Any Panhandlers here?

Not an expert as I only recreate in your specified desired region and reside in one of the “otherwise” lackluster locations you listed N of 90. Unaware of which services are important to you, you may want to check proximity to medical, food, retail, mechanical, automobile, marine etc. Utilities and road maintenance differs drastically too the further you get away from 95 and road district to road district. The four seasons do occur, sometimes in the same day. Currently snowing Cocolalla.
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The vitriol is real. If you care for any further insight or details please reach out as I am happy to help. Welcome!
 
When I was in Jr high I went with my dad to help him at an art show in CDA. After the show we were going fishing on the Lochsa and Selway then into Montana on the Clark fork. It was summertime and we were going to be camping so we shaved our heads before we left. When we got there we found out there was supposed to be a huge neo nazi parade in town that weekend :LOL: it didn't happen and we were the only skin heads we saw... awkwarrrd.
LOL... your story prompted the Curb Your Enthusiasm music to start playing in my head...
 
There has been a major movement to Idaho, it's one of the fastest growing states. There is definetly some animosity towards newcomers, overall, most are very welcoming and good folks. If you're going to make the move, do it now, land/housing is not getting cheaper. There is alot of public land and agriculture so if your heading East looking to carve out your 5acres of rural heaven, hurry up because everyone is doing it. It's like 1970's Washington over here....
 
There has been a major movement to Idaho, it's one of the fastest growing states. There is definetly some animosity towards newcomers, overall, most are very welcoming and good folks. If you're going to make the move, do it now, land/housing is not getting cheaper. There is alot of public land and agriculture so if your heading East looking to carve out your 5acres of rural heaven, hurry up because everyone is doing it. It's like 1970's Washington over here....
The amusing thing regarding animosity towards newcomers...it's often most pronounced among those who didn't arrive very long ago themselves. Sort of the 'close the door behind me' attitude.

My Blackfeet and Spokane acquaintances smile when they hear an Anglo talk about disliking 'newcomers'. We all came from someplace else.
 
The amusing thing regarding animosity towards newcomers...it's often most pronounced among those who didn't arrive very long ago themselves. Sort of the 'close the door behind me' attitude.

My Blackfeet and Spokane acquaintances smile when they hear an Anglo talk about disliking 'newcomers'. We all came from someplace else.
I have a few friends that have relocated from NW Oregon to Idaho in the last couple years. One got a very, very angry "welcome" from one of his new neighbors when he saw the Oregon plate. I think things have since simmered down a bit, but there was a lot of yelling, threats, etc etc.
 
I have a few friends that have relocated from NW Oregon to Idaho in the last couple years. One got a very, very angry "welcome" from one of his new neighbors when he saw the Oregon plate. I think things have since simmered down a bit, but there was a lot of yelling, threats, etc etc.
I think it's sorta like a new job; the worst thing a FNG can do is start giving advice about how things oughta be done 'around here'.

Sometimes the locals are going to take a long time accepting a newcomer because they know a lot of them aren't going to last...so why get emotionally 'invested' in a relationship?

And finally, if your children can't afford to buy a home in your community because affluent newcomers command higher prices...that's a big issue.
 
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It's not just Idaho.
I'm seeing a real uptick of this sort of stuff in the past couple of years.
I think a big part of it is people taking their equities from areas with inflated home prices and not blinking an eye at paying what they think is a real deal but it has inflated prices above what the average resident can afford.
That said, I can't say that I blame either side.
 
I went to school at the University of Idaho for a year in the late 90’s. I explored all over northern Idaho. Beautiful place. Back then especially, there were some, to put it bluntly, dipshits in northern Idaho who were put out of business by the Southern Poverty Law center. We all know who they were. Extremists, morons, etc. That said, nearly everyone I met from Northern Idaho in person was great. I would not let the extremists of any population, be it Northern Idaho or Western Washington dictate your overall view of a place.
 
One of my former coworkers had a home at Priest Lake and constantly bitched about getting really honked by Idaho county property taxes if he didn't pay Idaho income tax (he resided summers mostly in Idaho & Spokane) and wintered in Arizona (which, like Idaho, apparently plays the same game with property taxes related to state income tax). It's safest to assess the highest tax load on those that can't vote.
 
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I think it's sorta like a new job; the worst thing a FNG can do is start giving advice about how things oughta be done 'around here'.

Sometimes the locals are going to take a long time accepting a newcomer because they know a lot of them aren't going to last...so why get emotionally 'invested' in a relationship?

And finally, if your children can't afford to buy a home in your community because affluent newcomers command higher prices...that's a big issue.
Sounds like Hawai'i. If you respect the culture and people, you'll do fine. If you show up and immediately start bitching and whining how things are here, and demand they change to match the place you left on the mainland, you will not be welcomed. Unfortunately that attitude is confronted more frequently now, especially in the last three years as more people flock here.
 
Remember the movie Deliverance? Anything north of Highway 12, and particularly Weippe on up, you'll feel like you're in that movie.
Great fishing, hunting, hiking and camping though.
 
My wife’s family is from northern Idaho. We have visited them a few times. Not bad people as far as family goes. Several N. Idaho family members want us to move there. They have gone as far as to send us ads for properties they think we should buy. Nice country. If I was younger and healthier I would consider moving. Not now. First, to freaking cold in the winter. I don’t do cold anymore. Second, I would need to have some confidence in the medical institutions there. Currently I know nothing about them.

Good luck. I hope you get the information you need.

On the second topic, I lived on Lopez Island for a number of years. There were always people that thought the island would be a wonderful place to live. I seen a number of people drop everything on the mainland and move to the island only to pickup and leave six months later. We could usually tell who would stay and who would leave. It takes a certain personality to live in a small isolated community. It is not for everyone.
 
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Idaho has a much lower cost of living than Washington. It's tax structure is cheaper than Washington also. If into river fishing, OMG, way better than Washington e.g. Rocky Mountain Fly Highway.

If you do not like the politics, whether in Washington or Idaho or both, avoid reading newspapers and local news on-line, just do not have discussions with others and keep the stickers off the bumpers.

Every state, or even certain areas of a state, have their pluses and minuses. Dwell on the positives and avoid the negatives.... Enjoy life and, if you do move there, show us what real wild/native fish look like. In fact, rub our noses in it...
 
Sounds like Hawai'i. If you respect the culture and people, you'll do fine. If you show up and immediately start bitching and whining how things are here, and demand they change to match the place you left on the mainland, you will not be welcomed. Unfortunately that attitude is confronted more frequently now, especially in the last three years as more people flock here.
Same situation in Cody.
 
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