Driggs for Retirement (Arco: 2014, living, tickets)

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

You might also check the Star Valley area of Wyoming, and south of Jackson. Driggs is a nice little place, but I don't know that I could retire there personally. I've already done the four-hours round trip to do any shopping or to keep any appointments with specialists or even a decent dentist.


I think if I were in your shoes, I would look at some "fair-sized" cities in the west and look at the outlying areas. All of the cities I listed below have very sparsely populated outlying areas and towns where you're 20 minutes away from everything you'd need for services. All have plenty of mountain views and opportunities for recreation nearby... hiking, biking, lakes and streams, etc. "Fair-sized" is in quotations because these are all fairly small cities (except for Spokane) by eastern standards.


Bozeman, MT
Missoula, MT
Kalispell/Whitefish/Big Fork MT
Rapid City, SD (although slammed with tourists all summer)
Corvallis, OR
Salem, OR
Eugene, OR
Bend, OR
Spokane WA/CdA, ID
Leavenworth, WA
Boulder, CO
Grand Junction, CO
Evergreen, CO
Glenwood Springs, CO


If you're a property owner that will be selling in Asheville, any of these areas will be lower in price for real estate. Again, Driggs is great but there are so many other awesome places out west. Rexburg and ID Falls aren't really places I would look forward to traveling to for services. I've been there, done that since I used to have to drive two hours (in good weather) to Billings, MT (not exactly a gem of a place) to get anything not available at Walmart.

Rexburg is 50 miles from Driggs, Idaho Falls 75 miles from Driggs. If a person lives in Star Valley, WY, they will still have to drive to either Rexburg or Idaho Falls for the same reasons. Jackson has limited services which a person in Driggs can also utilize.

What's wrong with travelling to Rexburg or Idaho Falls for services? Idaho Falls is a major regional center and has a lot of shopping options and is a nice little city. It is all the same region, the Tetons can be seen from I.F. and Rexburg.

[EyeOnMadisonStreet]

Noticed the large hispanic population in Driggs. What do they do there?

[dcisive]

For what it's worth I happen to know that the hospitals in both Idaho Falls AND Rexburg are excellent and very much capable of pretty much anything you could possibly need. They are especially renowned for their Cardiology and Orthopedic departments. My wife had a major back surgery in Rexburg and they were amazing. For those in the retirement realm I would expect you'd need to consider that.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by EyeOnMadisonStreet

Noticed the large hispanic population in Driggs. What do they do there?

They mostly work the surrounding farm fields.
Idaho's about 25% Hispanic, so they work in many other jobs than just agriculture. Even so, S.E. Idaho has a lot of large and productive farms, and the Hispanics as a group have always liked farm work. They have been a major farm labor source for 50 years or more here, and throughout the state.

[NW Crow]

Some might commute into Jackson Wyoming too. Construction, hospitality, whatever. Some households might have commuters going both directions to Idaho Falls area and Jackson. Parents, kids, other relatives & friends. Driggs has some hospitality, construction and whatever too. Different jobs go to the willing & able at the offered terms.

Beyond job considerations, some may prefer that small town / rural setting for various reasons over closer to or in IF. Housing costs and / or appreciation opportunities. Small parcel land availability? Smaller schools? Separation from ag worker scene? Separation in other ways? Small business opportunities in a younger, perhaps more open, less crowded / locked down market? Lots of possibilities. It is a tiny minority of a minority in the area that has chosen Driggs for whatever mix of reasons over the more common locations.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by banjomike

They mostly work the surrounding farm fields.
Idaho's about 25% Hispanic, so they work in many other jobs than just agriculture. Even so, S.E. Idaho has a lot of large and productive farms, and the Hispanics as a group have always liked farm work. They have been a major farm labor source for 50 years or more here, and throughout the state.

Same thing can be said about Caldwell?:

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by dcisive

For what it's worth I happen to know that the hospitals in both Idaho Falls AND Rexburg are excellent and very much capable of pretty much anything you could possibly need. They are especially renowned for their Cardiology and Orthopedic departments. My wife had a major back surgery in Rexburg and they were amazing. For those in the retirement realm I would expect you'd need to consider that.

Ditto for chiropractic treatments and dentistry?

[blazenjames]

Driggs is freezing cold. Summer destination but other than that no way.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Same thing can be said about Caldwell?:

This thread is about Driggs, not Caldwell.
Let's keep it that way.

If you want to ask questions about Caldwell, start a new topic in the Boise subforum or revive an old topic on Caldwell there.

[nm9stheham]

The Driggs up to Ashton ID area is big for potatoes. Interestingly, the big use of those potatoes is for seed potatoes. The colder climate keeps some of the rusts and other diseases that effect potatoes at bay in that region, so potatoes grown there don't end up being a source of crop disease.

My wife and I spent some time looking there; the lady real estate agent's children were well grown and all raised there; 20 and more years ago, the schools would let out for 1-2 weeks in the fall to allow the children to help with the potato harvest. Not sure if that is done anymore.

Driggs is not a mere farming community anymore. It is not large but now has a lot of well established businesses that are only a step below that in Idaho Falls. You can get most everything in Driggs that you can get in Jackson except the high prices. There is a good Albertson's grocery store, hardware and lumber supply, auto parts stores, and other shopping. It is becoming a lot more 'settled', and has more and more retirement folks and folks working in Jackson. (Personally, it is more settled than I want, but is still really a small developing town.) There is a ski-slope very close, in Alta WY, which lies on the Driggs side of the Tetons. Driggs has a nice airport but not commercial service. Jackson is the closest busy airport.

Driggs sits in a broad flat valley about 8-10 miles wide (hence the ag history) and between the western Tetons in the east side and the 'I-forget-their-name' mountains on the west. (LOL) So it is pretty scenic.

As for cold, that is all in the individual. Driggs is up around 6000' but I would find it just fine.

House prices have been dragged upward with the general market and the nearness of Jackson has also pushed the Driggs areas house prices up some above where they would otherwise be.