contemplating a move to Idaho, looking for suggestions (Boise, Idaho Falls: renting, house)

[dgaines56]

My husband I will be retiring within the next 3 years. I have been researching places we want to move to when we retire. I have been looking at Montana but I think the winters will do us in and from what I understand, the wind can pick you up and carry you away! I told a friend I want to move somewhere where there are actually 4 seasons, lots of farmer's markets, craft shows, county fairs etc. and she said I just described Idaho. So I'm searching! We have lived on the Gulf Coast of Texas all our lives. We are used to summers of over 100 degree heat with 90% humidity and 100% mosquitos! The winters here are only about 2 months and if it gets really cold it might get in the high 20s but that is only during the night for about 1 day. I am 58 yrs and have seen snow 1 time and it was about calf deep and lasted 3 days. I am looking for recommendations of where are good places to look for a home. We will have retirement income so the job situation is not a factor. I walk 5 miles everyday, go biking when I can, and love fishing. I would love a place on about 2 or 3 acres close to a lake. I love the mountains (why I was checking out Montana). Is there a mountainous area in Idaho? We do plan on visiting, just need suggestions on where to start looking. We also plan on renting a place during the winter to make sure we can handle the cold before we actually purchase property.

[Shaner]

You are talking about CDA. I would almost say sandpoint as well, but winter up there is harsher than CDA. A couple of acres close to a lake won't be a problem, and tons of walking and biking is normal. Fishing is fantastic and we have a few mountains

[IdaD]

Stanley. The winters would be a slight adjustment from the gulf coast, but I'm sure you'd manage. Actually I'm kidding. What part of the state are you considering? Lakes with a reasonable winter climate would probably mean North Idaho. Central Idaho is more mountainous, remote and rugged, but the winters would be brutal. Southwest Idaho is really nice too and offers lots of sunshine, but it's also more populated and drier. Southeast Idaho has some benefits but religion can be an issue and the winters can be tough.

If you add more detail on what you're looking for that might help people offer better suggestions. What size city? How important are medical facilities and what counts as "close" in your book? Will you need easy access to an airport? Etc., etc...

[dgaines56]

Sorry, I typed that at work and had to make it fairly brief. I prefer small towns, but close enough to the larger cities. I live in a small town pop. 4500 but it only takes me 40 minutes to get to Houston. I guess I should make medical kinda important due to our age, but at the moment we are both healthy. I would love mountains and lakes, but if the winters are brutal, I doubt I could handle it. I have never in my life driven on snow or ice (would have to take lessons). I guess a better explanation would be "the hill country". Being on the coast, the landscape is flat as a pancake. Even hills would seem like mountains to me. I would like to try and find a house that is out of the city limits where I can sit out on my porch with my dogs and cats and enjoy the view of hills, trees and if I'm lucky a lake nearby and my closest neighbor is about a mile down the road. Here on the coast, the view is of chemical plants. That was one of the reasons we were also researching places in Montana, but the posters have really scared me with stories of brutal winters and constant high winds.

[pnw2016]

I would recommend splitting your trip into two parts, in order to get the most out of your Idaho experience. First, spend a few days in Boise. The beautiful and charming City of Boise is located in the southwest part of the state and situated in high desert terrain. Mountainous areas are about 45 minutes to an hour away. The Boise Towne Square Mall is probably the largest mall in the state. The Boise River Greenbelt walking trail runs through the heart of the city and spans a considerable distance.

After seeing Boise, go up to Coeur D'Alene (CDA) and spend a few days there. I would strongly encourage you to make the scenic drive from CDA to Sandpoint - then, proceed on to Clark Fork, Montana. Check out Sandpoint, while you're there. CDA hosts the Silver Lake Mall. However, the largest mall in the area is the Spokane Valley Mall, in neighboring Washington. Tubbs Hill Nature Trails seem to be the walker's choice in CDA.

I've only experienced Idaho during the month of May - but, I've already selected Boise as my "first alternate" to CDA, just in case I decide I can't handle the winters in CDA (not very likely, but possible). I've always been a huge contingency planner, and I feel that firsthand experience in both parts of the state give me a tremendous advantage in making comparative choices for my retirement home. That's why I'm suggesting that you see Boise and the cities of North Idaho before deciding which appeals to you the most.

I wish you the best of luck and a blissful retirement, whatever place you ultimately choose...

[banjomike]

You probably didn't catch the reference to Stanley.
Stanley is a small town in the middle of, arguably, Idaho's most beautiful mountains. The the worst of our mountains are better than anything in Texas by a far mile.
Stanley is also often the coldest spot in the nation. Stanley hits the evening weather report about twice a winter as the nations coldest. The town's population is about 350-400 people, counting the nearby ranches.

It's about 6800 feet elevation, can drop to freezing any time of the year at nights, and can go as low as -55 in the winter. But just about anywhere in Idaho can drop to -20 in the winter, and often does for a few days. An average winter hovers around freezing from November to mid-March here, but by March, usually warms into the 40s and 50s.

That said, the truth is Idaho is no colder on average than Montana, Wyoming, most of Utah, the Dakotas, or Colorado. Winters in the west are cold, period, and are a fact of life. Much depends on elevation, but there are very few spots here that could be called temperate in the wintertime.

But winters are dry here. The cold at 10% humidity is not like the cold at 40% or more.

The upside is the other 3 seasons are particularly wonderful. Summers are dry and moderate with a hot spell in the middle, and fall is the best of all. Typically we have a killing freeze in September, then it warms back up again for about 4-6 weeks of Indian Summer.

This is the most mountainous state in the lower 48. Throw a dart at a map of Idaho and you'll hit a mountain, except in the middle of the southern half of the state. That's all high semi-arid steppe surrounded by mountains.

If you want lakes, N. Idaho is the place. Pine trees are everywhere here, but the southern half has the sagebrush. If you want a metro, Boise is the only one in the state. If you want an easy drive to the most spectacular spots in the state, Yellowstone and Teton Park, and lots of medical services, S.E. Idaho is it, and if you want open landscape and mile-deep canyons, S.W. Idaho is the spot. Most towns in Idaho are 20,000 or less, with many smaller, sometimes much smaller.

Folks here all do lots of outdoor activities because wilderness is only about 30 minutes or less from anywhere. We have a lot of wild game, a lot of fish, and a lot of things to do outdoors here all year round.

Housing is relatively cheap, especially in Idaho Falls, where, for various reasons, the market has been especially good for quite a while. Wages are low, jobs are hard to find in spots all over the state, and folks are friendly all over.

[StarrySkiesAbove]

Stanley is gorgeous and cold. Snowed on us camping at the end of June several years ago. Fortunately we were prepared gear wise and having grown up in Gunnison Colorado (another very cold locale) we were not surprised but dang that is some wondrously beautiful country!

[dgaines56]

I appreciate all the responses. I have waited almost 60 years to find the perfect spot I want to live. I do love Texas and have lived here all my life, but I love the 4 seasons and we don't get that here. You basically have summer, 2 months of winter, 2 months of spring and then summer again. Fall is my favorite time of year and we just don't have that. Halloween and Thanksgiving are spent in shorts and 80 degree weather. Kids don't wear halloween costumes because they are sweating so much behind the masks. Husband is still pushing for Montana. My only concern about Montana is it seems it is just the opposite of Texas. No spring or fall, just a short summer then winter. I'm also concerned about the winds. A lot of posters on the Montana site complain that the winds are horrible and that it is always cold overcast and miserable there. Plus, I can get a lot more house for my money in Idaho than I can in Montana. We plan on visiting a couple of times in the next 3 years and driving through the state. Any other suggestions anyone might have that will help me, please post them.
Thanks,
Denise

[Cnynrat]

We went through a similar process over the past several years since our choice of retirement location came down to north Idaho or a few locations in Montana. Montana is a big place, and I think you will find quite a wide variation between one location and another. Where in Montana are you thinking about? For example, Billings is a lot different than the Flathead Valley, just to pick a couple locations.

For us the "Final 3" were north Idaho, Flathead Valley in MT, or the Missoula area in MT. There were many considerations why we choose Idaho. Chief among them was that we very much felt at home in north Idaho, something that is very difficult to explain, but both of have that feeling every time we are there. As we went through our search process we had a number of people tell us something along the lines of "When you find your place you will know it." As a hyper-analytical engineer that didn't sound like a good basis for making a decision, but in the end it was probably they most important factor. You'll have to come spend some time in your candidate locations to see if you get that feeling anywhere.

There were a couple climate related factors that bear mentioning since you seem to be wrestling that that issue. First, if you look at the "growing season" in these areas you'll find that it's about 20-25 days longer in north Idaho compared to northwest Montana, which amounts to a 20% longer period. In this context I'm using the period of time where you have a 95% probability of no below freezing temps as the "growing season." Winters will be long in both areas, but we felt that this was a significant difference in favor of north Idaho.

The second climate related factor was rainfall. Most areas of MT get about 15-18" of rain per year, whereas north Idaho is 25"+. We thought that was a good thing. In north Idaho forests you find douglas fir, grand fir, western red cedar, as well as a variety of pine species. Montana forests are much more likely to be primarily lodgepole and ponderosa pine, particularly as you travel further east. Ponderosa pine in particular is a relatively drought tolerant species. For a variety of reasons we preferred the wetter climate of north Idaho to the drier climate of MT.

Good luck!

Dave