Northern Idaho?

[INTJ]

It's looking like I might have a great job opportunity in Spokane, which means I could live in Post Falls, ID. I currently live in Oregon and both my wife and I are very tied of living in a blue state. Oregon used to be an awesome place but is so liberal now that it's ruined and declining.

In Northern Idaho I would still be able to shoot LR BR and would have better hunting opportunities. Fishing may not be quite as good.

What I am most concerned about is the hassle of snow. I have lived all over the US and even overseas, but every place I have lived had wet, heavy snow that would shut things down for a while. Two years ago I shoveled 16" out of my 1800 sq ft, 15 degree sloped driveway and it took several days. It was back breaking work.

So moving to a place that gets 40" of snow a year seems like a lot of work and hassle.

Thoughts?

 

[joshb]

Move! Just buy a good snowblower! They make clearing snow fun!

 

[INTJ]

Have fun. Oh why live in Idaho. They have a Sales and income tax whereas Wa. doesn't have a income tax.

While the Spokane area is conservative, WA is run by bats--t crazy progressives just like Oregon. Idaho is one of the reddest states.

Also, the overall all tax burden is slightly lower in ID than WA.

 

[INTJ]

Thanks for the link!

 

[edwardware]

What I am most concerned about is the hassle of snow. I have lived all over the US and even overseas, but every place I have lived had wet, heavy snow that would shut things down for a while. Two years ago I shoveled 16" out of my 1800 sq ft, 15 degree sloped driveway and it took several days. It was back breaking work.

So moving to a place that gets 40" of snow a year seems like a lot of work and hassle.

Thoughts?

You did it wrong. That's like stopping gardening because planting a row of corn with a teaspoon took a week.

It's just snow. Buy the equipment, buy the clothes, buy extra wheels for snow tires, move the snow, and go. I grew up in the Northeast (I'm a damn yankee, I know) and it's what you do on winter; I'd go back in a moment but for the lunatic Marxists. . .

I ended up getting this for the following winter which made it a lot easier.

Err. . . I think you put it on the wrong end. . .

 

[ronsatspokane]

The great Inland Empire (as we call it) is populated by hardy individuals. Anyone who complains about snow is forced to turn in their man card.

Seriously though, as with anywhere, there are pluses and minuses. If your activities are outdoor oriented then you will like it here. If taking a town car to the opera followed by dinner at a 5 star Michelin restaurant is your thing, then not so much. There will be times during some winters where you want to jump on an airplane and go someplace where you can get a little heat in your bones. There will be times during some summers where you want to jump on an airplane and go someplace to cool down.

The thing to realize is that the bulk of the population of North Idaho and much of the Spokane area are no longer native to the area. There are refugees from CA, OR, western WA, many other parts of the country and around the world. And currently this whole area is suffering from a population explosion. I worked at a shake mill in Post Falls while I was in college. There was nothing there at the time. Post Falls is now mostly one large housing development between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. It won't be long before it is one city between the two. The traffic these days gets bad around rush hour between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene as well as up Hwy 95 out of Coeur d'Alene toward Athol.

Idaho has both an income and sales tax. WA has sales and property taxes. Most of the taxes are lower than other parts of the US. I live on the WA side in the Peoples Republic of WA. Fortunately the border to America is only 15 miles east. Due to sin taxes in WA I buy my booze, smokes, lead and gun cotton over in America. Depending on where in Spokane your job opportunity is, you may want to choose the WA side. I live just outside the city on property but the city is coming my way very rapidly. Now that I am retired I may one day move further out or maybe even further north in Idaho (like Sandpoint) or over to western Montana. Not in a hurry at this point though.

 

[LoganDon]

Lived in Post Falls for 5 years, loved it. Do not move north of the SNOW LINE! Deer elk birds everywhere. You will love it but you do need a snow blower.

 

[INTJ]

Lived in Post Falls for 5 years, loved it. Do not move north of the SNOW LINE! Deer elk birds everywhere. You will love it but you do need a snow blower.

Where is the snow line?

 

[INTJ]

The great Inland Empire (as we call it) is populated by hardy individuals. Anyone who complains about snow is forced to turn in their man card.

Seriously though, as with anywhere, there are pluses and minuses. If your activities are outdoor oriented then you will like it here. If taking a town car to the opera followed by dinner at a 5 star Michelin restaurant is your thing, then not so much. There will be times during some winters where you want to jump on an airplane and go someplace where you can get a little heat in your bones. There will be times during some summers where you want to jump on an airplane and go someplace to cool down.

The thing to realize is that the bulk of the population of North Idaho and much of the Spokane area are no longer native to the area. There are refugees from CA, OR, western WA, many other parts of the country and around the world. And currently this whole area is suffering from a population explosion. I worked at a shake mill in Post Falls while I was in college. There was nothing there at the time. Post Falls is now mostly one large housing development between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. It won't be long before it is one city between the two. The traffic these days gets bad around rush hour between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene as well as up Hwy 95 out of Coeur d'Alene toward Athol.

Idaho has both an income and sales tax. WA has sales and property taxes. Most of the taxes are lower than other parts of the US. I live on the WA side in the Peoples Republic of WA. Fortunately the border to America is only 15 miles east. Due to sin taxes in WA I buy my booze, smokes, lead and gun cotton over in America. Depending on where in Spokane your job opportunity is, you may want to choose the WA side. I live just outside the city on property but the city is coming my way very rapidly. Now that I am retired I may one day move further out or maybe even further north in Idaho (like Sandpoint) or over to western Montana. Not in a hurry at this point though.

That's my problem here in Oregon. Most of the people here were not born here but are from California. They turned a very red state to very view in a short time.

 

[Brians356]

That's my problem here in Oregon. Most of the people here were not born here but are from California. They turned a very red state to very view in a short time.

Well, Idaho is nearly the fasted-growing state, the Boise area in particular. And, guess what? Most newcomers are coming from blue states. Idaho used to be darker red on the political maps. It's not inconceivable that Idaho becomes "purple" in a few years if the influx of newbies continues at the current pace. This already happened to Nevada, which was the fastest-growing state for much of the past several decades, with most newbies coming from Kalifornia.

PS I grew up in Lewiston.
-

 

[INTJ]

Well, Idaho is nearly the fasted-growing state, the Boise area in particular. And, guess what? Most newcomers are coming from blue states. Idaho used to be darker red on the political maps. It's not inconceivable that Idaho becomes "purple" in a few years if the influx of newbies continues at the current pace. This already happened to Nevada, which was the fastest-growing state for much of the past several decades, with most newbies coming from Kalifornia.

PS I grew up in Lewiston.
-

Chances are the newbies coming from blue states to Idaho, especially Northern Idaho, are primarily conservative like me. There are a lot of warmer weather places libs can escape to from Cali. They are flooding my area of Oregon now.....

 

[joshb]

Yeah! They’re flocking to Texas!:-(

 

[Willow]

Cerus Rifleworks are based in Idaho at least! If you move there, I'll ask you kindly send me a Cerus XR to Australia!

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Chances are the newbies coming from blue states to Idaho, especially Northern Idaho, are primarily conservative like me. There are a lot of warmer weather places libs can escape to from Cali. They are flooding my area of Oregon now.....

I was born and raised in north-central Idaho (Lewiston). Weather in the Northwest has been a natural barrier to mass immigration from the blue states. It doesn't seem to be working any longer. Your supposition that blue state refugees "are primarily conservative" has proven itself wrong, time after time. Like with Oregon, Washington, Boise area, Coeur d' Alene area, Sandpoint area and Montana, they flee the utopia they have created because it has become uninhabitable, then they go right to work politically turning their new location into exactly the same morass. One advantage here has been that they move here in the good weather, then the 7-9 months of inclement and ever-changing weather hits. After one or more winters here, about two out of three have gone packing for another location in the past. I watch in my neighborhood as houses go off and on the market about yearly, with new vehicles with California plates moving in, buying Idaho plates, and in a year or so moving out. It is our only defense against what I can only characterize as the California infection. Still, too many are now not moving out. Perhaps they have exhausted the alternatives?

 

[JFrank]

@INTJ
Like I said earlier
We have snow plows on our trucks over here.
No worries come on over.

 

[INTJ]

I was born and raised in north-central Idaho (Lewiston). Weather in the Northwest has been a natural barrier to mass immigration from the blue states. It doesn't seem to be working any longer. Your supposition that blue state refugees "are primarily conservative" has proven itself wrong, time after time. Like with Oregon, Washington, Boise area, Coeur d' Alene area, Sandpoint area and Montana, they flee the utopia they have created because it has become uninhabitable, then they go right to work politically turning their new location into exactly the same morass. One advantage here has been that they move here in the good weather, then the 7-9 months of inclement and ever-changing weather hits. After one or more winters here, about two out of three have gone packing for another location in the past. I watch in my neighborhood as houses go off and on the market about yearly, with new vehicles with California plates moving in, buying Idaho plates, and in a year or so moving out. It is our only defense against what I can only characterize as the California infection. Still, too many are now not moving out. Perhaps they have exhausted the alternatives?

Makes my point. Most of the people who stay aren't libs. They stay in Oregon.

 

[Will Henry]

I was born and spent most of my formative years in North Idaho. It is so crowded there now I can hardly stand to visit but it is kind of getting that way everywhere, I guess.
About thirty years ago, I was in a little store in Sandpoint. A smartly dressed woman was was complaining about the people living in the community around where they had built their big new house and voicing her opinion regarding the need for stricter building codes. There was a big, rough looking old man waiting to pay. He looked down at her and said, "I can think of a good alternative ma'am. You could pack up and haul your ass back to California where you'll feel more at home."
Some years, there's significant snow but mostly, it's pretty manageable. WH

 

[AckleymanII]

You know, you can get used to snow. However, you can not get used to bat S...t Crazy democrats and socialists(Marxists) with the sky rocketing taxes that go along with!

 

[10XSHOOTER]

Buy a Tractor!

 

[ronsatspokane]

I was born and raised in north-central Idaho (Lewiston). Weather in the Northwest has been a natural barrier to mass immigration from the blue states. It doesn't seem to be working any longer. Your supposition that blue state refugees "are primarily conservative" has proven itself wrong, time after time. Like with Oregon, Washington, Boise area, Coeur d' Alene area, Sandpoint area and Montana, they flee the utopia they have created because it has become uninhabitable, then they go right to work politically turning their new location into exactly the same morass. One advantage here has been that they move here in the good weather, then the 7-9 months of inclement and ever-changing weather hits. After one or more winters here, about two out of three have gone packing for another location in the past. I watch in my neighborhood as houses go off and on the market about yearly, with new vehicles with California plates moving in, buying Idaho plates, and in a year or so moving out. It is our only defense against what I can only characterize as the California infection. Still, too many are now not moving out. Perhaps they have exhausted the alternatives?

Sandpoint and Couer d'Alene are the very definition of blue these days. And the cold weather is not to blame. The little town of Hope east of Sandpoint has mega mansions owned by Hollywood stars dotting the north shore of Pend Oreille lake. Much the same along the shores of Couer d'Alene lake.