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Like the title says, I am a Californian but not the stereotypical Californian. I was born here, and even pretty close to Los Angeles. Los Angeles County in fact. But LA County is bigger than lots of states and even some countries. I'm from Lancaster which was a pretty small town when I was born. And there is actually a whole mountain range between the two cities and Lancaster is about as for North and as far East as you can get in LA County. You've actually seen the place in A LOT of movies and TV shows. Most desert scenes get shot just out of town. Till I was ten most of my meals were cooked on a wood burning stove that heated my house. And for many of my formative years there were no public utilities to the general are I lived in. I guess you could say I was off grid before it was cool. You know that guy hickock 45 on YouTube? Yea I used to have a shooting range in my front yard to.
I'm also a veteran. I was a Seahawk helicopter mechanic in the Navy for 11 years. I also did a few years in the army afterwards. I went to college afterwards and got my BS in of all things, interior design. I could not pass up on the GI bill but had never considered collage before since I can't stand classrooms. I just picked a degree that let me play around on autocad all day. To bad I learned half way through that experience what a scam it was. Needless to say I'm not practicing in that field. Unfortunately I was even later to the game about learning just how bad California is for liberty minded individuals. I grew up oblivious to politics and in my town growing up I used to buy bullets at the hardware store with my allowance. Then I spent a lot of time overseas or just working and playing to hard to pay attention. It started sinking in a few years ago when I got back into shooting and sharing my lifetime passion for it with my young kids. It's really hard to do that here. Now I am facing a legislature that's has outlawed many of the guns I own and is trying to make me a felon.
For years it has made my blood boil when people say to just leave California. Or mock California because of gun laws when in fact there are several states which up until now are actually worse but no one ever mentions them. I have always thought talk like that is un American in the sense that why should we allow the communists to take over any state in the union. But the truth is setting in. An overwhelming majority of voting Californians have said they don't want people like me living here. So I have to start planing an exit.
Idaho came to my attention last year when my daughter was doing a fifth grade "states report" and both of my daughters and I became very excited about everything Idaho has. Now naturally Idahos's culture of liberty and self sufficiency is at the top of the list for me. I think you guys are even more American than Texans like to think they are. And that's who I am. And then the nature! The moutains and forests, lakes and rivers and so much wildlife. I have always wanted to live somewhere I could have a piece of land close to lakes and rivers where I could raise goats and chickems and have a big garden and lots of fruit trees. Where I could hunt, fish and explore nature in varied landscapes. And a place not so overrun with suffocating governmental over reaching.
I am not that guy from California that's gonna come to your neighborhood with some fancy car and a California attitude trying to change anything about the place you grew up. I am trying to get away from the people who ruined the place I was born.
Now I'm not gonna lie. I am spoiled. I mean it's tee shirt weather like 330 days a year here. I mean it's December and I am watching Netflix in my underwear at 3am with the heater off. Now I'm not saying I'm a wimp and the cold will kill me. I worked on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the north China Sea at night and loved every freezing moment of it. But I'm no Eskimo. When it gets below 50 I like a hit fire and a bowl of Chilli. What I really want is a place where I can afford an acre or two with a lake or river that I can fish within walking distance and good hunting. I don't need to live super close to a city but I'm no hermit and an hour drive to buy groceries and commodities is less than ideal but tolerable depending on the first desires. And as the suppression of my unalienable rights is the major factor in this decision, I have to live somewhere that the constitution is FULLY appreciated. That's non negotiable for me. From what I understand of Idaho I doubt that'd be an issue, but please let me know if I'm wrong and let me know where to steer clear of.
I have zero employment needs. So I don't care at all what the job market is. I'm not rich or anything like that. It's just I fell off a helicopter awhile back and Uncle Sam compensates me ok for chronic pain and migraines.
So please. Where in Idaho might be a good place to start looking at? By the way it's at least 6 years before I can move but no more than 8. I'd like to start taking summer trips though and maybe find a place to set up a homestead and start developing it.I am also agnostic so I've been told and pretty much apolitical. Never herd of a politician I didn't want to shoot.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer. I have a very open mind.
Last edited by so_cal_mike; 12-04-2016 at 04:47 AM..
Idaho is a big state. Figure a day to drive from the north end to the southern end. Be sure to visit in the winter in addition to summertime. There's enough time over the Christmas school break. It snows up here, and gets colder than the A.V.
Most important, start reading past threads in this very forum. There is such a wealth of information contributed by forum members. You will have to determine what is most important to you. Only then can you start whittling down places that fit your criteria. Be sure to spend some time on the data side of C-D.
You may want to consider MT, WY, and eastern OR/WA. Most hold to the same libertarian philosophy as those in ID.
Thanks volosong. So you know a little about A.V. huh? It snows there too. Like at least once every ten years.
I used to think I'd like to live in the Pacific NW. my best friend inn 6th thru 8th grade was from Washington and I was excited byY his adventre stories running around the woods and suff. I've been through Oragon on the way to visit family in Seatle. That is some seriously lush country. Almost like a rain forest. But I don't think eitjer place is a fit for me. I have heardd they are both going the way of California politicaly. And while I not much fpr politics, I just can't stand people who want to tear America down. Soo II guess maybee apollitical is not the right label for me, as if there is any label to fit me. I guess I'm more anti political with strong anti liberal leanings.
I have a friend from my navy days in Montana but honestly I don't think I'd like it there. I did a little readimg lately into both there and Wyoming and neither seems to be what I'm looking for. I don't remember what turned me off but after a couple days looking into it I was turned off. I am pretty much settled on Idaho. I think the fact that a minor can carry a gun with a parrent written permission really speaks to me. And a post in another forum that at some amusent park or some place like that in Idaho you could leave your wallet and cell phone unatended with no worries. That's my kond of people. Heck, someone stole my daughters umbrella at the mall last weekemd while we were looking at some merchandise. How shady is that!
Yea, the data side. I definitely need to look that over. Kind need a target though. Not really sure what to do with the data.
My wife and I moved to north Idaho this past May from SoCal. She was born and raised there, I lived there since 1977 when I moved there from the east coast straight out of college to take my first job at Hughes Aircraft.
As Volo pointed out, Idaho is a big state. It's also quite diverse. The environment and climate varies from the south to the north, and while there are a few mid sized cities, much of the state is very rural. No matter whether you live in the south or the northern part of Idaho outstanding outdoor recreational activities are almost always pretty close at hand.
So, I'd suggest you do some research on the different areas of the state and think about what's important to you in terms of things like the climate, how rural an area do you want to live in, how far from the nearest town, any thing that needs to be in that town, and so forth. Until you begin to narrow that down a bit it's hard for anyone to give you any specific suggestions about places you may not have thought about.
I don't think winters are really, really cold anywhere in Idaho (see Montana or the Dakotas for that), but there is more winter weather in the north than in the southern part of the state. That said, everywhere in Idaho has four real seasons with cold and snow in the winter, It's just a matter of degree. There is enough of a difference that weather may be a factor in your decision since it sounds like you'd like to avoid winter weather to some extent.
Once you've narrowed your search and have some more specific questions I'm sure folks here can give you more assistance in narrowing your search down.
In my opinion you could not have chosen a better state to relocate to, I'm also a kommiefornia transplant, moved here last March and will never step foot in that state again.
I'll give you my experiences after relocating to North Idaho from Ca.
My background is very similar to yours in many ways. Back in the mid 60's I lived in Newhall, Saugus, Palmdale and Landcaster, nothing out there but sagebrush and rocks back then. We also cooked on a wood stove, oil lamps for light, hunted Jack Rabbits and Cottontails for food, nearest neighbor was a mile away and I also got an allowance for a 50 rnd box of .22's whenever we went into town, was a great way to grow up. Lived in Conn, Mass and RI for 5 years or so and came back to Ca when I was 13 and it was suburban living from then on.
Back in '95 I had a company that was willing to pay relocation costs and I saw my opportunity to be able to live in the sticks again. Moved from San Fernando Valley to Pollock Pines, Ca (between Placerville and Lake Tahoe), worked in Folsom, but with the commie creep in Ca we decided we had to make our escape and Idaho was our choice, specifically North Idaho. Having lived in the forests in New England and 21 years in the California Sierra Nevada mountains North Idaho was the perfect choice for us geographically speaking and of course the political climate.
We spent a few years watching the real estate listings and keeping an eye on properties that interested us. We came up to Sandpoint in Feb 2015 to look over North Idaho and also to get a feel what winter was like. I actually did 6 trips in 2015. The winter trip, August to look at homes, September to do the final walk-thru and 3 trips moving stuff up. We ended up with a 3/2 house with 6 outbuildings, 2 wells on 7 1/4 acres, and surrounded by Ntnl forest (my prop does border the forest), I probably have the smallest acreage out of everyone out here.
We ended up in Priest River (20 miles out of town) but we are actually closer to Priest Lake. We are surrounded by Ntnl. forest. Kinda out there a ways but the drive to get to shopping is not bad at all. 10 miles up the road is the town of Priest Lake, has 2 gas stations w/small markets, an Ace Hardware and some restaurants. 20 miles down to Priest River is a small chain market plus lots of other stuff. Go 5 miles over 2 Newport Wa. and we have a Safeway. Then Sandpoint is 40 miles from my house and that's where we go to visit Walmart, Home Depot and so on.
For medical I go over to Spokane and that's about 72 miles away and take advantage of the trip and go to Winco to do BIG grocery shopping. It's a really easy drive to Spokane w/nice scenery.
To the average person 10 miles, 20 miles, 40 miles and so on seems like a long way go for shopping or pick up a couple of packs of smokes but on the other hand there is no traffic, no stop lights and very few stop signs and the scenery is outstanding. A person can spend 45 minutes to go 10 miles in So Cal but here that 10 miles is always 10 min (weather permitting) and it's relaxing.
The people are great up here, very friendly, polite and helpful and that goes for the kids also. When I moved in some neighbors actually came over and introduced themselves. There are about 10 of us guys that get together every Friday evening for a few beers and to shoot the BS for a few hours or longer, usually longer and all are like minded. A few are from Ca, a guy from Texas and Idaho natives, I feel like I've lived here for much longer than 9 months and that's not a bad thing.
If you like really long summer days this is the place. In the dead of summer it starts getting light at about 3:30 am and by 4 it's daylight, at 9 to 10 pm there is still plenty of light outside. On the other hand it's the opposite in winter, by 4 pm it's pretty much dark outside and starts getting light at about 6 am.
Summer is much cooler than where I lived in PP at 4000', mid to high 90's it seemed like all summer, to me the sierra's was nothing more than a desert with big trees. Here last summer we had a few 95 degree days but you could count them on 1 hand, for the most part low to mid 80's and cools off at night down into the 50's.
Spring was really nice, snow was gone by 1st week of April and was an excellent time of year, got my Morel mushrooms and my Huckleberries in the summer.
Fall was also really nice with the foliage changing colors and the cooler temps though we did have lots of rain, even had rain during summer (no rain in summer where I lived in Ca).
Now if you can't live with gray skies for extended periods of time then North Idaho may not be the best place. October and November were gray most of the time and today is the 1st full sunny day in December and 13 degrees when I got up at 5 am, it's a balmy 24 degrees right now at noon, looking at single digits for a few days starting tomorrow, got that cold air mass coming down from Alaska. I came up and stayed for 8 days in mid December last year and only had one sunny day. In my case the gray days don't bother me a bit, makes you appreciate the bright sunny ones like today, I go out and stand in the sun to have a smoke, kinda like a lizard on a rock sunning it self.
This will be my 1st full winter here so I can't really comment on what a whole winter is like but I like snow and cold anyway so what ever Idaho throws my way I'm ready for it.
If moving to Idaho you will need consider buying some kind of snow removal equipment. In my case I picked up a 3 stage snowblower, most of the guys I know here either have some kind of tractor with a blade or a snow (blower/thrower) attachment. Another thing to be aware of is if the county plows the road your property is located on. I lucked out, I am 2 miles from the highway and my dirt road is a spur off the main dirt road and the county plow goes right past my house and the county does a good job at grading and maintaining after winter...........Note: most roads up here besides the hiway and in town are dirt but as far as dirt roads go they are pretty good.
Lots of wildlife up here, have had a Moose and her calf right outside the door a few times and lots and lots of deer, it's a rare days that goes by that I don't see any deer on my property. I'll pick up my fishing license in the spring and give that a try. Bought 2 fishing kayaks for me and my wife but mostly to use for general cruising around the lakes and rivers up here, so much water...!!!
One of the things I did was to read every thread on the Idaho forum here that interested me from beginning to end, learned quite a bit without having to ask questions that have been answered previously and it's just good way to learn about Idaho. You'll find answers to questions that you had not even thought of asking.
If you have any questions I might be able to help with feel free to ask, either here or in PM/DM and welcome to the City-Data Idaho forum.
I too, great up in AV. Lived in Santa Clarita until 4 mos ago. Look into Rathdrum, ID. That's where we settled, out of town on 5 acres. PM me if you want some more info.
I would definitely plan a trip. Sounds like N Idaho is where you want to be, but there is a lot up here. Moscow area is going to the the most Liberal area, CDA area next, with Sandpoint area being the most conservative. Not having employment concerns is a great issue to not have. A road trip should be in your future to explore and see what you like!
so_cal_mike, researching my retirement home was about a seven year project. I want you to ask yourself is you really enjoy the climate of the Antelope Valley. If that is where you'd be most happy living your life. If so, then I think you should take a very close look at southeastern and eastern Idaho. Maybe more sage and no Joshua Trees, but otherwise pretty similar, (except for the lava beds). Weather pattern pretty close too.
And I want to encourage you to reconsider Wyoming. I can understand not being enamored with Montana. It's "okay", but wasn't a very good fit for me, (MT that is). In spite of there not being a state sales tax, Montana is not considered very tax friendly. Wyoming on the other hand always arm wrestles Alaska as being the most tax friendly state in the Union. Wyoming has more extreme weather than either Idaho or the Antelope Valley, but I've fallen in love with that place since my first geological field trip back in the late 80's. However, for me, WY is not a good fit either, primarily because there are no organized USTA tennis leagues in the state and kayaking/sculling opportunities are scarce. Those along with cycling is important to me and drew me to the area I will retire, (in two more months . . . YEAH!).
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