Few General Questions (Boise, Pocatello, Idaho Falls: rentals, crime, house prices)
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I'm withdrawing from college for personal reasons, and I'm looking for a place to live and work. I like smaller, more rural and conservative states, so Idaho seemed like a good place to start searching. I just have a couple questions about your state, if that's all right.
For reference: we don't want to be in a big city like Boise, and we don't mind living in a really rural area, but we would like to be within driving distance of a town/city of about 10,000 - 20,000 people or so.
First off, where would you guys say the cheapest county to live in ID is? We're don't really care about money, and we don't mind being comfortably poor. With that said, obviously, we want to be able to cover all necessities and essentials, so living somewhere with lower prices would benefit us greatly. And how expensive are cigarettes in rural ID? We're both somewhat heavy smokers (I know, I'm terrible.) House prices aren't of a concern to us, we're just looking for a trailer, or manufactured home, and they're usually cheap by default. It's just stuff like groceries, gas, and cigarettes we'd like to get for cheaper.
Secondly, every time I go to research Idaho, negativity towards Californians comes up a lot (sorry if this has been talked about to the death.) Neither of us are Californian, or have ever visited California, but we were wondering whether these kind of attitudes carried over to people from other places - not trying to accuse you guys of being intolerant, I understand. I originally grew up in Scotland, but I speak with a thick American accent on account of my mother, and I'm a full US citizen because of that. My friend, who I'll be living with, is from Eastern Oregon. Will it be okay for us to mention where we're from if someone asks, or should we pretend like we're from somewhere else? We're more than willing to assimilate with the culture of wherever we end up.
Finally, I'm just wondering how it will be looking for a job. I've attended two years and a semester of college, I have a high GPA, and I'm not above doing manual labor stuff - I'm a big guy, I can lift and whatnot. I'm not really looking to make a lot of money, $9-10 an hour is fine, and we'll both be working. Do you think job prospects would be okay for us with that kind of criteria?
Thanks guys, I really appreciate any answers I get. I hope these questions aren't too stupid.
Boise is the only big city in the state. All the rest of Idaho's largest cities are well under 100,000 people. Actually, all the rest are around 50,000 people. A larger mid-sized city here is 20,000, and we have more towns that are around 5,000 or less by far.
Everywhere just outside city limits here is rural. Sometimes a person doesn't know where a city quits and the country starts.
In very general terms, the smaller the population of a town, the harder it will be to find a job, unless you know how to operate heavy equipment, like tractors or back hoes, or if you have some good manual skills. Most of the white collar and blue collar (manufacturing and similar jobs) are found in the larger cities. Small towns here are losing lots of merchant jobs to our larger cities these days, and this goes for service jobs, too.
Cheap is very relative here. You can find cheap housing, land, or whatever, but our distances are so great that the prices of all basic commodities can really be high, just from transport costs, especially in some our most remote cities. Places like Orofino, Grangeville, and Salmon may have cheap rentals and/or homes, but they can be as far as 100 miles from many conveniences of a larger city.
Boise is the only true metroplex in the state, and it too is surrounded by small rural towns. The minimum wage here is $7.25 hr. We have more minimum wage earners here than in any other state in the union except for Tennessee. Any job that pays $10 or more an hour is a good one, and is coveted.
Cigarettes are around $5.50 a pack, average. (my guess)
The attitude toward Californians here is not as bad as it may appear. Californians are moving into all of the intermountain west states, and Idaho is getting her share of them, particularly in the panhandle, where retirement costs are less than in Cali. In my experience, I think Montana is more hostile to them than Idaho, as are the western halves of Oregon and Washington. But the negativity is nowhere as bad now in all as it was when they first began moving here in large numbers, back in the early 90s.
Your Americanized Scots accent will bring some local curiosity, but it won't be hostile, I think. People will want to know a bit of your family history when they hear you speak.
We'll probably look for places on the outskirts of mid-size cities, and commute in for work, if that's feasible.
A low cost of living is pretty important to us - we're both very young, and lacking in the work experience and qualifications department, so we'll probably be dealing with low wages to start with. Can you possibly think of any areas near and around mid-size cities that are quite cheap to live in? Growing up in rural Scotland, I understand how transportation costs can inflate the final cost of goods, especially with the UK being a densely populated island that doesn't produce a lot of its own stuff.
Welcome to the forum, GB. You say you have 2 1/2 years of college--have you considered turning that into an Associate Degree? It might not require much additional work, all depending on what kind of courses you've taken. Having an AA could make your job situation easier.
You don't seem to express any real interest in Idaho other than the rural/low COL aspect. Before Banjomike beats me to it , I just want to point out that Idaho is only "small" in terms of population, but not in terms of size. It is a very long state from north to south, with few towns over 10K, and most of the middle being glorious wilderness. Have you ever visited? It just seems to me that if you are going to decide on where to live for the next many years, I'd be adding a few criteria to "rural/COL." There are many states (I'm told), especially in the SE, where the COL is lower. A good friend of mine used to live in the Ozarks. Very rural, very conservative, and much cheaper than Idaho. And no jobs there, either. So if you're focusing on Idaho in particular, there must be something else you're looking for, beside those categories.
If you're homesick for Scotland, the area around Idaho Falls bears some resemblance to the Highlands, in spring. Winters are harsher--harder to manage a winter there in a mobile home. IF is a midsize town, with some job opportunities, and several smaller communities within commuter distance, but I wouldn't know about the COL. C-D has wonderful resources; just click at the top of the page, the City-Data home page, and focus on various towns in Idaho. It'll tell you about median income, population, and so forth.
As for the anti-CA attitude, I have never encountered any in Idaho (and we live in SoCal and are building a retirement home in Idaho). Montana, that's different. The animosity is palpable in certain places, and that has to do with the influx of McMansion builders in the 1990s, like Mike says. But that is a bygone era. Essentially, in Idaho nobody is going to discriminate against you because of where you are from. The things that will make locals skeptical of newcomers are (1) if they are critical and seem bent on changing the community they move into, and/or (2) if they appear uninterested in becoming good neighbors--especially in rural areas. You will know this from rural Scotland: You're much more anonymous in a city than you are out in the country!
I haven't thought about doing that. I'm not sure how it would work either, but I may look into it. Thanks for the suggestion. The major I was pursuing is widely regarded as utterly useless (Politics and Government) so I'm not sure if I want to pour more money into pursuing it, especially since I now know that I definitely do not want a job in the field.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast
So if you're focusing on Idaho in particular, there must be something else you're looking for, beside those categories.
Honestly, I'm just looking for a nice, scenic, sparsely populated state with strong personal freedoms. Forgive my naivety! The South in general sounds lovely, and the COL is extraordinarily small, but the area is way too densely populated for my personal liking, and the crime seems pretty bad. The whole wilderness idea attracts me. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Scotland, and I survived there - the only difference is that Scotland is so small, you can easily drive to a large city, but I lived without them. In regards to the low temperature - that won't bother me. Growing up in Scotland, I'm used to it being 40 degrees and pouring in the summer. Chicago winters have had no effect on me - it's goes down to -20 degrees, and I felt fine. In addition to that, I've been in northern Vermont when it was -25, and that was fine too.
So far, most things I've researched about Idaho seem very positive, but both your comments on the job situation worries me slightly. Is it really that difficult to get even a minimum wage job? Compared to the UK, the US seems to be doing really, really well, economically. Just looking at a graph, Idaho has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. I'll have to look more into it I suppose.
I guarantee you I won't be homesick, I came 4000 miles to Chicago for college, and hardly looked back, all I miss from home is the usual creature comforts and having my mom do the laundry
Thanks again for the information, I'll certainly do a lot of personal research - this move probably won't be taking place for another year.
Honestly, I'm just looking for a nice, scenic, sparsely populated state with strong personal freedoms. Forgive my naivety! The South in general sounds lovely, and the COL is extraordinarily small, but the area is way too densely populated for my personal liking, and the crime seems pretty bad. The whole wilderness idea attracts me. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Scotland, and I survived there - the only difference is that Scotland is so small, you can easily drive to a large city, but I lived without them. In regards to the low temperature - that won't bother me. Growing up in Scotland, I'm used to it being 40 degrees and pouring in the summer. Chicago winters have had no effect on me - it's goes down to -20 degrees, and I felt fine. In addition to that, I've been in northern Vermont when it was -25, and that was fine too.
So far, most things I've researched about Idaho seem very positive, but both your comments on the job situation worries me slightly. Is it really that difficult to get even a minimum wage job? Compared to the UK, the US seems to be doing really, really well, economically. Just looking at a graph, Idaho has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. I'll have to look more into it I suppose.
I guarantee you I won't be homesick, I came 4000 miles to Chicago for college, and hardly looked back, all I miss from home is the usual creature comforts and having my mom do the laundry
Thanks again for the information, I'll certainly do a lot of personal research - this move probably won't be taking place for another year.
There you go! "Nice, scenic, sparsely populated, with personal freedoms"! That's Idaho!
As for scenic, check out the picture thread at the top. Your jaw will drop.
The low temperatures--don't misunderstand me, that's a relative concept. Summers are hot in Southern Idaho, but dry. And in North Idaho they can have temps in the 90s and even 100s, but it usually doesn't last more than a few days at a time. The winter temps are more serious in Southern Idaho, too, over toward Idaho Falls. In NID they've just gone through a deep chill, but that lasted only about a week, and the temperatures are in the 30s now.
The job situation is not desperate. I just read that Pocatello has opened up a handful of new small business just recently, and things seem to be picking up. But just don't expect to be able to land jobs right away, and you may have to move around with the job availability. I have never been looking for work in ID, but so many threads here tell of the difficulty of finding jobs within one's special field, finding a beautiful location but no jobs, and/or getting jobs lined up over the phone/online. Having a local address and being able to show up for an interview the next day is probably a huge advantage. Over in Montana/Dakotas they're having an oil boom, as you probably know, but those are goldrush times with all the roughness and turmoil that follow such events. (Still, I find it fascinating that the Wild West is reinventing itself, 21st century style, at Bakken!)
If you and your fiancee can find the time and money, come on out for a visit next summer after doing a winter's worth of research. Talk to people, get a sense of place and opportunities. Maybe look for a used travel trailer locally, and store it there until you're ready to move. Might be a good way to get you started.
I'm just a NID lurker but would like to add that many people from California leave because they don't like the attitudes here, especially from the ones who are new to CA....Go figure. I suspect that no matter where you travel, if you put a stick in the local's eye, you will get a reaction. I spent some time in Alabama and the folks used to call me Yankee (born in Ohio) but when I didn't respond, they eventually saw me for who I am, just me.
Best wishes for your new home, where ever it may be!
I'm just a NID lurker but would like to add that many people from California leave because they don't like the attitudes here, especially from the ones who are new to CA....Go figure. I suspect that no matter where you travel, if you put a stick in the local's eye, you will get a reaction. I spent some time in Alabama and the folks used to call me Yankee (born in Ohio) but when I didn't respond, they eventually saw me for who I am, just me.
Best wishes for your new home, where ever it may be!
Don't care if you are from CA, NY or any state in between, like Heidi60 said, don't poke a stick in the eyes of the locals.
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, I just want to point out that Idaho is only "small" in terms of population, but not in terms of size. It is a very long state from north to south, with few towns over 10K, and most of the middle being glorious wilderness. Have you ever visited? It just seems to me that if you are going to decide on where to live for the next many years, I'd be adding a few criteria to "rural/COL." There are many states (I'm told), especially in the SE, where the COL is lower. A good friend of mine used to live in the Ozarks. Very rural, very conservative, and much cheaper than Idaho. And no jobs there, either. So if you're focusing on Idaho in particular, there must be something else you're looking for, beside those categories. 
