report from central Idaho -

[CT10ring]

Whats the demographics like in idaho?

more cattle than people?

 

[centerlineseal]

We have ancient Indian pictographs, ... but I haven't found any demon graphics yet. Maybe in the Idaho Statesman, which we refer to as the "Mistaken"!

 

[Papa Charlie]

We considered Idaho for retirement, only problem with Idaho is the cold weather and very little to no F-Class matches. We can't wait to get out of Washington, the politics here is driving me nuts. Not sure that our current destination, Oregon Coast, is any better but I grew up there and have dreamed of moving back for a long time. Trying to stay in the mid to Northern coast so that all the matches around Portland won't be a huge trek. Small town is critical, but has to have good medical facilities and not too far from resources.

Glad you found your piece of heaven.

 

[riverwolf1]

Papa Charlie, you are not going to escape liberal politics moving to Oregon, matter of fact it may be even worse than where you at! The state of OR has adopted many policy’s from both CA and WA. and it surely will get worse as more of the liberals from both states continue to move in.
I had a buddy that moved to Roseburg OR and for a small town it really had a great deal of medical facilities available. He passed a couple of years ago, but he liked it there. He did tell me on many occasions that he had to go through a lot of people/applicants for jobs at his fitness places, because 7 out of every 10 people tested positive for drugs or had arrest records and I am talking females, because it was a woman’s fitness facility.
Good luck, with your move.

 

[Papa Charlie]

Papa Charlie, you are not going to escape liberal politics moving to Oregon, matter of fact it may be even worse than where you at! The state of OR has adopted many policy’s from both CA and WA. and it surely will get worse as more of the liberals from both states continue to move in.
I had a buddy that moved to Roseburg OR and for a small town it really had a great deal of medical facilities available. He passed a couple of years ago, but he liked it there. He did tell me on many occasions that he had to go through a lot of people/applicants for jobs at his fitness places, because 7 out of every 10 people tested positive for drugs or had arrest records and I am talking females, because it was a woman’s fitness facility.
Good luck, with your move.

Thank you for the information and well wishes. Yes, I am aware of the politics there. But the state is still relatively small, at least for now, which I believes limits their power. Also the lack of business there keeps wages fairly low so they don't over tax like they do in Washington and California. We escaped California in 2010.
We have looked at the towns and cities along the I-5 corridor. The problem with anything along I-5 is the amount of crime. It is a great resource for criminals to hit and run. Additionally, there is the temperature swings from summer to winter. Neither of us do well with excessive heat and I mean anything over 75 degrees.
Hence the desire to wind up on the coast. Temperatures are pretty temperate there. Yes more rain but I don't mind the rain too much, after all I grew up in Tillamook. Back then we averaged 110 inches a rain, now down to around 80.

 

[drover]

more cattle than people?

There was an article in Range magazine about 4 or 5 years ago about the county and it was titled "29,000 cows - 4000 people" and that seemed about right to me at the time. I think there are a few less cattle now because of out-of-state (b)millionaires having bought quite a few of the larger ranches and taking cattle off of them and are operating them as hobby ranches with fewer cows on them. Then there is also the issue of the Forest Service and BLM heavily restricting grazing on the property they control making it very difficult to have a viable ranch operation, especially since the county is 5000 sq miles and 97% Federal or State land.

A lot of folks come here thinking they have found Paradise but after a couple of bad winters of having to fight the cold and snow the reality begins to kick in. There is the issue of it being a 100 miles to the nearest hospital care which becomes a real problem as one ages and needs more medical care. But probably the biggest issue is when the wife realizes it is 150 miles to the nearest Walmart or any other shopping, and depending on where you live it may be 30 - 40 miles just to the closest place to buy a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread, it takes a fair amount of planning to get by here on a daily basis. Then there is the "cabin fever" issue - this time of year we generally go out to Idaho Falls or Missoula for a day or two just to see the 'tall buildings and bright iights".

While the idea of living in a place like this may seem like a dream area to a lot of folks unless you have a Forest Service/BLM job or something similar most jobs have no benefits and pay $8 - $10 per hour, as a consequence like most rural areas, the young folks or those who want a better like leave the area.

 

[CT10ring]

you nailed it all, as I understand... it's a ways to anywhere. I take my firewood splitting, availability & remaining cords seriously. it's cold.

 

[CT10ring]

Whats the demographics like in idaho?

custer county: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer_County,_Idaho

 

[drover]

CT10ring - My post this morning was not to discourage you and your enthusiasm for the area but it was meant more for the folks who read the thread and think that they would like to live here or a similar area. It was to point out that although it is a Heaven or Paradise when one reads about it on a forum in fact it is a very difficult place to live and more so to make a living. You have no idea how many folks who have become enamored of the area only to find out it is not quite the vision they may have thought it was.
I have a friend who is a real estate salesman in Kalispel, Montana (Kalispel draws hundreds of thousand of people through it in the summer on their way to Gracier Park) as he has often said - people come here and see it the summer and think it is the place of their dream, I sell them a house then they move here and spend a winter or two shoveling snow, being depressed by the gray skies and then sell out - I get to sell the same house again.
I have seen the same thing occur here time after time here, folks move in with great expectations and then the reality of it all hits them. I hope that this does not happen to you, you seem like a genuinely good person who is happy to be here - as I said it is more of a warning to folks who are thinking of doing the same thing here or a similar place - if you are take your time, take a look at it in more than one season and think about how the things I mentioned in my earlier post may affect you.

drover

 

[CT10ring]

Hey all good, I agree/understand 100% with your thoughts, reasoning. And yeah it's a different time now-winter.

 

[bluealtered]

drover you have expressed it very well. We have people move here all the time who drive through here during the summer when it nice and beautiful, then move here and get to deal with our ice covered winter(s) and the two passes you must use to get out of here during the winter that are closed on a regular basis, sometimes for days or longer.
If they make it two winters here and still have a smile on their face, then there's a good chance they will stay. One key factor here for people my age is we have life flight, a very good thing when you need help. We have a small hospital here but there's only so much they can do. There are big city hospitals within airtime distances when the weather is flyable, a 45 minute flight to Boise took me over 75 minutes in very poor flying condition's one winter in a life flight copter.
Would i move because of that, ... Never.