Coeur d'Alene area - possible detail to that area (Post Falls: real estate, apartment)

[CybrSlydr]

I work for the Forest Service and recently applied to an employment outreach for Geologists in the Idaho Pan Handle National Forests. The outreach was pretty good with detailed info about the area, including the ridiculous house prices and rent.

I wanted to ask you good folks what info you could provide as to what the area is like. The outreach mentioned Spokane being about 30min away, close to the Canada border and an hour from Montana.

Coeur d'Alene is about the same size as where I currently live (Casper, WY), and I like that size of town.

How is shopping (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc?) in Coeur d'Alene? Plenty of local food places to try? Best places to go for photography (a hobby of mine)? Any idea of what shooting sports are like (I getting a rifle for long-range shooting soon)? What about bank fishing (I don't have a boat) and species (I'm familiar with small and largemouth bass and the varieties of trout you get in the North Platte). How are things politically?

Anything else you can think of? Thank you!

[volosong]

Lot's of questions. I'll tackle a few. Coeur d'Alene, (CdA), and its "suburbs" is a lot larger than Casper. CdA itself is about the size of Casper, but when you add the abutting towns, it's pretty large, and spread out. Dalton Gardens and Hayden to the north and Post Falls to the west.

Figure an hour to the border of Montana, over several mountain passes. But once there, you'll have to go a few hours more to get to any cities of any size. Closest large city is Missoula, about a three-hour drive from CdA. And, figure an hour up to the Canadian border. Again, no cities of note close by. Spokane is a little further than 30 minutes. Figure 45 to downtown Spokane.

Plenty of shopping in the area. All that you mentioned, as well as a Costco. Three Walmart stores in the area. One in Hayden, one in Post Falls, third on the state border with Washington. What cannot be purchased locally is available in Spokane. Plenty of good eating places. Both chains and individual establishments.

Photography? Everywhere! Especially outdoor landscape and nature photography. Wildlife photo opportunities abound. A 400mm lens will be the longest you need, (or a 300 with a 1.4x).

Idaho is a very pro-2A state. It is a constitutional carry state, however, don't conceal carry over into Washington unless you have an Enhanced Weapons Permit. The regular permit won't get you that privilege.

Can't help you with fishing. Not a fisherman. Politically, the area leans right. Almost extreme at times. The local community college is in danger of losing its accreditation because extremist have taken over the board of directors and are playing silly games. However, there are a lot of moderates and even some liberals around. Right now, the pendulum is swinging to the right. It will balance out eventually.

[CybrSlydr]

Wonderful! Excellent info - thank you!

Initially I'm only applying for a detail, which are NTE 120 days. So I'm kinda viewing this as a great way to test-drive the area. Single, no kids - but I do have a cat. lol They do have multiple open permanent positions, but the cost of living adjustment and added state income tax makes me very wary of leaving Wyoming. Hard enough to find decent housing here, let alone taking the plunge on an actual house.

The supervisor I spoke with says the weather is pretty sporadic - not too cold, but changes quickly over a few days. I think it was -18F in Casper this morning.

I don't think I'm ready to commit to a lateral move to a permanent position there, but my degree is in Geology and I currently work with fluid minerals admin, so it'd be nice to get some experience that corresponds to my educational background a bit better.

[volosong]

By Casper standards, (I've had the opportunity to do some satellite geology in the Wind River Basin and southern Bighorn Basis as part of a NASA project - so somewhat familiar with the area), the weather in CdA is a lot more mild than in central Wyoming. Nowhere near the extremes nor nearly as dynamic.

When it was time to retire, I first looked to Wyoming. Nixed it for two reasons, the cost of housing, (high for what you get), and because nobody in the state plays tennis, (well, duh! It is "cowboy country" after all).

[CybrSlydr]

Originally Posted by volosong

By Casper standards, (I've had the opportunity to do some satellite geology in the Wind River Basin and southern Bighorn Basis as part of a NASA project - so somewhat familiar with the area), the weather in CdA is a lot more mild than in central Wyoming. Nowhere near the extremes nor nearly as dynamic.

When it was time to retire, I first looked to Wyoming. Nixed it for two reasons, the cost of housing, (high for what you get), and because nobody in the state plays tennis, (well, duh! It is "cowboy country" after all).

I'm in a 650sq ft 1x1 apartment and it's $899/mo, with a 4% increase if I choose to renew my lease at the end of April. Seeing places that size in CdA for $1200+ is... disheartening. Let alone seeing the median house cost is $500k+.

With rent prices what they are, I've looked at houses because if I'm paying $1200/mo, that's a mortgage. Might as well have a house instead of renting - but all the houses are olllllllllld. Not in very good shape either, and the VA Home Loan won't do new construction. House prices are still crazy IMHO. Lot prices 50k+ for tiny spaces. Hardly any good condition starter homes (like a 2x2 with a little garage and yard).

So, while I love the lack of income tax in Wyoming, the lack of good housing and a dating scene that isn't full of single moms, I'm keeping my eyes/options open. CdA doesn't sound like it's my place, but the career experience would be totally worth it.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by CybrSlydr

............
How is shopping (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc?) in Coeur d'Alene? Plenty of local food places to try? Best places to go for photography (a hobby of mine)? Any idea of what shooting sports are like (I getting a rifle for long-range shooting soon)? What about bank fishing (I don't have a boat) and species (I'm familiar with small and largemouth bass and the varieties of trout you get in the North Platte). How are things politically?

Anything else you can think of? Thank you!

Spokane is within commuting distance of Coeur d'Alene if you enjoy spending a lot of time in your car. Housing is cheaper but Spokane is not as nice a place to live, with lots of weird crime, traffic jams, homeless, protestors, and drugs.

Just where would you be stationed? Post Falls is noticeably less expensive for housing and Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene run right into each other, so Post Falls has the same sort of access to shopping as CDA has.

Shopping in CDA is excellent. Just about every shop you could desire is here, except Trader Joes, but there is a good health food type store, so you could get by. There are lots of chain restaurants and lots of independent restaurants.

If you photograph wildlife and scenery, you will never run out of material.

There is an excellent gun range at Farragut State Park and I'm pretty sure they have a rifle range. 22 miles north of CDA, highway most of the distance.

If you fish, the area is chock full of lakes and streams. Bank fishing is probably better from streams and rivers since "shores" of the lakes tend to be steep, although not all of them.

Rents have gone down a bit and you won't have to pay $1600 for a one bedroom apartment. If you want to buy a house, the smaller houses have gone down in price, and Post Falls, as mentioned above is a bit lower priced for buying a house. I don't know if the price drop will last into the spring or if it is a temporary winter thing.

[CybrSlydr]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Just where would you be stationed? Post Falls is noticeably less expensive for housing and Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene run right into each other, so Post Falls has the same sort of access to shopping as CDA has.

The detail position is in the Supervisors office in CdA.

Thank you for the rest of the info! The terrain and topography do sound like excellent photography opportunities. I only have a 24-70 f/2.8 currently, but I'm definitely saving up to get either the 100-400 or 200-600. Really need that reach for the speedgoats out here and birds.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

There is an excellent gun range at Farragut State Park and I'm pretty sure they have a rifle range.

They do, as well as a shotgun area. Not sure how long the rifle range is as I mostly use the pistol ranges.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by CybrSlydr

The detail position is in the Supervisors office in CdA.

Thank you for the rest of the info! The terrain and topography do sound like excellent photography opportunities. I only have a 24-70 f/2.8 currently, but I'm definitely saving up to get either the 100-400 or 200-600. Really need that reach for the speedgoats out here and birds.

If the actual job is in Coeur d'Alene proper, you might be able to find a rental in Coeur d'Alene that you can afford. The older parts of town are still very nice and prices can sometimes be a bit lower. Post Falls would be convenient as a place to live and if you don't mind doing some driving, real estate prices in Rathdrum are a bit lower and there are some clean nice apartment buildings there that are plain and a bit lower cost because they are not luxury dwellings.

As far as I know, there are no speed goats in this area,. They are a plains animal and our prairies have all been paved over so there is no place for them to live. There are plenty of moose, though. There is a family of moose that lives three doors down from me and they are occasionally in my front yard. You won't have any problems with finding moose. Lake Coeur d'Alene is famous for the bald eagles who live here part of the year and they are good photography subjects.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Adding if you do get out to this area, we have a sticky photo section at the top of the Idaho forum for local photos and new contributors are always welcome to share their photos