Coeur D Alene vs. Missoula (Lewistown: ski resort, real estate market, rental) - Montana (MT) - City-Data Forum

mommax2 · 05-29-2010, 11:35 AM

My husband and I have been discussing moving from our current location to either Missoula, Montana or Coeur D Alene, Idaho. I have 2 small children who will be school aged when we move. I am concerned with finding adequate pediatricians, pediatric dentists, good schools, low crime, and lots to do in our spare time as a family. If anybody has a recommendation, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mommax2

redhead · 05-29-2010, 06:53 PM

i lived in coeur d'alene but not missoula so i'll just tell you about cda. cda is about 40 miles from spokane which is a big city with lots of everything a big city has to offer. cda is lots less expensive to buy or rent then missoula. there's lots more places to take road trips to around cda then missoula. cda gets lots less snow then missoula with the winters shorter. overall i think if you are comming from a big city cda would be eaiser to adjust to. missoula is isolated but is a pretty place to live with good schools but cda will have everthing a big city has because of it's closness to spokane. cda is also much much more beautiful then missoula.

Rickers · 05-30-2010, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhead

there's lots more places to take road trips to around cda then missoula. cda gets lots less snow then missoula with the winters shorter.

Hmmmm, I am all over both those cities and I have to say that say that there are just as many opportunities for road trips from both.

redhead · 05-30-2010, 03:53 AM

really. i'm surprised that missoula gets less snow. my friends said snow didn't even stay on the ground this past winter in coeur d'alene; but i know the previous winter it did get lots and lots of snow; i just moved from there last summer. and as far as places to drive to well missoula just has very small towns around it whereas cda has spokane about a 40 min drive and many other towns with several thousand population in all directions within an hours drive. not to mention that cda has several "suberbs" like post falls, and other towns right at it's door. so cda isn't isolated like missoula. there's really no comparison as far as shopping and variety of recreation between the two cities. coeur d'alene is on lake with even more lakes around it. there's a ski resort nearby, a river runs through it. has a university. and i don't understand why but the real estate market and rental market is more affordable, probably because there's more on the market then in missoula. strange because cda is a resort town. i've been researching this because i'm moving back next month.

redhead · 05-30-2010, 04:05 AM

oh and another thing, if you get sick of the snow in coeur d'alene during the winter, well you can get into your car and drive west and be out of it in about an hour. as i said spokane is about a 40 min drive west and does get snow too but not as much; but if you keep driving west out of spokane it doesn't take long to get out of snow country. you'll have light snow to no snow and nothing like a winter in montana.
and another big plus is if you like to travel you have spokane international airport that flys directly to major hubs, missoula air travel is more expensive and takes soo much longer due to it's isolation.

Rickers · 05-31-2010, 08:07 PM

I consider places like Salmon Idaho and Lewistown Montana isolated not places like Missoula with an interstate freeway (I-90) right there.
To the OP, Idaho may be better if you have kids. The doctors in Montana seem to be not quite up to snuff. We have run into more than a few serious quacks and the sex offender ratio in many Montana towns are astounding.

heymon · 06-06-2010, 09:57 PM

cdas too overated i live in post falls and its a dreery sonoma beach missoulas got better road trip area idaho doesnt beat out montana on palces to travel montanas a vast big arse state hahahah move to missoula and gear yr kids up fo the u of m college and its one of the best affordable colleges there is as fars all the rest is no taxes in missoula and alot of the same damn things are cheaper and missoula winters arent any worse then idaho and you get alot more sunnier days in missoula i know ive lived in both area for years on end idaho right by where ????washington a dreery sonoma and cda's alot lower in elevation so its always brok ebven in the summer especially at night i miss the hot dry summers in montana where its 85 all day and night in cda its 90 in the day and then at night burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr its 60 and ya freeze im always cold in idaho and have a hard time keeping warm and miss montana as soon as my daughetr graduates here we are relocating back home to a true 4 seasons no taxes no out side influence oh and omg dont buy ahome in idaho youll never be able to sell it it took me 5 years to sell a home for 60k under what it was worth the conservatives here wont touch anything unless they get 100k equity i know i live here and idaho stinks id say spaokne or wash before idaho or missoula youll go broke in cda

heymon · 06-06-2010, 10:02 PM

just my exprinaces and people are rude in idaho alight turns green and if you dont react with in 2 seconds their blarring their horns and flipping you off and waving their arms like retard ive had this happen 10 times in 7 years and the light turns green and yr there 2 seconds and their twiggin out out ive never had that happen in 6 yrs in spokane or 20 years off on in montana you wont like idaho trsut me but hey some do some dont i havent liked it ive lived in the 3 states years at a time and idahos a area where alot of outsiders are moving here pissed at their deterioating situation where they came from and their bitter to a degree and when they get here and its not what they thought end of story

heymon · 06-06-2010, 10:04 PM

Goodluck if you go to idaho and enjoy if you go to montana bigsky countrys the best in the n west washingtns not bad either

MSPLove · 06-11-2010, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhead

i lived in coeur d'alene but not missoula so i'll just tell you about cda. cda is about 40 miles from spokane which is a big city with lots of everything a big city has to offer. cda is lots less expensive to buy or rent then missoula. there's lots more places to take road trips to around cda then missoula. cda gets lots less snow then missoula with the winters shorter. overall i think if you are comming from a big city cda would be eaiser to adjust to. missoula is isolated but is a pretty place to live with good schools but cda will have everthing a big city has because of it's closness to spokane. cda is also much much more beautiful then missoula.

I agree with this.

But I also think there's the liberal/conservative factor. Idaho is very red. So is Montana, but Missoula is a more liberal town.