Is Idaho Falls a Good Place to Live in 2014? (Boise: rent, houses)

[tmp4]

true story: I'm non-LDS and I have a fantastic job that I love and just bought a house after just a few weeks of looking (and I got a really good deal, too!)

I guess I'm the exception to your rule

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by twoponies

If you're non-LDS in a predominantly LDS community (meaning they own and run everything), be prepared to have a tougher time finding a house to buy, or the best job/promotion.

Brothers and sisters get first consideration.

For instance, make a full price offer on homes, only to have it turned down, and then sold a couple months later at $20K less than the asking price to a member.

I remember once my parents tried to buy an LDS home, and the owner said she would not accept the offer until she met them in person. Owner found out they were not LDS, refused their offer, and then sold it three weeks later at much less than my parents offered to an LDS family.

I'm not going to say that this does not happen, but in my lifetime experience here, I have never seen it personally, nor have I ever heard about it happening to anyone I know. That includes many non-Mormons.

I have owned 4 different homes so far in Idaho Falls, and my religion has never been brought up in any of the sales at all, even though at least 2 of the realties involved are/were owned by people who were LDS.

Job promotion may be different, but again, in my experience, religion didn't affect any of the promotions I got when working for someone other than myself.

It's possible that some home sales done without a realtor may be done with religious prejudice, but my lifetime experience here says the LDS are just like any other homeowners. They want a profit it they can get it, but if they are stuck with a home that's costing them money, they are just as willing to make a deal with anyone who provides a good offer, LDS or not.

In a home sale, everything is stacked in the buyer's favor, not the seller's. You may have heard about a deal that the seller had to accept because earnest money or a down payment had been accepted. There are many things that can compel a seller into a sale they can't get out of, even a day later.

[Mamma1209]

I have lived here in Idaho Falls for two years now and it is really not for me and my family. I am a married woman with four children. You are treated differently and your kids are if you are not Mormons. The Mormons on here May sugar coat it and say people do not do that but they are scared of anyone that is not joined in the cult Mormon. We are a very friendly family and people want to become friends with my kids too but ask right away what ward you go too. God is the one at the end who is the judge over all humanity not if you were Mormon. I have lived in Driggs Idaho, Florida two times, Ohio, and Arizona. There are always good and bad things anywhere but with the Mormons taking over Idaho Falls years ago is making me and my family and other people move away to complain.

[folkguitarist555]

this is why I crossed Idaho Falls off my potential places for retirement list a while back.

[UGAClem]

Originally Posted by emac112360

My wife and I are looking to visit Idaho for a couple of weeks beginning late June and early July. I will be retiring from a 30 year career in education in Georgia

Heck Yeah!! Another Georgia couple!! Dawg fans by chance??

Y'all will like it here. My family and I have really enjoyed it so far for our first year!

[UGAClem]

Originally Posted by twoponies

If you're non-LDS in a predominantly LDS community (meaning they own and run everything), be prepared to have a tougher time finding a house to buy

That is not always the case. We moved here due to my job building a new division. There were about 10 of that relocated from all over the east coast from our other 6 divisions. We all used the same realtor. She was awesome and non of us ran into that issue. She is LDS and treated all of us Non-LDS folks wonderfully! Yes she was making a profit from us, but again non of us had any issued of that kind when it came to buying a house. If you need her contact info PM me I would be happy to pass it along!

Originally Posted by twoponies

or the best job/promotion. Brothers and sisters get first consideration

I'm sure it happens in some cases which is a dang shame! Businesses that practice such ignorant decisions should be sued and shut down!
Again, this is not always the case. My wife was hired over a phone interview from 2300 miles away by a Mormon business owner and was hired over 20+interviews he conducted in person as his office Manager. He and his family are some of the nicest folks we have met in Idaho. So again, not ALWAYS the case.

[KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck]

Just arrived back in Boise from I.F.
We did a loop through MT and down through eastern Idaho.

My assessment:
No thanks.

I found the people of I.F. very friendly and the accommodations adequate.
Plenty of shopping and restaurants to choose from.
The work prospects were encouraging and the housing is quite affordable,
although I found the abundance of quickie-loan places kind of disturbing.
One even had a drive-through.

The area itself is bleak and underwhelming.
I hadn't taken a drive down that stretch of I-15 for 9 years.

I've concluded that Dillon, MT is the last desirable place along there until you
hit Burley, and Burley is only desirable because of its mountains and Pomerelle.

Twin is pretty nice, and we checked out Shoshone Falls for our
first time, but I'm just not interested in living in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Glad to be back in Boise, and it looks a lot better now that I've been out of it for a week.
If I do settle in a different part of ID, it will be north of Boise, and probably not east of it.

[kttam186290]

Re: the Mormon influence in Eastern Idaho towns...

I've always felt like when it comes to religion, White Mormons were especially hard on their non-Mormon White neighbors, even harder on them than they would be on a Latino Catholic family or an Asian Buddhist family. It's almost like the White LDS people expect non-LDS White people to "see the light" and join the church, and if you don't, there must be something really wrong with you because you've been exposed to their faith and still reject it.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

Re: the Mormon influence in Eastern Idaho towns...

I've always felt like when it comes to religion, White Mormons were especially hard on their non-Mormon White neighbors, even harder on them than they would be on a Latino Catholic family or an Asian Buddhist family. It's almost like the White LDS people expect non-LDS White people to "see the light" and join the church, and if you don't, there must be something really wrong with you because you've been exposed to their faith and still reject it.

Sounds like an issue you should take up with the top church leaders in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake.

[DidiH]

I just wanted to pop in and say it's funny KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck i spent 3 weeks in Boise and I was so, so happy to be back in Idaho Falls.

We've lived here 9 months now and I really love it here. I've lived in Sacramento and in the Bay Area in California, Helena, Great Falls and Shelby in Montana and of all the places I've lived in the US, Idaho Falls has the biggest chunk of my heart - to my surprise, but there you have it.

I'm originally from Malaysia and I've never been treated differently for being Asian (neither here nor in any of the other places I've lived) and my LDS neighbors have been nothing but nice.

I do think folks in Montana are more 'surface-friendly' than Idahoans in general but no one's ever not said hi back when i do, or when my very Montanan toddler pipes up.