The girlfriend and I are looking to move to Idaho, we’ve both been looking for jobs in the southern part of the state. Most of the jobs I’ve found in my trade are in Boise obviously and the surrounding area. I did however find a job listing in Ketchum Idaho. Was hoping to get your guys thoughts on the different areas is all. Ketchum looks beautiful from the few pictures I’ve seen but I suppose it could be a trap lol, thoughts? I do HVAC by the way. Thanks gents!

I would think that you could find work doing HVAC most anywhere. Boise is my least favorite part of the state. I worked in Idaho for 5 years 25 years ago and I am sure lots has changed. I know real estate prices were sky high.

I am not in construction anymore but good HVAC guys are never out of work anywhere , that I know of!

It is not a trap, most everywhere in Idaho is beautiful country or within a short drive of it.

Buying a house in Boise/Meridian/Coeur d'Alene/Twin Falls was ugly for a while, largely due to Californians migrating out, but things are starting to settle down. Prices are moving down, inventory is up, days on market is up. Nowhere close to back to pre-migration levels but better.

If you are planning to rent, rents lag so are still up. On the bright side there is a good bit of new construction happening, in the cities pretty much exclusively, so plenty of demand for HVAC guys.

At the moment the reality is every city in "the West" saw housing prices increase bigly. It is a tax for moving out of places like PA and well worth the cost.

Ketchum full of Californians and expensive. Real estate in Idaho has gone through the roof and wages have not kept up

It’s hot, dry, and very windy.

Winter’s are not bad.

Ketchum gets a lot of snow.

The roads in the national forests are awful.

The enforcement of motor vehicles not allowed areas is almost non existent .

The elk hunting is very restricted unless you want to shoot cows near hay fields.

Most archery seasons are only in September.

Antelope rifle seasons are a tough draw.

The trout fishing in reservoirs is good due to the commercial trout industry donations. That may change as Clear Spring Foods has a new business model.

The catfishing on the snake is awesome.

The dairy industry has made the magic valley very very smelly. The wind helps that issue.
The houseflies are unbelievable.

The freedom to camp, shoot , enjoy federal land is awesome.

It can be pretty steep on the mountains.

The ability to take trash to dumps for free is also very nice.

The mosquitoes aren’t bad.

Firewood is plentiful.

The Ketchum-Sun Valley-Hailey area is indeed beautiful. It's also filled with liberals. It's Idaho's one blue county. In 2020, the county voted more than 2:1 for Biden.
Prices for everything are outrageous. Working people have a hard time making it there because of the high cost of housing and because wages don't match the cost of living. Numerous attempts at building low cost housing have been shot down by local regulations. Many working people live in Shoshone, 55 miles away, and commute.

^^^^What he said, nobody working for a living can live in Belmont or Ketchum, commute only.

I live 12 miles from ID but I'll jump in.
Over the decades I've watched the Boise area change from a nice area that I considered moving to, to a over developed metropolis that I hate to even drive through (I call it the new Salt Lake City), and it's now an expensive place to live as well. Coming from PA your impression might be diffferent.
The Ketchum job would probably have to come with housing to be practical, and I disagree about the Mosquitos not being bad there, depending on season and location of course.
I agree that good HVAC guys can always find a job, almost anywhere.

Ketchum is snowy (it is Sun Valley, after all), but great for outdoor recreation opportunities of all kinds. Like all exclusive resort communities, the excluded part is the labor force that does the work.

Unless the job comes with housing, you'll pay a lot for something a long commute from the job.

Most of the larger towns in so. Idaho are in the Snake River plain. It's dry and largely high desert. I-84 goes through it and most travelers never get off it so all they see is desert. 30 miles north or south of it is where the real outdoor Idaho is found.

Thank you for the info, I’ve noticed that HVAC jobs seem pretty easy to find, I know I’ll be taking a pay cut most likely. Thank you for the warning about the liberals in Ketchum, that’s part of the reason we are leaving PA lol. Unfortunately we will need to rent to start out and yes I have noticed finding places to rent, especially that allow pets is near impossible but we will keep searching. That’s a beautiful area Rock Chuck!

Not to hijack… but How’s the rent in boise? I’m looking to get 2nd home in Idaho. So when I retire I want to be a snow bird.
Watching the market adjust . I’d rather be in the sticks, but wifey wants to be closer to the city.

I'd check out Rexburg. It's close to the Tetons, to some of the best fly fishing around, and it's at lower elevation than some alternatives such as St Anthony. It has a nice college, and adequate shopping.

For a little bigger burg, check Idaho Falls. Not quite as close to Yellowstone and the Tetons, but accessible.

Yes, the wind blows in Idaho. But the climate isn't bad. Cold in winter, hot in summer, typically very low humidity.

Have you considered Utah?

I moved from central PA (Stormstown) to Idaho via Utah (college) in the early 80's. Idaho is awesome. There are some areas in S. Utah I would live like Cedar City. The Wasatch front is horribly crowded. My parents and one of my kids live there. When I have to drive there my blood pressure spikes.

I would try to live up in the Stanley Basin area.

There’s not much for housing and no jobs in Stanley. It’s a summer tourist destination with 6+ months of winter and about the coldest place in the state

One might explore some of the places up the Panhandle aways.

Nearby to Lewiston are some smaller towns and there is "decent" city type services there (doctors, shopping, Costco across the river in Clarkston WA).

Grangeville, Riggins maybe if you're looking for smaller towns not too far away (by Out West standards ) from city stuff.

Moscow and Lewiston aren't too bad for "cities", but if your wife requires malls and stuff, you're going to be stuck in the bigger cities down in S ID or find an affordable place nearby to Coeur d'Alene so you can drive across the border to Spokane if you want to live up in the Panhandle.

Good luck with the move.

Sometimes, maybe more than a few, the coldest place in the Nation.

No kidding.

Depending on what your definition of "city" is, I'd give my left nut to live in Grangeville again (pop ca. 3,000). Truly an outdoorsman's paradise, about an hour outside of Lewiston with the new highway cutoffs. Two hours to Spokane for big city benefits such as crime, filth, and overpriced restaurants. Terrific four season climate. No jobs.

Yeah, I'd have easily been able to retire there.

Boise , for better job market. you don't have to live in boise. rent/buy in Nampa or Caldwell

Kind of like Powell then?

I always thought Cascade was a pretty area but I never looked at real estate prices there.

There can't be worse punishments in hell than work in Boise and commute from Caldwell......

Grangeville has plenty of well paying seasonal jobs...........if you are willing to fall out of an airplane into a wildfire.

Right. I would try to live up in the Stanley Basin area.

Stanley - in the middle of unit 36. It's full of elk but getting a tag is a real zoo. They allot 1800 bull tags each year. On a given date, they put half on sale from vendors at 10AM and they sell out in minutes. The other half go on sale later the same day online. They also sell out in minutes.

Thank you for the input, I couldn’t convince her to move north. She’s not a fan of the winters here, we had a cold snap a couple weeks ago it was -10 and the wind was brutal. Found a few jobs that are offering a decent wage for skilled labor so that’s a good sign. However finding a place to rent is going pretty poorly.

Or do what I did and move right between idaho falls and Rexburg in Rigby. I lived in Rexburg for several years and really liked it but I understand BYU culture. Rigby has a lot more religious diversity and is only about 10 miles to IF. It's still growing like crazy here but I could probably help you find an hvac job by Friday. Half my new neighborhood is from California and more are coming all the time. They claim to be the conservative ones but still complain about every little thing and want new rules and an hoa. They'll raise he'll if your dog steps one foot out of your yard where as the locals will pet it and give it a treat.

Then you could help me redo some duct work in my basement I've been wanting to change. I'd pay you well because it's still hard to get an hvac guy to even show up. One of them charged me $530 to install a non programmable thermostat in a rental house for me when I was sick. Verbal quote was $79 then he billed $530 and threatened to lien the property. We have some real crooked contractors around right now because it's easy to get licensed and the courts generally find for them unless you have a real detailed written estimate.

Bb

Lol sure I’ll help, I don’t speed through schit but it usually doesn’t leak air when im done haha. Coal furnace?

Have you ever commuted to work in a large city before? The commute is very doable compared to the east and west coast

I-84 from Blacks Creek to Caldwell is its own version of Hell, about eight to ten hours per day. It used to be schitt for about an hour each morning and afternoon, and there were alternate routes in and out of Boise.

Those alternate routes are now as congested as is the freeway, plus most of them now have stop lights every block.

There very well may be deeper levels of Hell on the left and right coasts. That does not negate the absolute schitthole Boise has become since they allowed, no encouraged, Micron to move in.

If I went that way, I'd be inclined target the Idaho Falls region. A fair sized city that should have lots of opportunity, but one has access to great country with Wyoming just a few miles to the east.

The resort regions are horridly expensive to get into unless one is selling out of a high-end place with some money to hide when he gets here. I'd suggest an extended vacation to look a few spots over.

One is in a good trade. My newest neighbor worked that business here in Bend Or. Sold his business at about 40 yrs old, so he retired, moved to our small conservative town (Burns/Hines, Or), hunted Africa for some expensive stuff last year, does a guided US hunt of some type every year, and is raising 4 school age kids with his great looking wife.

He's invested in rentals now to sustain/build income.

get a job in caldwell and don't commute.

You might check out the Cottonwood/Grangeville area. I had Rocky Mountain HVAC install our heat pump and was well impressed with the company. They seem to have no shortage of work. The area is small town and friendly and doesn’t lack for natural beauty.

Russia (Moscow) is way to liberal for a guy wanting to leave that kind of crap behind in PA. Not much anything affordable in North Idaho anymore. Sandpoint has become a chithole of Liberal crap. Let us know what you find! Best of luck to you and the wife!

Can’t say what the commute is like now, but it used to take me 35 minutes to get to downtown Boise from Kuna.

Grangeville is the Caldwell I grew up in and went to College in.

Caldwell/Nampa today is just a schithole extension of the hell Boise has become.

Salmon and Snake river canyons are just over the hill a few miles from Grangeville. White water rafting, jet boats, salmon and bass. Monster mulies and elk in almost any direction.

I love the drive North on Id 95 if for no other reason that I get to stop in at the family restaurants in town.

And we used to be able to leave the dorm at C of I in Caldwell and be in Garden City 20 minutes later via 26. Another five minutes on to Main St Boise.

But that was just shy of fifty years ago.

They call it "progress".

It's all relative. Boise isn't bad if you work and live in the same area. Most sections are fairly self-contained - meaning you don't have to trip all over town to get what you need.
The commute from Canyon county in is a PITA on the best days. Much worse when weather hits.
If you helped elect the vegetable or that Levine dude, Austin Tx is probably a better fit.

The whole Boise area has gotten ridiculously crowded. I vote with the others who recommended either Southeast Idaho or the panhandle.

I grew up in Rexburg. I moved back a few years ago before I came to Montana. There is still great fishing and hunting and lots of public land. And good tax rates. If I still lived there I would be keeping quiet about it, but since I’m gone…

Boise from what I hear is crowed and overpriced but I rarely get down there. It's definitely changed a lot. I'm east of Coeur d Alene and it is gross. Way way to many Californians and west coast people moved in and I my little area half the old homes are temporarily homes and those air b-n-b type things. I've got a chunk of property outside of Russia (moscow) I might end up.

The only real problem with Eastern Idaho is the wind. Idaho Falls is miserable in the winter. If I were looking east, I'd consider Pocatello, since eating and buying stuff is kinda important. Otherwise, small town anywhere near hunting and fishing.

Pocatello is full. No vacancies. No jobs. Nothing. Move along….

Interested in more opinions/experience with the Sandpoint area, please.

Idaho is full. Lots of pretty rocks in Utah

CDA light. It's a shame what has happened to that area. If you want hippie crap and crystals, you can find them in abundance in the downtown shops.

That might be part of the reason I suggested Grangeville. But, he did mention a wife wanted some closeness to city stuff. Areas not far outside Moscow were, as of 2017 when I retired from working in that part of the country, fairly conservative. And he would be close enough to commute to work in Moscow.
,
When did Sandpoint become a liberal bastion? Years ago, as in 30 when I was last there, it was a hotbed of Aryan Brotherhood types, who are not generally thought of as tolerant of liberals and their ideas

I-84 from Boise to Caldwell has been under construction for 40 years. They keep adding lanes and its still bumper to bumper during rush hour.

And traffic averages 80 mph in a 65 limit.

Except the construction zones which are 55 limit. But traffic is still rolling near 80. Who knows which car the Po Po will choose to pick out of the herd and write a ticket for 80 in a 55 with double penalty for a wotk zone.

I think the liberals out of Cali were willing to pay a lot more for property than the skinheads were.

Plus the Feds were making life a bit hard on skinheads in N Idaho.

If that is the case winter in SE Idaho would be miserable for her. Did anyone mention the wind?

Yup. Just got eight inches of new snow today and the wind…… well the old saying goes Utah sucks and Wyoming blows and it all goes through Idaho.

Lol I like that. I think Pocatello is one of the areas I seen a decent job listing. I’ll have to check again, and NO I didn’t vote for that turd in office or the trans, despite what out local union hall asks of us. Probably why a few of us are getting out. My best friend already moved to great falls MT He-she-it reminds me of the Danny Devetto penguin…

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/y6wnSVfv/8295-F63-F-70-CB-49-BF-8-DDB-885-EB55159-E6.webp[/img]

Dang it. It’s not showing My other pic lol

Montana was my first choice, I know of a couple really good paying jobs I could get there, but alas the old lady won’t put up with the weather there, maybe I just need to fatten her up or something lol

Holler if you want some local input. Housing is going to be the biggest hurdle.

I brought some mules back from clouqet / Virginia Minnesota a few years back.

I live on the lemhi river south of Salmon.

The bugs had my native mules rolling ,running ,shaking ….carrying on.

Them northern Minnesota mules never even looked up while grazing.

If U think Idaho bugs is bad………don’t go to the land of sky blue waters.

I know a guy that has property outside Sandpoint, a couple actually, and is pretty pleased. That said, he bought in 2005 and does not have to work... If one needs to earn a living there, good luck.

That whole area is a chitshow, avoid at all cost.

Another thing to consider is that due to mismanagement of federal lands and due to prevailing winds and the topography surrounding the upper Snake River Plain we tend to get a lot of smoke from wildfires in late summer. If your prone to allergies and sinus infections good luck. We live a short distance from Idaho Falls, which is becoming a [bleep] show. Lots of growth with little to no infrastructure. Traffic, apartments and multi family housing popping up. Hayfields turning into Utah style subdivisions. Homeless encampments on the Snake River. Idaho Falls soon to become little Portland. We are considering leaving.

The smoke here in lemhi county can be unbelievable.

It’s a bummer.

There should be work around Lewiston, good hunting just a few miles away. Fishing right there. It would beat the hell out of Southern Idaho. Unless you like congestion and people. I haven't lived inIdaho for a long time. We do visit family all over the state yearly. Northern Idaho is the best.

Cold and miserable here , nothing to see.

The whole state is over-developed and over-crowded, just like the rest of the nation. GD

I see what you’re doing there lol

When I was stationed at Camp Pendleton fires were pretty common, never bothered me much, maybe cause I used to smoke during that time?

I was born and raised in Lewiston Idaho but been up here for 40 years. I still go back every year to hunt whitetail, lion, bear and turkeys. If you're a HVAC tech (I am also), I'd look around in Lewiston or Grangeville. I wouldn't have a hard time getting a job in either place. Grangeville would be my preference (a little further off the beaten path) and if your wife enjoys shopping, you won't be very far from Lewiston and Clarkston. Or a trip to Spokane is very doable.

GF and I are battling it out between SW and SE Idaho. I do appreciate all the opinions and information so far!

You can only do so much with internet.
Take a week off and take your GF to go see both sides in person.
My Wife and I took a month off few years ago and took a trip with the kids in July to see different cities that we want to possibly move to.
Prescott AZ, St. George, Reno, boise, bend or. And find your compromise.

Now and for the next 6-8 weeks is a very good time to visit SE Idaho.

A pretty landscape picture of some white horses in a field near Pocatello:




















It can get a bit windy, though.

Man I wish we could do that but we are going to be on a limited budeget. We aren’t even sure how much it’s going to cost to make the move, but I’m confident we will make it work and I know I’m excited just to get out there.

Idaho is a chithole, try California.

How much of that drifts over the hill from MT?