***Please give me lowdown on Idaho Falls...considering the area for retirement (Pocatello: real estate, apartments)

[juneaubound]

Originally Posted by vernise

would Idaho Falls be a safe place for a single black american man? Ask your friends and neighbors first. I am a old veteran looking for a cheaper place to live. Don't need or want trouble with evil people. Niteflier17

Hello "old veteran" and welcome to the Idaho forum. I don't live in IF (live about 50 miles outside of IF) but have visited on a number of occasions. It is a beautiful town that is full of life, energy and opportunities. A little too busy for my taste, but I believe that you would be welcomed. As with any city there are safe and unsafe places to go (although IF is a world away from the concrete jungles back east). Your being black will mean nothing to people in IF. Your being a good, decent, honest, good neighborly man will mean a lot in IF. I hope that you get the chance to visit soon, so that you can see and experience it for yourself.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by vernise

would Idaho Falls be a safe place for a single black american man? Ask your friends and neighbors first. I am a old veteran looking for a cheaper place to live. Don't need or want trouble with evil people. Niteflier17

While we don't have many black folks here, the ones who live here have never had any problems. Juneau got it right. I.F. is a friendly city, especially to those who are regular ol' decent folks.

I have a couple of black friends here, and they've never mentioned anything bad at all. I live close to one of the high schools, and see a few more black kids there than when I was growing up, and the kids all run around with white kids and kids of other races. I'm sure you would be welcomed.

[folkguitarist555]

Does it ever rain in Idaho Falls? I sure do like some heavy rain and thunderstorms from time to time.

[tmp4]

we got almost a 1/2 inch over the past week!!!

[folkguitarist555]

well also considering Boise once again, being it may have more options for all things, including dating, and dining and etc. IF may be too isolating for me, not sure. Housing prices are better in IF though. Boise does have a VA medical center right there in town as well. Trouble is looks like the transplants have jacked up the real estate in Boise in recent years, to where it is a bit above my budget. not much rain I take it. Sound like IF gets some mighty long winters...checked the weather though, looks like it is warm there these days.

[tmp4]

I see you're looking at Indiana, South Dakota, Idaho, Kentucky, Arkansas....

which one seems to be the frontrunner at this time? quite the wide range of destinations

[folkguitarist555]

well I was looking at properties in SW MO, a while ago, around Branson, and into toward Fayetteville AR...gorgeous area, mountains lakes and all....houses with acreage in my price range under 190k...all day long....problem is...tornadoes....heavy in that area of the USA, as a few strong ones just hit AR, MO, and etc...last week. So if it weren't for tornadoes, I would be going there. Indiana is out (tornadoes and flat landscapes). Idaho is in...Boise, and Idaho Falls (Northern Idaho is now too expensive), and Rapid City is still in the running (but finding it expensive for owning a home). Kentucky, same concern, tornadoes, in part. Cultural fit is also a concern, as I really do prefer the more Libertarian west coast culture (MT, ID, WA, SD, NV..etc) Spokane?, too much meth and property crimes, and depressed. Still confused I guess....on where to, in the end.

[banjomike]

Hi, starrider…
you can spend an eternity on the internet and will never learn if you will like, or fit in, to any of those places you mentioned. The only way to truly know if a place suits you is a personal visit that allows enough time to get a sense of the community.

Traveling and spending time isn't cheap, but it's certainly cheaper than moving somewhere without visiting first and finding you really dislike the place.
At the same time, there are some people who don't need much time to develop favorable or unfavorable first impressions that prove to be correct for them.
I just met a fellow who was cruising around with his wife. He's a retiree, but likes to work part-time and has an occupation that makes him very employable.
They stopped for the night in Idaho Falls, decided to look the town over the next day, spent some time walking through the malls and shops talking to folks, and liked everything they saw and encountered. They went house hunting the next day, found a home they liked and was affordable, bought it, and have no plans on moving back to their other home in another state. That house is now occupied by one of their adult children.

The kicker to this story is they did this in late fall, a time when Idaho Falls is not in it's full glory. They had never wintered in a cold climate before, but found the weather was something they tolerated and are now adjusted to. They have yet to spend spring, summer and autumn here, but they are very happy with their move and still like the people here a lot.

He said their kids think they went nuts, as their other place is nicer and the climate there is also less extreme, but for him and his wife, I.F. now feels like home.

This tale is just one of many I've heard, and doesn't apply to only I.F. I have friends in other cities here and in other states who also made similarly sudden decisions and are very contented where they live.

And on the other hand, I've met folks who poked around on the internet for years, made lots of notes, believed they had covered all the bases and made the right decision to move. But once moved, found they hated their 'perfect place' for reasons they never thought of or anticipated. Some are now stuck, as they can't afford to leave, and others were planning on going back to where they came from ASAP.

When it comes to natural events like tornadoes, there is no perfect place. While tornadoes are rare in Idaho, there have been a few here and in other areas in Idaho. One, about 30 years ago, touched down, blew up a convince store, and disappeared, leaving everything surrounding the store untouched. Even in tornado alley, that's the way it is. The fact is nature can kill you in a thousand ways anywhere, anytime.

[folkguitarist555]

yea it is funny some years ago, seemed like every time I stopped in Billings MT, to eat, and rest, I would encounter someone or a couple who were passing thru, doing some exploring, and wound up staying in Billings.....thing about Fayetteville AR and Branson MO, is you got all those lakes and mountains and nature there, coupled with warm climate year round with mild winters...and beautiful homes with acreage for under 190k all day long.....but last week an F4 tornado slammed thru Mayflower AR, near Little Rock and wiped that town out, now two years ago, another strong tornado wiped out Joplin, MO......so logically, would anyone really consider moving right into that region at the present time?? I am not sure that would be a wise choice to be frank....now I must say that area on paper, is my perfect place somewhat, and I will say, that I am not sure I want to live somewhere with really long winters like Spokane, Idaho Falls, Maine and etc....4 seasons is great, but not winter, then mud season, as they say in Maine..

[banjomike]

Winter is a fact of life here. It does get cold, and some years, it stays cold for a long time. There's no getting around that fact.
But when comparing a Maine or a New York winter to one here, I would sooner have the cold than the humidity. I've wintered in places where the temps were higher and so was the humidity, and was chilled to the bone. The dryness here allows a person to stay warmer when properly clothed, because the clothing is drier.

Another aspect to the winters here is they tend to be much sunnier than in other places. Even when it is overcast, and it often is, the overcast is seldom as heavy and dark as it is up north, and it typically doesn't last as long without a break.

Some newcomers never get used to our winters, for sure. Others do. Still others do and come to love the season. it all depends on the person. For sure, it takes at least one winter for a newcomer to learn how to accommodate to the season.

The upside of living here are the other 3 seasons. Traditionally, spring here comes late, but when it comes, it's fast and glorious. Our summers are magnificent; we have very few hot nights, and the days are very seldom so hot they become oppressing. Idaho Falls is always a little breezy- there aren't many days of dead calm here. The light breeze never becomes a hot wind and is always refreshing on the hottest days.
Our autumns are simply the best anywhere, I think. Unlike spring, fall lingers here for a long time after a typical short freeze around the middle of September.

All this stuff is predictable. Bad storms are not. I fear the predictable things, not the unpredictable. Avalanches scare me, but I know where they are most likely to occur, and when they are most likely to happen. I simply avoid going out into those areas if I feel they are a possible threat. Some avalanche country around here have highways in them, but the highway dept. knows how to minimize their danger. Very few of the local areas are as dangerous as Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 in Washington, which always scares me during the winter. Our most dangerous spots are remote and easily avoided.

Really a lot of life here happens outdoors in all weathers. If you're the kind of person who prefers to be pretty homebound, life here is much the same as it would be anywhere the winters are snowy. But if you like getting out into the country, this is the most beautiful state in the lower 48, and has the widest variety of scenery anywhere. All the good stuff is found on the 2 lane roads here- the Interstates were built in the places it was easiest to build big highways, and they bypass all the great stuff.