Area around Spirit Lake (Boise, Moscow: for sale, how much, high school)

[Rogdog]

Are there any locals familiar with this area?

I've internet spoted a property between Spirit lake and Athol and am wondering if there is anything particular to watch out for. Things like a Superfund site or a band of lunatics bunkerd down in the area. Crazy flood risk? Federal land grab in the works? Eight lane hiway or bullet train scheduled to shoot through there?

Any of that crazy nonsense to look out for?

More seriously, how's the water well and septic situation? I know, people surrounded by water probably don't think that much about it. I'm a guy under mandatory water rationing in So CAl and I also own a piece of rural Arizona where the water is 3 THOUSAND feet down and you can't get a septic permit. (that one may be for sale soon, interested?)

Back to the crazyness. The first thing anyone says when I mention I'm interested in Northern Idaho is Aryan Nation. I'm a white guy and far to the right on the political spectrum but I don't ride with the skin head crowd. Is there anything serious to this or is it all blown up hype. I mean MS 13 is a problem in SoCal but the last guy I actually saw with the 13 tat was in Boise. So my question is; does this present an issue to daily life in the area (beyond dealing with questions about it?)

[Trace_Rinaldi]

Yah its rough up there with all the skinheads... I shaved my head, and am trying to get "DOWN" with the local culture... I got my Doc Martins, and so far so good...


How do I KNOW Mark F. will come into this "disgustin"??

[Rogdog]

Hey, I'm asking. I haven't even been there yet. Other than a drive through on I 90. I say I'm looking there and everybody mentions the Aryan Nation. Googled it got a bunch of articles on the ADL website. They see anti-semites behind every tree. I'm just trying to get a sense of reality.

[mistyriver]

Nope. We live north of Priest River and we've never seen a single one. The attitude here is far more "Live and let live". My daughter went to the local high school (and my youngest starts this fall) and the only racial tension I ever heard of was when a boy called another boy (who happened to be a star football player and homecoming king) a *******. The offending boy was thoroughly trounced with the student body cheering on the hispanic boy. The population isn't very diverse though.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by Rogdog

Are there any locals familiar with this area?

I've internet spoted a property between Spirit lake and Athol and am wondering if there is anything particular to watch out for. Things like a Superfund site or a band of lunatics bunkerd down in the area. Crazy flood risk? Federal land grab in the works? Eight lane hiway or bullet train scheduled to shoot through there?

Any of that crazy nonsense to look out for?

No bands of lunatics. Quite a few horse ranches and for some reason off Clagstone in Athol there are a bunch of alpaca farms. I don't know about any Superfund sites...but it's all rural and residential so I'm not thinking there would be any big corporate dump sites out there...

The "big highway" is them widening Highway 95 from 2 lanes to 4 lanes between Hayden and Sandpoint, which is SORELY needed. By this fall it will be 4 lanes all the way from Hayden to Silverwood which we're all very happy about.

More seriously, how's the water well and septic situation? I know, people surrounded by water probably don't think that much about it. I'm a guy under mandatory water rationing in So CAl and I also own a piece of rural Arizona where the water is 3 THOUSAND feet down and you can't get a septic permit. (that one may be for sale soon, interested?)

I can't tell you about Spirit Lake and Athol, but I can tell you that just 15-18 miles to the north we only went 120' down to get 14gpm, and there is water everywhere. Spirit Lake area seems to have more water, but when you get out on 54 in Athol it's more "plains" and looks a bit drier, so you may need to be careful. You're still not going to have issues getting water....but you may have to go 300-400' if that area is on a shelf of some sort. There is a well driller in Blanchard called Bronson Wells [SIZE=-1](208) 437-4132 and I would call them and ask since they'd be the people to know.[/SIZE]

Back to the crazyness. The first thing anyone says when I mention I'm interested in Northern Idaho is Aryan Nation. I'm a white guy and far to the right on the political spectrum but I don't ride with the skin head crowd. Is there anything serious to this or is it all blown up hype. I mean MS 13 is a problem in SoCal but the last guy I actually saw with the 13 tat was in Boise. So my question is; does this present an issue to daily life in the area (beyond dealing with questions about it?)

Ignore the ignorant people. There are WAY more race problems in SoCal. I dealt with it EVERY DAY as a cop, yet in 2-1/2 years living here it's NEVER been an issue. We are NOT racially diverse, but we ARE racially tolerant AND we are very sensitive to the stigma that Richard Butler's people helped smear on this area. But remember that Idahoans ran them out of here over a decade ago. But you don't see THAT in the news.

I saw a news story yesterday about the "resurgence" of white supremists in North Idaho. GUESS WHAT? It was ONE GUY trying to recruit, and claiming he's getting a "lot of interest". Yeah right. They'll be able to recruit a LOT more racists in SoCal than in North Idaho...

But it's important to note that NID is conservative in a libertarian live-and-let-live way, not the republican "big government is OK as long as it's intrusive homeland security big brother" way. We have way more Ron Paul supporters than George Bush supporters up here, and quite frankly we care less about alternative lifestyles and bohemians and nature children (although they BETTER not start protesting against logging here!) and more about gun rights, low government intrusion, and low taxes. In rural NID we have dirt roads, volunteer fire departments, and we look out for each other since a power outage could be measured in days, not minutes.

The more you get into CDA/Post Falls proper, the more it will look like what you are used to in suburban SoCal. Strip malls, suburban tracts, big box stores, etc. But CDA down by the lake is pretty cool (Sherman/resort area) and Moscow as a college town is an interesting place (it's the "liberal town" of North Idaho).

[CosmicWizard]

Sag of Sagle wrote:

But it's important to note that NID is conservative in a libertarian live-and-let-live way, not the republican "big government is OK as long as it's intrusive homeland security big brother" way. We have way more Ron Paul supporters than George Bush supporters up here, and quite frankly we care less about alternative lifestyles and bohemians and nature children (although they BETTER not start protesting against logging here!) and more about gun rights, low government intrusion, and low taxes. In rural NID we have dirt roads, volunteer fire departments, and we look out for each other since a power outage could be measured in days, not minutes.

Northern Idaho sounds like my kind of place, but the western slope of Colorado will have to do for now. I visited NID several times when I lived up in the kootenays near Nelson-BC. Very similar countryside in both places, though Nelson-BC in the 70s had a liberal Canadian vibe to it, along with a very pronounced live-and-let-live attitude.

[Sage of Sagle]

CosmicWizard,

Nelson is nearly a Berkeley-esque sort of place. Much of this is because it was a HUGE haven for draft dodgers during the Vietnam Era and those people are populous enough to exert influence in their regional political scene up there. I spent several days in Nelson recently (right in town) and it felt like being in Santa Cruz, Berkeley, or SF. I was wearing a rather politically incorrect T-shirt one day (my "Viva la Reagan Revolution" Che spoof T-shirt) and it was actually a pretty hostile place that day...so I found it interesting that it was live-and-let-live as long as you were liberal...

In North Idaho, you will see Ron Paul AND Obama stickers on cars, and everything in between. Nobody cares. You just separate your voting life from your social life...we have good friends here all over the political spectrum, but I would say it's 70/30 conservative/liberal if I had to pin down a number. And that 30% that's left of center is still pretty blue-dog democrat purple...

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Rogdog, do you know just where the property is located? The area roughly between SL and Athol changes quite a bit in a few miles. South of Hwy 54 it's pretty flat, I'd consider this part of the Rathdrum Prarie. Water there shouldn't be an issue, there is a huge aquifier in the vacinity. Though check with a well driller or check well logs in the area you're looking at.

North of Hwy 54 it gets hillier, anything from rolling hills to small mountains by most standards. Prettier area IMO, water can be spottier. The Clagstone area has a reputation as being a rougher area, not sure how much of that is true. The more you can do to localize the property the better we can help.

And IMO, Aryan's are a non-issue.

Also, are you looking on the Bonner or Kootenai side of the county line?

[CosmicWizard]

Sage of Sagle wrote:

Nelson is nearly a Berkeley-esque sort of place. Much of this is because it was a HUGE haven for draft dodgers during the Vietnam Era and those people are populous enough to exert influence in their regional political scene up there. I spent several days in Nelson recently (right in town) and it felt like being in Santa Cruz, Berkeley, or SF. I was wearing a rather politically incorrect T-shirt one day (my "Viva la Reagan Revolution" Che spoof T-shirt) and it was actually a pretty hostile place that day...so I found it interesting that it was live-and-let-live as long as you were liberal...

Apparently Nelson has changed since I lived up there from '73 to '78. Back in the day, it was mostly the original Doukhobor settlers and their descendants, the back-to-the-landers from eastern Canada and the US, and the loggers and millworkers. Everyone got along surprisingly well. The New Age community developed after I left, but with hindsight I can see that the seeds were being sown back then.

Even though I had just completed a term in the US Air Force, I personally knew several draft dodgers and we got along quite well. We all lived the philosophy ya gotta do what ya gotta do. They held nothing against me for having been in the military, and I harbored no ill will toward them for dodging the draft. I also had a friend who was a Mountie. We'd frequently go hiking and light up a big fat one, sitting on a rock at the edge of the lake.

I'm curious, specifically what hostility did you experience that influenced you to write, so I found it interesting that it was live-and-let-live as long as you were liberal...

[Sage of Sagle]

I imagine it's what one would run into here in North Idaho if you were walking around in a "Ban Guns" T-shirt...people who were otherwise friendly immediately turned cold and unhelpful at retail establishments, and dirty looks on the street. Nobody right up in my face (I'm a big guy). But I'd walk up to people on the street or in stores who were chatty and pleasant, and once the shirt was seen, it was like the thermostat dropped 30 degrees. It happened often enough that day that I realized it was directly related to my shirt. Was with a friend who LIVES right there in town, who confirmed my perception as 99% likely linked to my shirt. My friend is even left-of-center politically, but thinks the town has gone WAY to the extreme left.

So don't get me wrong, if you were to say "Bonners Ferry is live and let live as long as you're not really liberal" it would be the converse of the above...