Relocating, ID, MT or WY?

[banjomike]

If you want to live in a smaller community, both C d'A and Idaho Falls are surrounded by them. I.F. has 5 small towns within 10 miles or less, Blackfoot, a city of about 35,000 is 25 mi. south, and Pocatello, which is about the same size as I.F., is 50 mi. south. Most of the commuters here either use I-15 or Hwy. 20 to commute, and both are 4-lanes.

Some of these smaller communities are:
Firth
Shelley
Iona
Ammon (which borders I.F.)
Ucon
Rigby (about 15,000 population)
Rexburg (a fast-growing town of about 35,000)
St.Anthony
Ashton (60 mi. north)
... and Blackfoot & Poky to the south.
Ririe lies to the east, about 17 mi. from I.F., close by the Snake River

Idaho Falls' weather is drier than N. Idaho, and the winters can be colder, but the town is full of amenities that are us usually found in a city that's much larger. It lies close to Jackson Hole, Teton and Yellowstone Parks, some of the most spectacular scenery in the west, and the mighty Snake River runs through the middle of town. We have an airport that has direct flights to L.A. and Vegas, the finest medical facilities in S. Idaho, and just about every large box store you can think of.

More importantly, it's a nice city. It's very family oriented, is full of public parks and 4-season facilities; ball parks, a recently enlarged and improved civic ice rink, 2 public swimming pools, a good zoo, the largest museum in Idaho, and in the near future, we'll have a new big events center that will hold 4,000 people. We have a very popular greenbelt on both sides of the Snake, an art museum, an Arts center, a civic symphony that's been going for 80 years, and several local theater groups. An old movie theater has just re-opened as a theater for live plays and musicals.

Come and check us out. The jobs situation is improving, and the joint is jumpin'.

The closest large city is Salt Lake City, a 2 1/2 hour drive to the south on I-15.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Montana Griz

I
If....I say if, I were in your position, I would: fly into Spokane (much less expensive; far greater flight selection etc)....rent your car there, get a "feel for the Spokane area" and then proceed east:

1/ Check out the "CD'L area" (including Post Falls).....Also make sure to drive north up toward Sandpoint.......and also south from CD'L on down to St. Maries.

2/ Then drive on over to Bozeman..(approx 370 miles & 5 1/2 hours).

3/ Then drive on down to Idaho Falls..(approx 260 miles & 4 hours).
When in the ID Falls area....take the time to drive east out of IF on Hwy26 into the "Swan Valley"/ "Palisades" area.
....(From IF you can go on over to Casper.....OR you can go back up to Bozeman area and give it a 2nd look....OR you can go back up to CD'L area and give it a 2nd look. You then are just 33 miles from the Airport at Spokane & your trip back east.)

...

Whatever you do............make sure you bring a digital camera "with plenty of capacity". You will want to take "Lots -of-pictures". (And "key" the pics into the notes you take).
Make "all kinds of notes" on a note pad as you form opinions of the places you are looking at. Even better, get your self a hand held digital voice recorder so you can "make verbal remarks and notations" regarding the places you are visiting. (And "key" these notes into the pictures you are taking).

.....Take your time.......organize your day's notes and pics at the end of EACH day and stop in the "C of C" office in the various towns that interest you and get maps, literature & brochures from them.

Also, get a copy of the local Newspaper(s) from the town or area you end up being the most interested in. ...So that when you know where your want to rent for that first year.....you can "run your own ad" indicating what type of rental you are looking for, location AND that you "HAVE EMPLOYMENT ALREADY."

Be careful when using "Property Management firms" to acquire a rental........and obviously when renting from a private individual.......get everything discussed and promised IN WRITING!!

Great advice from Griz. The itinerary is ideal, and so is the "notes & pics" suggestion. I'd add that if you have one of the newer cameras with video capacity, shoot 10 seconds with voice-over at each spot you want tyo remember, in case you don't have notes handy. And if you check out properties, take a picture of the flyer while you're taking pics of the property--that way you won't forget where you were.

[pw72]

I think one lesson from this thread is Idaho is quite diverse.

Northern Idaho shares much with Eastern Washington. The media, the climate, and well it stops there. As you move east from CDA the terrain changes into mountains.

Southwest Idaho is Boise and perhaps Twin Falls. A bit more arid, and a bit warmer year-round.

Southeast Idaho is Idaho Falls and Pocatello, and it shares more features with Utah. Cold winters, warm summers, and compared with the panhandle, little precipitation. More of a high desert climate.

[offandaway]

Thank you all!! Making our trip out soon so this is all so helpful!! There's is so much to a move, especially across the state, but you all have been such a help!

[DavinaD]

As far as I can tell, no one has stated the obvious: the Idaho Falls area is fine if you're Mormon. If you're not, you're going to feel like an outsider. I lived in the Pocatello area (50 miles south of Idaho Falls) for 20 miserable years. Also, do you like wind? Pocatello is always windy and dusty; not sure if the Idaho Falls area is as bad.

[lovecda]

Originally Posted by DavinaD

As far as I can tell, no one has stated the obvious: the Idaho Falls area is fine if you're Mormon. If you're not, you're going to feel like an outsider. I lived in the Pocatello area (50 miles south of Idaho Falls) for 20 miserable years. Also, do you like wind? Pocatello is always windy and dusty; not sure if the Idaho Falls area is as bad.

Idaho Falls is still Mormon-heavy, which isn't really a problem--they're nice people. My sister and her family live there and aren't bothered by that aspect. They have a periodic dust storm in late summer, but overall that hasn't been too much of a problem. There is a lot of wind though. For the last few years they've actually gotten more snow earlier than Coeur d'Alene has, and it tends to drift. Having been to both Pocatello (my brother used to live there) and Idaho Falls, between the two I would choose Idaho Falls in a hot second. It's also just a couple/few hours from Yellowstone, which is pretty cool, since you could make a day trip out of it if you wanted.

Coeur d'Alene is of course my choice of communities. It really doesn't feel as big as its population count. A 10 minute trip out of town to the south, and you can easily find some nice acreage. Up north of Hayden or Post Falls might be viable as well. For even more of a small town experience, there is Rathdrum. It is quite small, and just driving around in that area it seems like there should be some nice acreage available. Rathdrum is very close to Post Falls (connected by Highway 41) and Coeur d'Alene (several main roads connect to the Hayden/CdA area all the way along 41).

As far as weather, our winters in CdA can last awhile. "Snow season" can easily last from early November to early April in town, longer outside of town in the hills. I've seen snow (very rarely) as late as June in the hills just 8 miles south of CdA. There are typically a lot of cloudy/overcast days during the winter and into spring, even if snow isn't falling. Our summers typically bring fantastic weather--lots of sun with highs from the 70's-80's, periodically hitting the mid-high 90's. And a periodic summer thunder/lightning storm.