moving from Paris France to CDA (Boise, Coeur d'Alene: sales, insurance, vacation home)

[PNWhike]

Welcome to Idaho. You made a great choice to move to CDA, Idaho, and were smart to avoid relocating anywhere in California at all costs. North Idaho College rings the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes in North America. Ski in the winter, hike in the summer. The rugged beauty of the great state of Montana is a few short hours east.

[heatherriviere]

First of all thank you Sage for the (potential) offer for a short term rental!

We haven't reserved our tickets yet, we will do that upon returning from CDA in April when we have a clearer idea of timing, but we're looking at an arrival on June 26th right now (asap after signing on the sale of our house here on the 24th).

The realtor that has been helping us told us that her record for closing on a house is 4 days, and a Swedish family she helped a few years ago got theirs in 5 days, so maybe we won't have such a long wait after all between our arrival date and the date we can move into our new house. She said that she can help with finding temporary housing as well.

The campground looks nice, too, so I'm not yet going to rule that out if Sage's guest apt isn't available. Hubby doesnt appear overly enthusiastic about that, but you never know, it might do in a pinch! It would take care of the "who will the girls play with asap upon arriving" problem because there are ALWAYS lots of children at a campsight ready to make friends...

The camping car idea is a good one as well. I guess it will depend on what kind of short term rentals we find (and the prices!). I think we'll buy a car relatively quickly though, because if we have to drive all over to check out houses etc I don't know that we'd want to be paying for the gas that a camping car would guzzle for such bopping around...it's not getting any cheaper these days!

We chose the area in part for the reputation of great beauty, the outdoor sports activities, and the quality schools, and the welcome we have received already (and we haven't even set foot over there yet!) has been the icing on the cake, confirming that it is as great a place as you say!

[pacalady]

Welcome to the Idaho type of "Hospitality" ....

We can hardly wait for you to visit and 'see for yourself'!

Just be prepared for some mud, freeze, rain, sun and everything else weather-wise when you arrive in April ..... and also be prepared for warm welcomes from friends via the internet!

PacaLady

[CDAchick]

What an interesting board! I just randomly came across this thread and must admit I've scanned most of the 7 pages of postings but I too would like to welcome heatherriviere to beautiful Coeur d'Alene! I was raised here, moved to Southern CA for 8 years and moved back here just 2 years ago. I've traveled extensively throughout Europe many times and loved it! I think that you and your family will do just great here! The language barrier will be rough for your husband at first but he will be fine.

Coeur d'Alene is absolutely a wonderful place to live. In my experience most of the people are friendly and helpful and the prices sure are right for housing right now! If education is a focus for you (sounds like it is) I'd suggest staying in CDA or Hayden and getting your children into either the CDA or Lake city school districts. I noticed a complaint from one parent about the Post Falls district and I must say that's not the first complaint I've heard. My husband and I will be moving in the next year to a larger house and Post Falls will not be an option for that very reason! Although I'm a graduate of the Lakeland School district myself (Rathdrum area) I would also not send my children there. Lakeland got me into a wonderful university but I really feel that I didn't receive the opportunities that the other school districts had both with sports and materials. Just my opinion though

As far as preschools are concerned, I must say that N. ID leaves a lot to be desired. I have a one year old that is currently in daycare and there are many daycares and preschools that will give your child plenty of attention and love. For me though I feel that the options offered to us for the preschools lack in the education aspect of the schooling and many are only glorified daycares with very minimal structure. I also believe though that it's a parents responsibility to be educating the child outside of school so that is where I plan on making up for the lack of learning. I hope that in the coming years our preschool options open up for us. I do believe they will!

Heatherriviere, in my experience in the last two years I've not seen any of the Aryan Nations problems that were more prevalent in this area years ago. I also don't see much of the close mindedness that some others have spoke of... my reason, because I don't hang out with those types of people! In every city (or country!) there will be people that speak up with their thoughts that clearly aren't in the majority and ID is certainly no exception. I choose to associate myself and my family with educated, driven members of society and believe me they are not hard to find

You're going to love it here, welcome!

[heatherriviere]

Hi there! We're getting closer and closer to our 2 week reconnaissance visit in April, can hardly stand it...

Thanks for the tips on the schools. I think we'll be buying in town (ie Eastern CdA, Dalton or Hayden Lake) but who knows...once we see how the town is mapped out, in 3D finally and not just by looking at maps on the computer screen or paper fold out maps!, we may "fall in love all over again with flannel" and live on the outskirts...we'll see...it's hard to get a feel for distances between towns and such, I was very surprised to learn for example that some addresses in the Landings on Waterford area would require the children to attend school not in CdA but in Rathdrum or Post Falls, apparently...

Perhaps we'll get a chance to meet during our visit? I wouldn't mind discussing the whole childcare "dilemma"...

Ciao!

[JanineS]

Heather,

Moscow, Idaho is a very nice place and meets almost all of your criteria.

It is a small town with a population of about 20,000.

The weather is VERY similar to Post Falls, Spokane, & Coeur d'Alene. In fact, I think we are typically cooler than Spokane in the summer.

Moscow is very open minded. There are many cultures at the University.

I work with a gal that is graduating from the U of I this spring and she is taking a french class. If you would like, I can ask her more about the class and the teacher.

My daughter has a friend whose father is Muslim.

My older children made many friends from other cultures when they attended the U of I.

We have a 5 bedroom home on 5 acres less than 5 miles out of town. We have lots of wildlife that we enjoy from our home or while out walking.

I have never seen a traffic jam.

Moscow is typically cheaper than Coeur d'Alene.

The schools are excellent and recieve a 9 out of 10 rating on school report cards for ranking schools.

Your hubby may be able to get a job at the University teaching french.

I work for a lawfirm and one of the attorneys is married to a lady from Columbia. My boss is from Moscow and is American, but he learned how to speak spanish fluently when in college. They speak portuguese/spanish in their home and english when out and about. It keeps both of them fluent in both of their languages and their children understand both languages, which makes it nice for them to be able to visit with their relatives in Columbia and Spain.

Moscow definitely has 4 seasons.

Our neighbors down the road either have llamas or alpacas.

We have 1 acre with a 7 foot chain link fence to keep my husky from jumping out. (He is a MAJOR escape artist.)

We also have 2 more acres fenced for horses with a 3 stall barn, tack room, and hay loft.

Our neighborhood is very friendly and we all wave to each other when we drive by. We also have a calling tree to get in touch with each other if there is an emergency and belong to a neighborhood email list to keep each other informed as to anything that may impact any of us in any way.

If you would like more information about Moscow or our neighborhood, let me know.

We will be listing our house for sale this spring and the 5 acre parcel next to us is for sale - just in case you are interested.

[JanineS]

Heather,

I forgot to mention that we have a bike/waking path that is SEVERAL miles long that goes between Pullman, Washington and Moscow and on out to Troy, Idaho (at least I think it goes that far).

With having the University of Idaho here in town and Washington State University in Pullman, WA there is a lot of culture, activities and education opportunities.

U of I hosts the National Jazz Festival Concerts every year.

We also get lots of top booking singers, comedians, etc. that perform at the two Universities.

Moscow does have a small airport that handles most planes, but probably not a 747. We are 1 hour and 20 minutes south of Spokane, which has a large international airport. We have not found it to be that big of a deal to drive to Spokane to pick up friends and family that want to fly in to see us, especially since that probably only happens less than once a year.

I hope that you have a wonderful trip and enjoy your visit to Idaho in a couple of weeks. If you want to check Moscow out, let me know and I will see what we can set up.

By the way, what is the weather like in France at this time of year?

Also, why have you chosen to leave France after all of these years?

Take care,
Janine

[JanineS]

Heather,

Mosocw has mountains - Beautiful treed covered mountains, with lots of wildlife to enjoy. Every year we watch does with their spotted fawns - sometimes they even lay down and take a nap right in our year. The moose have no problem doing so. We also have wild turkeys, pheasants, quail, hummingbirds, etc. If your hubby does not mind the snow, which you have said you are looking for, I think you, your hubby and especially your children will LOVE watching the wild life.

If you go to Trulia.com you can find a link to get more details about Moscow and its demographics. We live in the McDonald School District, which out scores Idaho State, and the local school district EVERY year in language usage, math, and reading (all of the areas tested on the Idaho Standard Achievement Test (ISAT), which is a required testing tool to assess the needs and proficiency of the students.

Moscow has a VERY low crime rate also.

[JanineS]

Heather, here is some information that I found at a Coldwell Banker website



Neighborhood Info

About the Community

Located in Latah County, this neighborhood in MOSCOW with a population of 25,064, and has shown moderate growth since 1990 with 15% population growth. Learn more about the community.

Median Age 28 (because of the large college age population)Median Income $30,947Married 33% (again because of the large college age population)Households with Children 25%


About the Schools

This neighborhood has many of the demographic and socio-economic qualities that have been tied to the development of a good school system resulting in a high educational climate index rating. Learn more about the schools in this neighborhood.

[heatherriviere]

Moscow really sounds like a beautiful place. A good friend of ours used to live there before moving to Boise and was very positive about the town also. And having the university definately adds an interesting cultural dimension...

At this point I think our main focus is the CdA area though. We really like the fact that there are so many big lakes close by (in spite of the all the pollution/weed issues), the proximity to the skiing, being so close to Spokane and the airport/city life...

We will be flying in to Boise and then driving up to CdA so have already planned to stop and check it out on the way up, maybe we could get together for a coffee while we're there? I'll DM you...

Thanks for your help!
heatherriviere