Coeur d'alene or Sandpoint? (Boise, Clark Fork: transplants, mortgage, house)

[paleguy]

Ya, great idea. I think we will do that.

[fleeNY]

I would rent a place in CDA that way you can check out all the areas inc Sandpoint which is only about a 45 min drive from CDA. There are plenty of nice rural areas in and around CDA. Especially once you start going north of CDA like Hayden, Athol etc..

We just came from LA and we *love* it here. You'll be happy no matter what part you're in... seriously

[paleguy]

Originally Posted by fleeNY

I would rent a place in CDA that way you can check out all the areas inc Sandpoint which is only about a 45 min drive from CDA. There are plenty of nice rural areas in and around CDA. Especially once you start going north of CDA like Hayden, Athol etc..

We just came from LA and we *love* it here. You'll be happy no matter what part you're in... seriously

Ya, that's what I've been leaning toward doing.

It's nice to hear from someone who comes from my current region. That's a very encouraging post.

How was the attitude toward you being that you came from L.A.? I hear that the NW region tends to have a negative few of So Californians. Did you experience any of this?

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by paleguy

Ya, that's what I've been leaning toward doing.

It's nice to hear from someone who comes from my current region. That's a very encouraging post.

How was the attitude toward you being that you came from L.A.? I hear that the NW region tends to have a negative few of So Californians. Did you experience any of this?

We don't live in N. ID just yet, but have spent quite a bit of time there in the course of figuring out where we wanted to move (we also considered several areas in MT), and finding and eventually buying our property in Sagle. During our visits we have always been quite open about our intentions to move there, and where we are from. Like you, we also live in SoCal. We have never experienced any negativity towards us at all.

BTW, you hear similar stories about people in MT, and we received a similar open welcome during our visits to MT as well.

I'm sure there are those that resent the influx of new folks from other parts of the country, but I suspect they are a small minority.

[fleeNY]

Originally Posted by paleguy

Ya, that's what I've been leaning toward doing.

It's nice to hear from someone who comes from my current region. That's a very encouraging post.

How was the attitude toward you being that you came from L.A.? I hear that the NW region tends to have a negative few of So Californians. Did you experience any of this?

For the most part you'll run into a lot of ex-californians here... and people don't seem to care. BUT I did run into a few peopl that went on a rant when i told them where we moved from... they were kinda joking but I can tell they were probably kinda serious too haha.

We made it a point to switch our tags on our cars asap. It took us 15 minutes at the DMV and only cost like $50... super easy and the people the are real friendly. I felt like I was in bazaro land ... is this really the DMV? haha... it's great here man.

people are pretty laid back and cool here

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Welcome to the forum, Paleguy! We're still in San Diego County, but we have retirement property in Clark Fork over on the Montana border, 35 miles from Sandpoint, and we're building a cabin. We've been coming up to NID from SoCal every summer for 10 years now, and we've never gotten any grief about our CA license plates in ID. Montana is a little different, there really is a bit of resentment toward Californians. But in CF we've never had any problems. Besides, in our little neck of the woods (deep woods) our neighbors come from SoCal, WA, Texas, Oregon, and, yes, North Idaho. Everybody is cool...

[folkguitarist555]

One thing that does bother me a bit....is how the real estates prices have been soaring there in N Idaho, from what I understand this may have been caused by Californians moving in, and saturating all of N Idaho, from what I have read...seems to me the same thing has occurred in places like Seattle, Portland, Boise, Missoula, Kalispell, and etc, over the years. From what I have read and have been told, also resulting in the eventual liberalization of these areas over the course of time as well, I am told by others.

[KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck]

Originally Posted by paleguy

How was the attitude toward you being that you came from L.A.?

It seems like one out of every four people I know in Idaho
and Montana are from Cali, so you'll be in good company.

Let me just give you this one recommendation:
Never use the phrase "How we do it in California is..."

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by starrider434

One thing that does bother me a bit....is how the real estates prices have been soaring there in N Idaho, from what I understand this may have been caused by Californians moving in, and saturating all of N Idaho, from what I have read...seems to me the same thing has occurred in places like Seattle, Portland, Boise, Missoula, Kalispell, and etc, over the years. From what I have read and have been told, also resulting in the heavy liberalization of these areas over the course of time as well.

That's painting it with a very broad brush, and reflecting the reality of 2006-7 rather than today. Real estate prices did indeed soar, and then they crept down again after the crisis. Not all the way back to 1998 prices, but real estate is reasonable right now. The increase was of course caused by an influx, but not just from CA, and it matched the real estate bubble in other parts of the country. Californians have by no means "saturated all of NID." And those who have settled in NID have mostly chosen the area precisely because it is not CA. Most ex-Californians have no interest in transforming NID in the image of SoCal. Hence, no "heavy liberalization" in NID--from what I have learned over the years, the left-leaning influence comes from the college crowd in CdA more than from the influx of Californians.

Of course sometimes there's a Californian with bad ideas, souring it for the rest of us. In Clark Fork, according to our friends, there was this wealthy guy from CA who wanted to ban all stores from the main drag and create some kind of prettification with boardwalks etc--but no stores! The whole town got together at City Hall (a small building on a side street ) and voted him down. I'd have voted with them.

So I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Come see for yourself.

[AlwaysLooking]

We moved 2 years ago from CA-SF Bay area. At least 10 of our close-by neighbors are ex-Californians. And out and about we've met a lot of other ex-Californians as well. In our experience so far southern CA is well represented in Idaho--whereas northern CA not so much.