Boise once, where every person was over 40. I felt like such a young person in my 30s.

As far as meeting people, I am very outgoing, but I do find sometimes these places lack activities that don't involve couples. It seems the more religious an area is, the more they expect you and look down on you when you are not married or have kids.

Having a home based job has always been a struggle for me with socializing.

[UGAClem]

There are a lot of non-mormons in Idaho Falls and a good bit to do around town and outside of town. Don't let anyone fool you.. You will not be accepted into the LDS culture being Jewish. Trust me.. I'm Baptist and my family was shunned from the start.. As well as all of my co-workers who moved here from the east coast. Sorry to break that news to you but it's the truth. Sad actually.. Since I was always raised to judge one based on content of character not color of skin or religion. Oh well.. Not everyone got that memo i suppose.. But hey, one of my best friends growing up was Jewish.. So if I run into you don't think I wouldn't stop and chat it up and introduce you to all of our group..

I am not up on the dating scene since I brought a wife with me here from Georgia. She would probably frown on me looking into that so your own your own there dude..

Shoot me a message sometime if you got any questions.. I'll be more than happy to answer them. Good or bad.. But my answers are 100% honest.. So be ready!! ha.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by UGAClem

There are a lot of non-mormons in Idaho Falls and a good bit to do around town and outside of town. Don't let anyone fool you.. You will not be accepted into the LDS culture being Jewish. Trust me.. I'm Baptist and my family was shunned from the start.. As well as all of my co-workers who moved here from the east coast. Sorry to break that news to you but it's the truth. Sad actually.. Since I was always raised to judge one based on content of character not color of skin or religion. Oh well.. Not everyone got that memo i suppose.. But hey, one of my best friends growing up was Jewish.. So if I run into you don't think I wouldn't stop and chat it up and introduce you to all of our group..

I am not up on the dating scene since I brought a wife with me here from Georgia. She would probably frown on me looking into that so your own your own there dude..

Shoot me a message sometime if you got any questions.. I'll be more than happy to answer them. Good or bad.. But my answers are 100% honest.. So be ready!! ha.

Which of the four or five Baptist churches, UGAClem, do you most closely align with? I never realized how many slight differences the various Baptist congregations could have. Is that a western thing, Clem, or do as many differences occur in the NE, Midwest, SW and potentially even in the South?

I'd be interested to know how some of the differences came about. I told a local relative, who lived in LA and MS, for a few years how many different Baptist Churches were in Idaho Falls. Being older than me, that relative told me it couldn't be. There was only one Baptist Church. I said, "Um no. Calvary/Watersprings is very different than(is it called Falls Baptist? I'm not sure and I mean no disrespect, I'm just not sure of the name.). It's the smaller church, but still quite new, on S. Holmes I think. Do you know which one I mean? I think this is the one associated with the OR-ID association of Baptist churches. I can't remember the correct name of that association. And I'm totally confused how Idaho and Oregon would be connected without WA, or part of Calif., NV or more. Maybe it's a population total that links ID and Ore.

I think if I were Baptist, I could be confused or something about the Watersprings or Calvary system in Idaho. I've researched the various Baptist Churches since you and I talked about it some a year ago. I had no idea how much Calvary owned in Idaho Falls and in Idaho. The larger cities all seem to have radio stations too. I know Pastor Davis is on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. It's not live, rather a tape from a different service. Do you know if the Calvary Chapel churches throughout Idaho all broadcast on tv in their local markets?

I know there are some *interesting stories* about some in this church. But, I stay away from the gossip posts. I have no way to know the truth. I don't want to say something that isn't the truth and basically, I figure it's nothing I need to worry about. I know many that attend this church. If they get their needs met, that works for me.

But others I know attend a "non-Calvary church." I don't know which of the others. I could easily be wrong, but I thought the Gethsemane Baptist in Skyline was affiliated with the same "church" as another in town, like the Falls Baptist on S. Holmes, if that's the correct name.

Then there is one more and I can't think of the name or location. I want to say N side of town, but am drawing a blank.

I'd be interested to understand the differences between the various local Baptist Churches, if you want to explain.

It's kind of you to offer your views and help to the poster above. That poster seems to have changed a lot in two years, since his last post here. Let's just say for some reason this summer he ripped everything about eastern ID apart. You may feel that is great, given some experiences you've reported about your family. The only problem is, he tore all the residents, all the churches, the lack of anyone who has an I.Q. and even stated all in this region wouldn't even know large Seattle companies etc. etc. A bad rant, which wasn't based on fact or experience. Just the whipping area for that day.

BanjoMike wrote a response basically asking that person to tone it down. No success. So I wrote a post and said I agreed, he was not a good fit for eastern ID. I did mention about the Renton and Bellevue Microsoft employees who were transferred here as well as the private project Bill Gates is working on with INL. Right, like we don't know Seattle companies here.

About 10 days later, this person posted he was moving six miles outside of Pocatello and needed info. I'd been reading his posts during this time in WA and other forums. No where else did this Portland born, Seattle area resident state he was moving to Pocatello. Actually, quite the opposite. He posted in probably three or four forums he was moving to cities those forms covered. So I posted again and reminded him of his very ugly post about all of eastern ID and all the "dumb residents," etc. I said some of us saw and remembered. No way would he be moving here after he openly posted how much he felt. I asked him to please stop posting here unless he had moved.

I admire you for offering to help. Clearly, you and I must know different Jewish people here. Those I know feel accepted, but you may work with others or have others as your neighbors, who must not feel welcome. About how many Jewish folks do you know in eastern ID? I'm trying to figure out if those I know, who could live anywhere in the US or abroad, given their work, are the odd unusual ones, or if you met Jewish residents who didn't feel accepted? I wonder if my Jewish friends and contacts know yours? Maybe it's an age thing, or how they were treated where they lived previously ( as I know one family who came from the South and said ID is easy compared to the state they use to live in the South).

I hope your daughter is doing well back in GA. It was so odd for me to see your post tonight, as I saw some of the Taco or other trailers today and I was thinking about our discussion last year about the food trucks. I was trying to remember which one you liked

Finally, my relatives in LA that I mentioned last year (being swarmed by all the Baptists to have them name a "Home Church") are done with this phase of training. I think the most immature one had to grow as a person being around so many Baptists. At least there was more depth than there use to be. I think this has been a good experience for them, although they struggled at first. They wanted to come back probably as much as your daughter wanted to go to GA. However, I knew this would be a difficult market to find a job, because there are so many with similar training. So they are going to be in San Antonio for a while, as they found a job in the Air Force, I believe. The military was never their goal, so that is part of how come I think all the Baptists in LA were ultimately good for them. We do sometimes get transferred to areas that may be harder for some of us to live than others. That could be Idaho or it could be the South.

Depending on how one views these things, the dice rolled wrong for some, or you and your family, my relatives and so many others are where they are suppose to be, although many may not understand how come.

It's nice to have you return and I look forward to future posts from you

MSR