Looking to retire in 6 years and need advice on location (Sandpoint: real estate, low crime)

[gsc3zny]

I am looking to retire in 6 years. I will be leaving Ca and am looking for a lower cost and nicer better run state then CA. I have been looking in Trulia at real estate of all types. I am looking for low crime, good health care, not a racially diverse area.

[joryjim]

You shouldn't be so afraid of racial diversity. Most of Idaho could use more and your bias isn't needed or helpful.

[Sage of Sagle]

If by "not racially diverse" you mean you're looking for an area that's mostly caucasian because you love a certain element of the western european culture and want to be surrounded by more of it, that's one thing. North Idaho has a big Scottish/Irish influence for sure, and there are a lot of Canadians around here, and this area about 98% white. But as the comment above mine may have shown, your phrasing leaves you rather open for people to draw less than positive inferences about you...otherwise I'm putting a lot of words in your mouth trying to make you sound like less of a bigoted person that your post otherwise makes you sound....

Moving up here, racial tolerance is a must. I'm a former SoCal denizen myself so I understand the frustration of dealing with racial tensions in that cesspool, and I understand the appeal of going somewhere "else". But a lack of racial diversity here should NEVER BE MISTAKEN for any sort of white superiority thing. Someone who moves here with that mistaken impression would be in for a rude shock. We have some racists here, sure. So does every part of the country. But I'll be damned if I'd stand by and let someone treat anyone poorly because of the color of their skin in my presence. And most people I know feel the same way I do.

[Native Idahoan]

Thank you, JoryJim and Sage. I appreciate your remarks.

[chevpu1967]

Awesome post, Sage. I would have rated your post positively, but it wouldn't let me, I must spread the reputation around first... whatever that means. I personally love a culturally diverse community because I can learn about different cultures and gain an better understanding of those cultures. With different cultures comes different colors, but we all bleed red and we all want to pursue happiness and happiness (to me) is making friends and grilling steaks and sitting on the front porch smoking my pipe while watching the deer and rabbits play in the field. Well, until hunting season and then happiness is a full freezer.

[Moparjer]

I think a some people have the opinion Idaho is mostly white and that is what some people are looking for. This past weekend The Oregonian ran the following article which only reinforces the opinion in some people. http://http://www.oregonlive.com/pac...idge_sieg.html 20 years after Ruby Ridge siege, extremists are fewer in northern Idaho but still remain

I am half native american. The other half is a mix of Irish, German, and English. I am fairly dark complected and tan easily, so in the summer I can get quite dark. All my life I have been thought by most to be Hispanic. It's common for Hispanics to speak Spanish to me at the grocery store, though I have no idea what is being said. My dear wife of 33 years is blonde, blue eyed and fair skinned. More than once she has been asked by coworkers what it's like to be married to a Mexican, and occasionally why she married one. It doesn't bother us because we choose to not let it bother us.

We look forward to retiring to Idaho soon. in our visits to Idaho over the past two years we have found the people in CDA and Sandpoint to be very friendly. At the Super 1 grocery store in CDA we talked to another retired couple for a good twenty minutes. My wife works for Home Depot and at both the CDA and Sandpoint stores every employee we talked to was welcoming.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

If by "not racially diverse" you mean you're looking for an area that's mostly caucasian because you love a certain element of the western european culture and want to be surrounded by more of it, that's one thing. North Idaho has a big Scottish/Irish influence for sure, and there are a lot of Canadians around here, and this area about 98% white. But as the comment above mine may have shown, your phrasing leaves you rather open for people to draw less than positive inferences about you...otherwise I'm putting a lot of words in your mouth trying to make you sound like less of a bigoted person that your post otherwise makes you sound....

Moving up here, racial tolerance is a must. I'm a former SoCal denizen myself so I understand the frustration of dealing with racial tensions in that cesspool, and I understand the appeal of going somewhere "else". But a lack of racial diversity here should NEVER BE MISTAKEN for any sort of white superiority thing. Someone who moves here with that mistaken impression would be in for a rude shock. We have some racists here, sure. So does every part of the country. But I'll be damned if I'd stand by and let someone treat anyone poorly because of the color of their skin in my presence. And most people I know feel the same way I do.

Our Sage! Such a wise post. And cheers for the other comments. Judging from the OP's two other posts in the WA forum, I tend to think that he/she may not be interested in sounding any way other than what comes across above. Over there they're trying to steer him toward North Idaho...yes, the old stereotypes...

[gsc3zny]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

If by "not racially diverse" you mean you're looking for an area that's mostly caucasian because you love a certain element of the western european culture and want to be surrounded by more of it, that's one thing. North Idaho has a big Scottish/Irish influence for sure, and there are a lot of Canadians around here, and this area about 98% white. But as the comment above mine may have shown, your phrasing leaves you rather open for people to draw less than positive inferences about you...otherwise I'm putting a lot of words in your mouth trying to make you sound like less of a bigoted person that your post otherwise makes you sound....

Moving up here, racial tolerance is a must. I'm a former SoCal denizen myself so I understand the frustration of dealing with racial tensions in that cesspool, and I understand the appeal of going somewhere "else". But a lack of racial diversity here should NEVER BE MISTAKEN for any sort of white superiority thing. Someone who moves here with that mistaken impression would be in for a rude shock. We have some racists here, sure. So does every part of the country. But I'll be damned if I'd stand by and let someone treat anyone poorly because of the color of their skin in my presence. And most people I know feel the same way I do.

Definatley not a white superiority thing, just tired of the areas here I have lived in

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by gsc3zny

Definatley not a white superiority thing, just tired of the areas here I have lived in

Well then I completely understand your frustration but wish you would have elaborated in your original post. As a retired LA cop, some of the most ugly racial tension I saw was in the most racially diverse-yet-segmented enclaves of SoCal, and racial diversity most definitely does NOT by definition equate to racial harmony. It's my view that racial diversity must be balanced with heavy cultural integration for such harmony to exist, otherwise you have extreme friction at the overlap points which is what we had in some of the high crime areas of Los Angeles County versus suburban areas of the county or South Orange County where YUPPIE was the "culture" and race was a far distant criteria way down below which car you drove and your net worth...or in Britain where blacks and whites have been a LOT more integrated for a lot longer with more cultural homogeny.

[Sage of Sagle]

I also want to mention (looking at my post above critically since I don't want to give any wrong impression) that I don't think there is any "magic bullet" for racial harmony but I saw firsthand in my career what seemed to NOT work well. What I was trying to convey was that in areas I patrolled over a lot of years where I saw less racial tension resulting in violent altercations and/or calls for police intervention, it seemed that there were other much larger factors that brought people together to have an appreciation for the culture and ethnicity of others, whether an urban artisan community, working class community, or suburban area (even if I didn't subscribe to the suburban yuppie criteria of "success").

Whatever the motivation, from work to sports to the arts to money and status, there is a broader cultural homogeny forming a general basis on top of which the various ethnicities can form a mutual appreciation without being threatened or feeling displaced. What I see in north Idaho is that people judge you by "are you a decent person and do you bring something to your community", and if that's the case then the "diversity" of one's race is a non-issue.