My wife, son, and I are making the trip out to Idaho from the central valley in CA to find a new place to live. Though we were born and raised here in CA we really hate what it has become and are looking for a place with a slower pace of life and goverment policies that represent more of what we believe. I%26#39;m a bit nervous being that I have heard that folks from Idaho don%26#39;t like Californians coming out there and moving into their neighborhoods, however we aren%26#39;t your stereotypical Californians. We are planning to spend alot of time in Idaho Falls, and Coeur D Alene %26amp; Sandpoint areas because those are places that we have found our jobs. If anyone could give us any usefull information for our trip such as other towns near these that we should check out, sights we should see, road conditions ect. we would be eternally gratefull. We will be hitting the road on may 19, starting in Boise, then Idaho Falls, and finally Coeur D Alene. Any links to current road conditions would also be helpful.
Looking for a new home
Hi BigChris559
The road conditions whichever way you come up should be great, and you%26#39;re coming at a good time.
I can only speak to the Coeur d%26#39;Alene area, but I can tell you that you certainly won%26#39;t be the only Californians up here by any means. We%26#39;re originally from Southern California along with 80-85% of everyone else up here! Something about the area really attracts Californians who want to slow down a little and escape some of the heat (though it%26#39;s almost 80 today).
There is a little backlash against new people going on and that%26#39;s mainly because the housing prices are going up so much. Two years ago the average home was $150,000 and today it%26#39;s $225,000, which is a big jump. The salaries here aren%26#39;t as high as what you%26#39;re used to, so people coming from California can afford their new home, but some of the long-time residents are stuck renting since they don%26#39;t have that huge down payment that people from CA do since their homes are worth so much.
That%26#39;s unfortunate, but that%26#39;s just the way life is. I wouldn%26#39;t worry about it. We heard we had to get our California plates off our cars the first day or we%26#39;d get harassed, but we didn%26#39;t and nothing happened at all. People here are pretty nice and since most of them are Californians, you%26#39;d have to be pretty hypocritical to complain about MORE Californians.
Just make sure you slow down when you arrive and you%26#39;ll fit right in. Longer time residents like us do notice a change in traffic (more speeding, tailgating, etc.) but that comes with any population jump and we%26#39;ve been experiencing a pretty major one. We were named a top five ';Emerging City'; on several financial magazine lists and the development in the area is staggering. The good thing is that the city plans ahead and is also working on attracting more and more companies so the people who move here will have a job.
CdA is about an hour south of Sandpoint. Sandpoint is nice, but I%26#39;m partial the the Coeur d%26#39;Alene area, which consists of several smaller cities (Hayden, Post Falls, Rathdrum, Dalton Gardens, Athol, Spirit Lake, Hauser) all within 30-40 minutes. The total population is around 100,000 I%26#39;d estimate.
One of the nice things about CdA is that it%26#39;s really close to the major city of Spokane, Washington -- about 30 minutes. Most folks don%26#39;t go there too often, but it%26#39;s nice that it%26#39;s there if you need it. We do have all our major department stores here, and tons of recreational activities and great restaurants so some people never go there at all.
We get some snow in the winter which may be unfamiliar to you, but it%26#39;s manageable and a white Christmas, after years of 85 degree Christmas mornings, will be wonderful for your son.
Hopefully someone from Idaho Falls will respond to since I know nothing about it.
It%26#39;s a GOOD choice you%26#39;re making, and one which you won%26#39;t regret.
Looking for a new home
KirkandMimi give you a good insight into Coeur d’ Alene. I would add that Sandpoint is a great smaller town but home prices are generally higher than here in Coeur d’ Alene. They have less homes available and higher demand by the second homebuyers. Also as a smaller town’s employment opportunities are less in Sandpoint although they have some major employers like Coldwater Creek and Litehouse Foods. You may also need to consider that Idaho Falls has a very large LDS Chuch population so the social and political climate is conservative as compared to Boise and Coeur d%26#39; Alene, although all three areas are conservative as compared to places like Seattle and Portland. Suggestions on your road choice, coming from Idaho Falls to Coeur d’ Alene you have two choices. Choice 1 is via Interstate 15 to Butte, Montana then Interstate 90 to Coeur d’ Alene, it’s the fastest route to Coeur d’ Alene from Idaho Falls. Choice 2 is State Highway 20 to Arco, Idaho then Highway 93 through Salmon, Idaho and onto Missoula, Montana to proceed on Interstate 90. Choice 2 is more scenic but longer route, areas between Salmon and Missoula are very scenic. Both routes can be done in a day’s drive.
Hello BigChris559. I%26#39;m a little confused by your post when you say that you%26#39;re looking at ';Idaho Falls, Coeur d%26#39;Alene and Sandpoint as that%26#39;s where you%26#39;ve found jobs'; - you are aware that Idaho Falls to CDA is 6+ hours, right? Post Falls is about 10 minutes from Coeur d%26#39;Alene, and an hour from Sandpoint.
In any case, if you%26#39;re considering Idaho Falls then you%26#39;ve made an excellent decision. We%26#39;ve lived here almost 11 years, and before that spent a few years in California (Manhattan Beach, San Francisco and Santa Barbara). Your son will grow up in a 50%26#39;s-esqe, Norman Rockwell environment with very little crime and plenty of kids to play with. As an earlier post suggested, this area is very Mormon -which has it%26#39;s pluses and minuses. It is quite conservative, and the night life is limited. It%26#39;s very family oriented, and there%26#39;s lots of clean, wholesome type stuff to do. My kids are really enjoying growing up here, but will want to get out when they%26#39;re older. If you%26#39;re not LDS (we%26#39;re not), it can be a bit of a closed society at times. My 13 year old daughter always says that this is a great place to be FROM.
There%26#39;s not necessarily a lot to do in Idaho Falls proper, but we%26#39;re close to a lot of cool places. We%26#39;re centrally located between Sun Valley, Jackson, WY, Yellowstone National Park, Big Sky, Montana and Salt Lake City. Everything%26#39;s only a couple of hours away. The landscape is very wide open (we%26#39;re high desert), and we only get about 10-12 inches of precipitation a year. We do get a bunch of snow in the winter, but it has very low moisture content (great for skiing).
Housing prices are incredibly reasonable here. People moving up from California actually tend to over-pay because they don%26#39;t realize just how far their money can go in this area. Oh, and as far as being from California, don%26#39;t worry about it. We have lots of people here from all over the country (the Idaho National Laboratory nuclear site is outside of town, and it attracts scientists and engineers from everywhere - I%26#39;d estimate that at least a third of the population of this area is from somewhere else).
Since you%26#39;re going to be here next week, you%26#39;ll obviously get your own impressions during your visit. The weather is currently wonderful (70%26#39;s, no humidity). Try the Brownstone Brewery (on the falls) for dinner and have a great trip!
I%26#39;m getting so much great information it%26#39;s great keep it coming. To clear up confusion I said that%26#39;s were our jobs our because my wife is a nurse and I am a postman and we%26#39;ve pretty much secured jobs in whatever region we choose it%26#39;s now about deciding what is best for us. Though I am not morman I am very conservative which is one of the big factors pushing me out of CA, along with the heat, home prices, and bad air where I live. We%26#39;ve been researching this trip for a few years, we are young, our son is only 10 months old and we are really into good family values so we are about 95 percent sure we are moving there unless we totally hate it which I can%26#39;t see happening. My biggest concern is getting onto a road in the higher region that turns out to require chains or for some reason is closed due to snow, being from the hot valley here you dont deal with snow unless you go into the high country. I%26#39;m looking for a place where I can get a good size home with a couple of preferable wooded acres but at least a small parcel of land. I prefer cold to heat though my wife will have to adjust I think it will be good. Thank you so much for all the useful information it%26#39;s great that folks would take the time to help someone else, it seems to be a dying art here.
In terms of snow Boise generally has the least, Idaho Falls the next least, and Coeur d%26#39; Alene the most. Adapting to driving in snow isn%26#39;t than much of a problem. The public roads in North Idaho are well plowed and treated to make getting around fairly easy. In the 30+ years my family has lived in North Idaho they have never put chains on a car. Only if you were a considerable distance from a public road would you likely need chains at some point but it would be a rare event.
Since you%26#39;re leaving May 19th, you%26#39;ll have no problem with any roads, and as Dave mentioned, even in the winter, unless you live on a steep hill or some godforsaken spot (where you don%26#39;t want to live anyway), you should be fine with good snow tires. Some people switch their tires in winter to studded and then back to regular in Spring. I%26#39;ve never done that, but my wife does. Ideally, you will want a four wheel drive car, and if you%26#39;re thinking of buying a home with a few acres, you%26#39;ll probably be on a gravel or dirt road at least part of the way, so they%26#39;ll come in handy. You could make it without 4-wheel drive, but if you%26#39;re thinking of buying a new car anytime soon, get one with 4-wheel drive.
It is conservative up here, so you%26#39;ll enjoy that. There is also a strong emphasis on education, team sports for kids, and family get-togethers. I remember when we first moved here our family went to Stateline Speedway, which is a little race track here and it really felt like we were back in 1952 (even though I wasn%26#39;t around in 1952). It was really refreshing coming from Southern California.
I%26#39;ve heard Boise is very nice, but I suspect when you get up to Coeur d%26#39;Alene you%26#39;ll fall in love. Make sure you visit the little downtown area by the resort and I think you%26#39;ll be here late enough that the Lake cruises have started.
Also, as you may have read, salaries here are quite a bit less than in California, but fortunately for you guys, nurses are in demand and the pay difference is slight compared to other cities.
Have a great trip up to North Idaho.
It%26#39;s good to hear about the roads. I%26#39;m convinced I will prefer the CDA area over Idaho Falls just because I love the high country look more but it is easier for me to transfer to the Idaho Falls area so I have to consider that too. We do plan to get 4wd vehicles, Shoot I plan on buying one even if I stayed here so that%26#39;s not a problem. Fortuneately my wife will only lose about 1-2 dollars per hour from what she is making now according to the nurse recruiter. As for me postal service wages are the same all over except Alaska, Hawaii, and New York so I willl actually be better off. Anyways I thank all of you for your imput and feel free to post anything else you wish to post you have all been a great help to us and we are very excited about visiting your state and soon becoming your neighbors. The fact that it%26#39;s been 97 degrees here for the last three days is helping push us along lol.
I don%26#39;t think you need worry much about the winter roads, wherever you end up. I grew up in Twin Falls and lived there for 25 years or so, and in all that time I only remember one ice storm that made it impossible to get around... I believe that was in 1984. Yes, there is snow, but the dry desert air of the Great Basin gets it off the roads pretty quickly, leaving it where it belongs... on the lawns! I love the Coeur d%26#39;Alene/Sandpoint area, but southern Idaho%26#39;s proximity to the Sawtooths (incredible), Salt Lake City, the Utah mountains, and Yellowstone/Tetons can%26#39;t be beat either. For you, it will be a matter of personal preference. Have a great trip.
You have probably already came and left, but if it would be helpful, I work for a custom home builder in the Idaho Falls area, if you are interested in an estimate. Let me know!
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