Anyone live in Idaho??

Anyway, I digress.

I have older family members (mother and father) who are going to be a hard sell on moving to Idaho. My mother is dead-set against it. She says she wants to be near the ocean - whatever that means. My father is warming up to the idea, but he's not crazy about it.

My mom and my dad are the only family I have really, so I need to stay with them and look after them as they get older.

They would both be happy to move to Florida. It's warm and it's by the ocean. My problem with Florida is that Joel Skousen gave it a 0 rating in his book Strategic Relocation. It's a dangerous state to live in for many reasons. One is that it's a peninsula so there's one way in and one way out. Another reason is that during a collapse it will explode with chaos due to Miami. All the refugees from Miami will be looting the entire state when the monetary system collapses and they can't get food. Another problem with Florida is that you cannot really have a basement because it's so close to the water table. It is also susceptible to devastating hurricanes. You also really have no place to hide. It's comprised largely of swamp land. There are no mountains or woods to take refuge in, unlike Idaho. Another problem with Florida is that an escape route is the ocean, but if you go out into the ocean during a collapse your susceptible to pirates. Laws will be null and void at that time, and it will be the law of the jungle on the open ocean. Whoever has a bigger ship and more guns wins. It's a shame that so many Republicans are flocking to Florida. They are sitting ducks in the eyes of the government.

It's definitely a hard sell to convince my parents that Idaho, Utah or Montana is the place to be. I think they're intimidated because they don't know anyone there and the winters are quite harsh. I keep telling them that they can join a church group and they'll find a lot of friends quickly, but they're not buying it.

 

I guess I will weigh in here since I live in North Idaho and have been here going on 6 years...I live about 30 miles North of Coeur D'alene (CDA) on 5 acres. Yeah, I love it here. I will tell you the cost of property is insane right now, my place is close to 3X what I paid for it. Californian refugees are flooding the area and the property cost shows it. Not to worry, the Californians coming here are adamantly oppose to Leftist ideology even more so than the locals for the simple reason they have lived under it.

First, I know what you are going through. You have heard it's a nice place, with liked-minded people of common sense, beautiful nature but it's a harsh climate. All true, especially about the people. Crime is low mainly due to an armed populous, everyone is armed and many carrying regularly/constantly. It is not unusual to go to a Home Depot or your local store and see someone has their firearm strapped to their leg but note for every firearm you do see there will be 5-10 you don't see.

My opinion of my fellow Idahoans is while they may be a rowdy lot they also use logic and common sense and act accordingly. To give an example, early in the Summer it became know that Washington based ANTIFA was coming to make an example out of CDA. Long story short, the locals showed up, armed to the teeth, to assist guarding the streets and local shops - no ANTIFA and no problems. The Sheriff was besides himself and didn't care for it but the people were within their rights and behave lawfully. That is Idaho in my humble opinion.

Now, that isn't to say we don't have some Leftist whackos, we do, but very few and most live down South in the Boise area however...they are starting to creep up North also, especially in the school districts. The good news is people here have seen the results from other states so they start to clamp down on their crap immediately. Plus, we have some damn good like-minded representatives, at least the North does. We actually got a good Sheriff also who left California because of its insanity.

There is indeed a large LDS community in North Idaho. I, like you, didn't know anything about them until recently, at the radio club, we had an LDS person give us a briefing and...WOW! Talk about organized and prepared, so much so, that it scared the hell out of me - yes, they are that prepared and well organized. Now, after I know more, I am actually playing with the idea of joining their church because they indeed represent many of my values and beliefs and put action to their words.

Winters are harsh - thank goodness - because if not we would have more people coming here, it's that beautiful, lots of trees and clean water. One does get use to the winters and you will learn to prepare for them then they are not so troublesome.

In my opinion what makes Idaho so great is it's people. Yeah, they will not want to know you for a few years, that is true, but after you pay your dues, stick around a few years, and they get to know you (you're not trouble) then you will find them to be great with values and morals just like your own. It took me about 4 years to be truly accepted now I know about everyone on my road, all good people. Actually, I could have moved anywhere I wanted when I came back from overseas and like to think God had a hand in directing me here. After 6 years here, I now know why...

Message me (PM) if I can help....

 

I used to know a guy that was from Idaho ,, called him " Spud " . He eventually went back and helped his Ma and Pa ,, always said he missed it .
I understand you having to stick around and take care of your parents,, I'd do the same thing. But , you don't have to go all the way to Florida,, there some nice coastal areas all up and down the coast.
Find you a halfway point ,, VA. NC, SC , GA, ,, all have some nice areas. Im kinda partial tothe NC area myself . There's still a good bit of open land a little inland ,, and you stay far enough inland and you can have a basement.
But if you're dead set on Idaho ,, maybe make a trip out there ,, find a piece of property and start paying on it ,, while you're taking care of your parents. Depending on the property, you might could lease it out to farmers , cattle men ,, hunters , to help pay the taxes , or payments ,, till you make the final move out there . Just a thought . Good luck on your decisions .

 

@Bandit99 great info!

@fl4848 suggest you compare weather data, especially winter wise, between your neck of the woods and the Idaho panhandle as well as eastern Idaho. It may not be as far off what you already experience as you think. One thing, though, because Idaho is a ways from an ocean it will be a bit colder in the winter and hotter in the summer, so the extremes may be further apart.

 

It would benefit you to come and see it for yourself. My not bad, might be your horrible. Without a frame of reference you will have a hard time understanding, the advice you get. I love it here and would not have it any other way. Others move here and after one year they leave.

 

Wow, Bandit. That was a very thoughtful and informative post. You answered a lot of questions that I have been wondering about concerning Idaho. It makes a lot of sense to me that the Californians who have moved to Idaho are hardcore right-wingers. I am in the same boat, having lived under leftwing lunacy in Massachusetts. It teaches you to appreciate this country and its founding principles so much more. Especially when you see them eroding away.

I'm going to look into Coeur D'alene. I had consulted with a very active person in the prepper community and I believe he mentioned Coeur D'alene during our conversation. I love that everyone is actively carrying firearms. That's a wonderful thing. I think I might look into joining LDS as well. It sounds like an interesting religion and I certainly value their prepper ideologies.

 

Good ideas SB21! I view Idaho as the gold standard. I'd love to make the move out there. I think if I went ahead and purchased a piece of land out there and started living out there, my folks might follow me out regardless of their desire to live in Florida. I hate to force anything upon them, but I feel it's the safest place for them given the current geo-political climate.

To be perfectly candid, one part of me wonders if places like Idaho, Utah and Montana have the potential to become a modern day Alamo. The gov't is keen to where the patriots are at. If they focused their money, weapons and military on a state like Idaho or Utah, it could get really ugly. However, if the people are prepped to the teeth, they might have a fighting chance of surviving a full-out assault. Vietnam being a great example. The gov't scares me though, because you think of level of sophisticated weapons that they've developed that we don't even know about. Drone strikes, nukes, directed energy weapons, robots. Those are some tough things to go up against.

Yeah, the weather in Mass is certainly not fantastic. The winters are pretty cold and the summers are hot and humid. I'd imagine Idaho might be similar but with more extremes on either end, depending on where you're located.

I was a big time Forrest Fenn treasure hunter, so I've been to Montana about 10 times and a couple of those times I pass through Idaho. I also went on a road trip and drove through the lower portion of Idaho, and another time my friend and I were on a fly fishing trip and we were aiming for Alaska and we drove up through the Northern part of Idaho (which was insanely beautiful). I remember thinking when I drove up through the northern part of Idaho that this is really a hidden gem of a state. I was very thankful that the common knowledge of Idaho is that they grow potatoes. I think that's kept a lot of people out of the state.

But, with that said, these were just brief experiences with the state. I haven't spent extensive time there to know the seasons and meet the people. I'm an outdoorsy type of person, so I'm sure I'd love it. I love Republicans. I love the outdoors. I love traditional american values and I love freedom. That sounds like what Idaho is all about.

 

Much less humidity in the dryer southern and eastern portions. You will have humidity problems so long as you are close to Oceans or other large masses of water.

 

Yeah, it's probably best to stay out of the hospitals if at all possible.

 

Boise has really been growing, likely medical care, even without considering COVID, has been struggling to keep up. I was really surprised at much of I84 now runs along the Boise Metro area. Meridian as really gotten big! Pocatello has been almost explosive and Idaho Falls has also really grown.

 

i lived in n idaho a long time. now in the mo ozarks. this is a much better place for homesteading
and surviving. i too joined the LDS Church its wonderful and true. No long winters here and lots of
gun owners. low property price and taxes and you can bury on your own land.

 

You like the Ozarks better than Idaho?

What are some good survival location towns?

 

to much snow and ice in n idaho high land prices ozarks low land prices no building permits any where in s w mo is good
lots of springs and water we get 45 inches of rain can grow greens all year easily more deer more open land