Another MIGHT be moving thread. (Twin Falls: homes, employment, buying)

[reed067]

My wife & I are in our 40's & have been living in Asheville for some time now. While it's very beautiful here people are moving in by the hundreds & the prices of homes are sky rocketing. We are AVID hikers but in the summer here the tourist take over & your stuck with late fall or spring to enjoy the area.
Idaho is one of those hidden gems & I've been there off & on. My wife's never been there but seen how beautiful it is there. I've been to Washington State & that area even Oregon was very beautiful but like here it's very expensive. I know Idaho was some pricy places as well just as most states do. We want some land in hopes of building a tiny home on it. I don't know what they laws are & of course off the grid as much as possible. Not sure what type of jobs are there looked on CL & hard to tell just by that. I do mostly warehouse work & the wife has a number of things she can do. What are the chances we can get off the grid there? Is it based on what county your in? We have a friend who lives in Nebraska & we plan to stay with her & look around in the surrounding states. She's been wanting us to come stay with her for some time now but Nebraska is too flat for us. We don't mind being out from one of the bigger towns say 30-45 mins out as long as there is some local shopping. Is there any local farmers markets there? We try to buy local as much as possible. I know there are some great places to hike & mountain bike there so we are not worried about that.


Sorry for the random questions getting ready for work..
Thanks in advance!

[Cnynrat]

In north Idaho there are certainly folks that are off the grid. I don't think it's that common, but certainly you can find people that live that way. I think there are one or two regular posters here who lived off the grid at one time or another in north Idaho. Our realtor is off the grid with a large solar installation on his roof and a windmill as well.

Your bigger challenge may be finding work in the area. I think most would recommend having a job opportunity in hand before you make the move.

Dave

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

In north Idaho there are certainly folks that are off the grid. I don't think it's that common, but certainly you can find people that live that way. I think there are one or two regular posters here who lived off the grid at one time or another in north Idaho. Our realtor is off the grid with a large solar installation on his roof and a windmill as well.

Your bigger challenge may be finding work in the area. I think most would recommend having a job opportunity in hand before you make the move.

Dave

I agree with Dave. Especially coming that far, it's really essential you know where you will be working.i'd look on good search engines and this is the link for the Labor Dept. for the state. I strongly encourage you to read on the link both available jobs and posting your (and your wife's resumes) online for potential employers to review. Additionally, you can read about different areas of the state. Idaho Department of Labor > Home

Once you have your employment secured, then you can ask who in the area you are living lives off the grid and more. Moving across the country isn't cheap. It helps if you know you'll be getting a paycheck in two weeks.

Good luck in your next steps

MSR

[reed067]

Here is Asheville it's the same way. Many people move here without having a job first. The jobs that are here pay just above min wage.

[VandalsLOL]

I don't think you're going to find anything different here in Idaho. I know a lot of people who have moved FROM Idaho TO Asheville.

The issue is, first and foremost, jobs, as others have pointed out. However, if you're an outdoorsy, active type, then you'll probably want to live somewhere active and outdoorsy, and those places are becoming more and more expensive, crowded, and hard to make ends meet unless you already have money.

It's a different story if you would be willing to live in some towns that don't offer those scenic views, outdoor access, and so forth. Many of those towns are "dying" or maintaining, and you can come by cheap property and some jobs.

At this point, there are no secrets left. People are moving to the places that have things to offer (thus driving up prices and becoming more crowded), and people are leaving those places that do not have as much to offer.

[banjomike]

Hi, reed…
I strongly suggest you spend a lot of time reading the older inactive posts on this forum as a first step. Secondly, I also strongly suggest you plan to come out here and look Idaho over from top to bottom. Unless you have actually visited here, you simply won''t know everything you need to know before moving here.

Idaho is unlike any other state in the lower 48. There are more mountains here than any other but Alaska, and an enormous belt of wilderness physically cuts the state in half east to west, largely isolating the panhandle and the rest of the state. The land area of the panhandle is tiny compared to the bottom half, and has much different geography. Southern Idaho is also much different going east to west. South East Idaho is more like Colorado's front range than the panhandle, while South West Idaho has no comparison to any other intermountain state at all.
Twin Falls, the hub city of the southwest area, lies on the edge of the Snake River canyon, which is almost 2 miles deep there.
That's just an example of the geographical extremes. You won't see much by driving just the Interstates because they all were build in the areas that could accommodate them. We have only one highway that stays within our state boundaries going north and south, and it's a narrow, twisty 2-lane. That's because it's impossible to build a wider road, or one with high speed turns.

Living off the grid has an entirely different meaning here. Anywhere you go in this state, even to our largest metro areas, there is total wilderness no more than a half hour away in all directions. And by total, I mean exactly that. Driving on many of our rural roads, it's very possible that you might not see another vehicle all day long.

While in the Navy, I spent quite a lot of time in the Raleigh area, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what you have become accustomed to. Idaho could not be any more different in all ways.

What MSR mentioned about the necessity of having a job here before you move is absolutely correct. For the past 3 years in a row, more folks have moved in than have moved out, and there are only a handful of cities that have more than 10,000 residents here. Some are booming economically, while others are not. It's easy to get swept away by the thought of moving here, but if you choose the wrong area for you, finding work may be extremely difficult, and moving out will be much harder than moving in.

In many ways, N. Carolina reminds me of my home state. Our people are friendly, life here is very laid back, and the scenery is beautiful. Idaho is a lot drier, has more extremes in weather and climate, but life here can be very good, especially for raising a family.

[reed067]

I've been there before but it has been a good while. No, I wouldn't move any where with no job.
Moving close to said city would be ok we just don't want to move IN the city. Being away from a lot of people is what we want.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by reed067

I've been there before but it has been a good while. No, I wouldn't move any where with no job.
Moving close to said city would be ok we just don't want to move IN the city. Being away from a lot of people is what we want.

Finding a home in a small town close to all of our major cities is easy. Buying a small acreage is also easy.

Being away from a lot of people is the easiest of all.
Our entire state's population is less than half the size of the North Carolina triangle. Isolation has an entirely different meaning out here.