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Has anybody retired there? Any surprises financially (taxes,insurance,COL) or otherwise?
I have a friend who is seriously considering retiring there, so I went on a exploratory visit with her and was intrigued.
We are from coastal California. She is a hippy dippy leftie and I am more liberaltarian, so of course we loved the North End . We are both non religious.
For me at least it seems affordable (Im middle class in the SF bay area, upper middle elsewhere haha)
and I need lots of sun, but can tolerate short mild-moderate winters. I enjoy moderate sized cities and love the outdoors.
No health issues. Their hospital seemed a decent size. I have family in Seattle and California.
Are they accepting to non-Mormon liberalish types? I would be concerned about making friends there.
Forgot to add that she is also looking at Spokane...
Thanks!
Last edited by Protagonista; 08-12-2016 at 02:18 PM..
Has anybody retired there? Any surprises financially (taxes,insurance,COL) or otherwise?
I have a friend who is seriously considering retiring there, so I went on a exploratory visit with her and was intrigued.
We are from coastal California. She is a hippy dippy leftie and I am more liberaltarian, so of course we loved the North End . We are both non religious.
For me at least it seems affordable (Im middle class in the SF bay area, upper middle elsewhere haha)
and I need lots of sun, but can tolerate short mild-moderate winters. I enjoy moderate sized cities and love the outdoors.
No health issues. Their hospital seemed a decent size. I have family in Seattle and California.
Are they accepting to non-Mormon liberalish types? I would be concerned about making friends there.
Forgot to add that she is also looking at Spokane...
Thanks!
Boise will be a very different climate than you experience in CA. Better choice would be western WA and not Spokane. That is a brutally cold area. It is all plains there and the cold air and snow are nearly relentless.
You'd probably get more answers by posting this in the Idaho forum.
One of my close friends who is agnostic, politically liberal, and a marathon runner accepted a faculty position at Boise State U in 2010 (moved there from Austin TX) and couldn't get out of Idaho fast enough. The combination of politically conservative, religious, and outdoorsy jeep-driving types didn't work for her. She's back in Austin.
But that's just one person, one anecdote.
Has anybody retired there? Any surprises financially (taxes,insurance,COL) or otherwise?
I have a friend who is seriously considering retiring there, so I went on a exploratory visit with her and was intrigued.
We are from coastal California. She is a hippy dippy leftie and I am more liberaltarian, so of course we loved the North End . We are both non religious.
For me at least it seems affordable (Im middle class in the SF bay area, upper middle elsewhere haha)
and I need lots of sun, but can tolerate short mild-moderate winters. I enjoy moderate sized cities and love the outdoors.
No health issues. Their hospital seemed a decent size. I have family in Seattle and California.
Are they accepting to non-Mormon liberalish types? I would be concerned about making friends there.
Forgot to add that she is also looking at Spokane...
Thanks!
I don't live there. However, I have traveled to Boise on a number of occasions and been to conventions there.
Let's start with the fact its not really a very big city. Because of its size, the number of shopping, eating, sports, and cultural options are limited. Also, Boise is not close to any other large cities.
The geography of the city is not great. I would describe it as surrounded on three sides by desert and on the fourth side you have a nice canyon and forest.
Idaho is a very politically conservative state. Although, the Boise area is a bit more liberal than the rest of the state is. Frankly, I don't see a "hippie dippy lefty" as being very happy there.
Boise does have an airport with commercial jet service. Its about the smallest such airport that I can think of. However, it does sort of open up the outside world.
Many Californians are retiring in Boise as well as many Oregonians who are trying to escape the increasing congestion in their state. If you are libertarian and can tolerate all the minuses mentioned by others (which are pluses to some of us such as a medium sized city with a dry climate and without all the shopping and professional sports), it might be a good fit. I'm not so sure if you are a liberaltarian.
Boise is small.... but it's growing because - people are moving there....
Weather is similar to what we have here in the Salt Lake Valley so snow is a thing. Winter too. And yes, it's pretty conservative and Mormon altho there are non-Mormons there too.
Culturally it might be a shock for a Californian. Kinda boring.
With the exception of the Smurfs (Boise State Football).
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Boise is a long way from the beach, and plenty far to mtns. Too far from international airport for me.
I visit a few times per yr, but there are so many other GREAT places in ID to consider. Moscow is real nice, if Spokane is on your list. I an not at all keen on Spokane. Visit and stay with local people in each of your potential spots.
My friends that were in Boise many yrs like to stay, but a few returned to Wa, CA, OR, CO.
You best prefer a conservative stance to have more friends and activities to enjoy Boise.
Thank you all so much for your responses!
I didn't post in the Idaho forum because I wanted a diversity of opinions
This paints a pretty good picture I will share it with my friend :
Quote:
Originally Posted by biscuitmom
You'd probably get more answers by posting this in the Idaho forum.
One of my close friends who is agnostic, politically liberal, and a marathon runner accepted a faculty position at Boise State U in 2010 (moved there from Austin TX) and couldn't get out of Idaho fast enough. The combination of politically conservative, religious, and outdoorsy jeep-driving types didn't work for her. She's back in Austin.
But that's just one person, one anecdote.
Its a beautiful little city and everyone was really nice. Great place to visit, but probably not a good fit.
Spokane is next on the list to check out. I don't think she will be able to tolerate the wind and cold temps, but more power to her for checking out a place before just up and moving there.
I believe Conservatives are much more tolerant of liberals than the reverse. You will have to accept that your vote on virtually all state elections is meaningless (I say that as a Republican/Libertarian) in Washington....but it frees me to vote Gary Johnson knowing that it's not a vote for Hillary.
Comparing Spokane to Boise, Spokane is a more beautiful area but the price of that is more rain, cold, snow. Boise is probably more dynamic as the state capital and largest city in Idaho. Idaho is a low tax and cost to live state....Washington has no state income tax so that would be a factor if your income is above about $80K, your income tax savings will overcome the higher gas taxes, etc. imposed in Washington.
Not counting family considerations (which would make Spokane the better choice for me), I would give Boise the edge with more sun, slightly bigger, more dynamic.
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. We are both non religious. 
