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I'm new to this forum, but have seen a lot of posts regarding internet speeds and how inconsistent they can be in North Idaho. The FCC has a website that will let you search for what broadband providers are available by zip code.
appreciate the helpfulness, but zip codes in Idaho are very large and that is not a very good tool.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that point. The tool is actually fairly accurate because all broadband providers are required to submit this data to the FCC. The tool displays data by census block which is a much smaller area than a zip code. There are thousands of census blocks in North Idaho and most along the 90 & 95 corridors are relatively small. If you do live in a large census block, a broadband provider may not service every home in that block, so the tool isn't 100% accurate. If you're looking for a place 20 miles from the nearest paved road, the tool may not accurately reflect your broadband options, but if you're looking for a house in a typical neighborhood, it's probably 90% - 95% accurate.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that point. The tool is actually fairly accurate because all broadband providers are required to submit this data to the FCC. The tool displays data by census block which is a much smaller area than a zip code. There are thousands of census blocks in North Idaho and most along the 90 & 95 corridors are relatively small. If you do live in a large census block, a broadband provider may not service every home in that block, so the tool isn't 100% accurate. If you're looking for a place 20 miles from the nearest paved road, the tool may not accurately reflect your broadband options, but if you're looking for a house in a typical neighborhood, it's probably 90% - 95% accurate.
Not trying to sound appreciative, but you have 2 posts and it doesnt seem like you are from N Idaho, or else you would understand our geography and layout. You could be on a main paved road and not have access to cable or DSL because they never expended out. So again, it may be helpful in some areas of the country, but here, it is not.
Not trying to sound appreciative, but you have 2 posts and it doesnt seem like you are from N Idaho, or else you would understand our geography and layout. You could be on a main paved road and not have access to cable or DSL because they never expended out. So again, it may be helpful in some areas of the country, but here, it is not.
Ain't that the truth. Brand new lovely 5 lane in front of my house within a mile or less of the city boundary of 3 cities and NO Spectrum.
I'd like to visit CDA next year and this has been a very informative thread. Hope the OP provides an update if they decide to move there.
This is a great thread and I appreciate all the insight from everyone who has chimed in! I'm the OP and we are on our way to CdA this month from San Diego. We haven't decided the exact location we'll end up calling home (Rathdrum, CdA, etc) but we'll know in a few weeks. Everyone we have met or talked to there has been extremely generous with their time and very helpful.
When we land and pick a spot, I'll make sure to update this thread with our experience.
I see a lot of various post of folks looking to relocate to CDA and other Idaho towns. Looking for some insight from locals and transplants alike, especially anyone who has moved from SoCal. We would be moving from San Diego if we did this.
We are considering a move out of California for a number of reasons (political, costs, taxes, pace of life, geo, etc). I'm born and raised in North San Diego and my wife is from Seattle. We have 4 kids (11,9,7,4) and we are part of a public charter homeschool which we love. I work from home. We love to camp and love the outdoors. I miss skiing/snowboarding so would enjoy that in the winter.
I'll be honest... the weather in San Diego is perfect 95% of the year. 70 degrees and sunny just about everyday. My wife and I want 4 seasons, want some rain (not seattle rain!), want some snow, etc. But we're the first to say we've visited the snow but never had to shovel it day in and day out. The longer winters concern us a bit but willing to give it shot. I realize nowhere is going to match the weather we have now. We are spoiled but we pay for it. We definitely want more weather than we have now though. Rain is a good thing actually.
Even though we're in SoCal now, we're in a more country part of San Diego. It's very brown here though and never rains. The beach is nice but we rarely go. We love the PNW green, the water, weather, etc. I would say we are country folks, love land and space, quiet location, little to no crowds, no traffic, etc. We deal w/ a lot of people, traffic and business here that we don't like anymore.
The reality is we would like to relocate out of CA. It's not sustainable for us anymore, although it's home and we're somewhat comfortable here. While we are fairly open to locations to move to, our family is all on the west coast... from Seattle to San Diego, even some in Spokane too. With that in mind, we're thinking west of the Rockies only at this time.
We visited CDA (summer) and it was beautiful. We're somewhat familiar w/ Spokane winters but have never lived there. Closest was Seattle. The winters do scare me a little but only b/c I have no real experience living it. We love the snow, I can drive in it just fine and we would do our best to enjoy the winter activities... and also hunker down and enjoy a slower life too.
San Diego quality of life is good. Great schools near us, air is clean, weather is great, stores are good... but unfortunately, it's in CA.
The plan would be to rent our place here in SD, rent a place in CDA and give it a year. If we love it, we make the perm move. If not, we either go back to SD or find somewhere else.
The things that would be important to us:
- Good community of people, strong community feel
- Access to good schools
- Good grocery stores (hey, you gotta eat!)
- Slower pace of life, more down home feel (people here are so busy, hard to connect at times)
- Outdoor activities (camp, hike, shoot, ski, bike, swim)
- Gotta be green. We are tired of the brown.
- Good restaurants (both kid friendly and ones for date night)
Would love to hear from locals and transplants. Thanks for your time reading this.
I’m literally in the same exact boat as you minus the snow sports. I just like to look at it . I live in Fallbrook rural part of north San Diego. Interested in what you decide
I see a lot of various post of folks looking to relocate to CDA and other Idaho towns. Looking for some insight from locals and transplants alike, especially anyone who has moved from SoCal. We would be moving from San Diego if we did this.
We are considering a move out of California for a number of reasons (political, costs, taxes, pace of life, geo, etc). I'm born and raised in North San Diego and my wife is from Seattle. We have 4 kids (11,9,7,4) and we are part of a public charter homeschool which we love. I work from home. We love to camp and love the outdoors. I miss skiing/snowboarding so would enjoy that in the winter.
I'll be honest... the weather in San Diego is perfect 95% of the year. 70 degrees and sunny just about everyday. My wife and I want 4 seasons, want some rain (not seattle rain!), want some snow, etc. But we're the first to say we've visited the snow but never had to shovel it day in and day out. The longer winters concern us a bit but willing to give it shot. I realize nowhere is going to match the weather we have now. We are spoiled but we pay for it. We definitely want more weather than we have now though. Rain is a good thing actually.
Even though we're in SoCal now, we're in a more country part of San Diego. It's very brown here though and never rains. The beach is nice but we rarely go. We love the PNW green, the water, weather, etc. I would say we are country folks, love land and space, quiet location, little to no crowds, no traffic, etc. We deal w/ a lot of people, traffic and business here that we don't like anymore.
The reality is we would like to relocate out of CA. It's not sustainable for us anymore, although it's home and we're somewhat comfortable here. While we are fairly open to locations to move to, our family is all on the west coast... from Seattle to San Diego, even some in Spokane too. With that in mind, we're thinking west of the Rockies only at this time.
We visited CDA (summer) and it was beautiful. We're somewhat familiar w/ Spokane winters but have never lived there. Closest was Seattle. The winters do scare me a little but only b/c I have no real experience living it. We love the snow, I can drive in it just fine and we would do our best to enjoy the winter activities... and also hunker down and enjoy a slower life too.
San Diego quality of life is good. Great schools near us, air is clean, weather is great, stores are good... but unfortunately, it's in CA.
The plan would be to rent our place here in SD, rent a place in CDA and give it a year. If we love it, we make the perm move. If not, we either go back to SD or find somewhere else.
The things that would be important to us:
- Good community of people, strong community feel
- Access to good schools
- Good grocery stores (hey, you gotta eat!)
- Slower pace of life, more down home feel (people here are so busy, hard to connect at times)
- Outdoor activities (camp, hike, shoot, ski, bike, swim)
- Gotta be green. We are tired of the brown.
- Good restaurants (both kid friendly and ones for date night)
Would love to hear from locals and transplants. Thanks for your time reading this.
Rent a year. good idea
Access to good schools: not an issue, though what is meant by "good?"
Community: hard to day. Greater CDA is growing fast so the community is changing. Through your kids and work you will make your community.
Grocery stores: fine, but no gourmet..
Slower: Hmmm...meaning? Many work hard to keep up. In SP, we have a lot of retirees so that slows things down.
Outdoor: paradise
Green, Rust-Orange, Gray, White, Brown, and Blue: colors of the seasons
Restaurants: getting better every year but still reflective of a working class city.
So our family did relocate from San Diego to CDA (Hayden specifically) Aug 2018. We're a couple weeks away from our 1 year anniversary actually. Overall, I would say it's been a really great move for us. The majority of our initial concerns (schools, stores, etc) really are non issues. The biggest challenge (mainly for me) is the weather. Coming from mild San Diego, ust about anywhere the weather will present a challenge.
I'll try to give some pros/cons and I'm happy to expand on anything if it can be on value to someone else.
PROs
- Beauty - It's beautiful here. Lots of greenery, lakes and rivers. Lots of local wildlife that we love. Deer and turkeys almost daily. The fawns never get old.
- People - The vast majority of the people we've met are so kind. There is a strong sense of community here and folks do not want outsiders changing this. This is one of the reasons locals fear Californians. Community is super important here and everyone works hard to keep it that way. It's fantastic. All my interactions with DMV, Sheriff, etc... they have all been awesome.
- Cost - I am comparing this to SoCal. The overall cost of living here is obviously less than SoCal. Housing here is not cheap but for equal house compared to SoCal, it's much more reasonable. There is a wider range of pricing options here for sure on housing.
-- Groceries are most/less on par but produce is a tad more here and not as good of quality/selection.
-- Electric and natural gas rates here are MUCH less than SoCal. Fuel prices as well. I think it's like $2.45/g right now.
-- Recreation sports went from $250/kid to $23/kid for me
-- DMV fees are much less here. $45 vs $250 and $69 vs $600 for us (based on age of vehicles)
- Traffic - It's been a year and I've sat in traffic twice so far. Once on a Friday at 5:30 heading home from Spokane airport (for about 10 mins) and once heading into CDA from Montana due to bridge construction. Coming from SoCal, the lack of traffic, congestion and people is a blessing.
Cons
- Weather - Again, coming from a San Diego native so view through that lens. The weather here isn't great most of the year. It's colder a lot more than it's warmer. Heat came on maybe late Sept and off mid April or close to it. Lots of cloudy, gray Seattle-like days. Spring is the more challenging season actually. You're ready to be warm again but it's kinda nasty. The summers are warm (sometimes hot) and they are awesome! Augusts so far have been hit w/ smoke from fires which is a total bummer. It's possible to get 1 month of summer which is very very hard for a guy like me who is used to it almost all year round. We love the snow and the beauty it brings. You need to have a winter sport(s) or travel if you can afford it.
- Restaurant selection - There is just less of a selection here than SoCal. Should be obvious as there are also a TON less people. There are some spots for sure and it seems like new ones are opening up a bit more often. There is a definite lack of cultural foods that we miss dearly... especially Thai and really good Mexican.
- Cell service - It's just bad up here. I have AT&T and it's really bad. Heard Verizon is better but it's still not good.
- Smoke - I know I covered this already, but the August smoke is such a downer. We have it today and it's bad. You wait all year for good weather, then you lose a lot of it to smoke. I'd much rather have a rainy or snowy day than smoke. Most would.
- Flights - Spokane is a smaller airport so less options on flights. Both Alaska and Southwest now have nonstop to San Diego which is great. I don't fly too much so it's not a killer for me, but make sure to check it out if you fly often.
Hope this helps someone else out. Send me a message if you want to know more details.
Today’s smoke wasn’t that bad..... When you can’t go outside or see across the street, then it’s bad!
True, but any smoke is still bad. I do remember last summer's smoke and the poor air quality for a couple weeks. That was much, much worse than right now.
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