This has been done already but Twin Falls has exploded. Unrecognizable today. (Boise: apartments, rental)

[toomuchthinking]

For reference I've lived in Nevada (Reno, Fernley, Dayton, Elko, Spring Creek), Montana (Helena), Born in CA (San Jose **moved 30 yrs ago)

I own a home in Spring Creek NV currently. Kind of tired of the cost of living and prices being so high - as they always are in the Elko area. Price gouging is rampant. So I drove to Twin today because they have a Costco. Not sure why I keep the membership if I'm not going to use it. Walmart, Smith's (Kroger), and everything else in Elko is just out of control. Smith's being the best option but I'm sick of walking out the door, staring down at my half empty cart worth of $200. And Elko Smith's is like navigating a mine field. Always busy and I forget half the things I came in for. Amazing checkers however.

Since I used to drive back and forth from Helena to Reno - went through Twin a lot - I was...more than shocked today. What happened in the last 9 years or less? Every single big box store in the world is now within like 1.5 miles of each other. I didn't recognize Pole Line or Blue Lakes at all. This was a farming town...now it's on steroids or worse. Lovely hospital. I guess needed. But I was overall super sad. Feel like it looked more like Elk Grove, CA or some valley town in that state.

Had a great experience however. Everyone pretty friendly at the stores I went to. Always loved that about ID. As a former 4H gal I'm more farm based than anything so it was really hard to see all the development. But perhaps I am naive and this is the west more and more.

[NW Crow]

If Elko and Twin Falls are too much, what looks like enough but not too much? Burley? Gooding? Weiser? Preston? I am interested in where you are looking / considering in Idaho or elsewhere.

Style and quality will still vary and make a difference but what size community seems more right to you now than the alternatives? Most places will be too small or too big, unless you really know your size preference and follow it. It is not easy. Is Winnemucca still a possibility?

[AnythingOutdoors]

The US is experiencing a housing shortage, particularly in California which under-built housing for decades. Hence the California exodus to other parts of the the West.

Twin Falls has low crime, relatively mild climate with little snow, abundant water, and affordable housing. While big box stores aren't my favorite, there is local demand and they're serving the local population. This is better than people driving long distances for shopping. There's nothing sad about this for families that have been able to afford a house and find a good quality of life.

Change is just a part of life.

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by AnythingOutdoors

The US is experiencing a housing shortage, particularly in California which under-built housing for decades. Hence the California exodus to other parts of the the West.

That isn't really the real reason folks from CA are fleeing. Housing is only a small ancillary data point.

[AnythingOutdoors]

Originally Posted by Mister Torgue

That isn't really the real reason folks from CA are fleeing. Housing is only a small ancillary data point.

COL is a major reason people are leaving CA:

The costs of housing, healthcare and everyday living expenses dominated the reasons.

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by AnythingOutdoors

COL is a major reason people are leaving CA:

I actually talk to these people on the ground here in ID and no, the primary reason isn't housing which is what was commenting on with your statement. Cost of living is part of it but not all of it. The majority tell me it's the deterioration of all of it. Quality of life, crime, safety, politics and cost of living are the combined factors. Just some anecdotal info.

[AnythingOutdoors]

Originally Posted by Mister Torgue

I actually talk to these people on the ground here in ID and no, the primary reason isn't housing which is what was commenting on with your statement. Cost of living is part of it but not all of it. The majority tell me it's the deterioration of all of it. Quality of life, crime, safety, politics and cost of living are the combined factors. Just some anecdotal info.

So, sample bias. Conservatives are more likely to come to deep red Idaho, especially outside blue areas like Boise and Ketchum/Sun Valley. Liberals from CA are more likely to end up in Portland or Seattle or Phoenix or Tucson. Big picture, it's all part of the tribal sorting of America. Political refugees coming to ID is a thing for sure, but it's rarely as simple as "I didn't like the politics."

Everything is linked in the market, and the high cost of CA housing has a ripple effect elsewhere in the US. E.g.: a liberal in the Bay Area straining under the high COL sells their $800k home and uses the proceeds to buy a house in Sacramento (at an inflated price) from a conservative, and then that person moves to ID. If CA had built more housing there'd be a lot less pressure in less expensive markets.

[NW Crow]

People moving into owned houses in single family neighborhoods in N ID are probably doing it a lot for quality of life issues. People moving into apartments and cheap rental houses are probably doing it a lot for housing costs AND quality of life issues. Both issues will continue to tug on many lower income folks. Maybe less so but that will depend on income in the new place.

[UniversalTraveler]

Yeah I need to drive over half an hour to get to TF for major shopping, which thankfully I don't do often. At all the wrong hours (especially 3pm through 7pm) the main roads such as Blue Lakes and Pole Line are solid with slow moving traffic. When I first moved here over 5 years ago to a city half an hour West, it was not like that at all. So yeah, I suppose it's gotten quite crowded in comparison. Housing prices sure did jump. And they are once again on the rise, contrary to what the naysayers were touting about market crashes........ain't happening. Fortunately Boise remains the primary bastian of libs. I hope they keep them there.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by UniversalTraveler

Yeah I need to drive over half an hour to get to TF for major shopping, which thankfully I don't do often. At all the wrong hours (especially 3pm through 7pm) the main roads such as Blue Lakes and Pole Line are solid with slow moving traffic. When I first moved here over 5 years ago to a city half an hour West, it was not like that at all. So yeah, I suppose it's gotten quite crowded in comparison. Housing prices sure did jump. And they are once again on the rise, contrary to what the naysayers were touting about market crashes........ain't happening. Fortunately Boise remains the primary bastian of libs. I hope they keep them there.

Where are you coming from that it takes over half an hour to get to Twin Falls for major shopping?
Boise is now more crowded and unaffordable.