Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tell me about Idaho Falls, ID

Is it a nice place to live?

Any downsides like meth heads, crime, crappy neighborhoods ... ?

What's the job situation there?

Jeff...I dont know for sure, but the place is surrounded by lava fields and gobs of rock chucks

Worked with a couple K9 guys from there and they seemed vwery well adjusted, with no on-going gripes about the place.

IF is in the high desert, about 5k feet. It gets a lot of wind. I don't know about the job market, but it has one of the highest percentage of PhD's in the country due to the National Atomic Energy lab west of there towards Arco.

For some good info, go to city-data.com and search for IF. This site has LOTS of info about the people, town, weather, economy, etc.

No one has proven anything and the city officials will deny it, but IF and the surrounding area seem to have an unusually high incidence of cancer & MS. My 1st wife and her best friend grew up there. My wife died of cancer 6 years ago and her friend has MS. Possibly because it's downwind of the aforementioned atomic research site? Who knows.

If you want to work you can find a job. The pay may not be so hot.
Predominantly LDS by a rather large margin. Crime rate is moderate to fairly low. There is meth and meth heads, just like everywhere else.

Winters can be brutally cold if you are not accustomed to -digits, then add the wind chill factor.

As an example, in December 2011 (late season cow tag)the day my dad and I got done packing out my elk from a mountain ridge to the truck, we caught the weather on a radio station out of Idaho Falls.

The news caster stated that the wind chill was 25 to 40 below zero.

We were both glad to be back to the truck with that elk, that day.

IF is located as such that it is not too long of a drive from some decent hunting/ fishing opportunities.

Overall there are a lot worse places to live.

Are you another CO resident trying to get out? I was in a long PM discussion with another CO member who's looking for a decent place to move to.

I grew up in Rigby, about 12 miles up the road. Admittedly, a lot of my information is a bit out of date, but...

It's a great area. There are plenty of good recreation opportunities nearby. It's about an hour and half from Yellowstone and Teton, for one thing. Some of the best fly fishing in the world is available on the Snake River, above Ririe.

The wind does blow there. It's not as severe as some parts of Wyoming or the eastern side of the Sierras, down from Reno, but it's more than what we get here in Layton, UT.

Yes, the winters can be cold for a while. I do remember milking cows by hand in an unheated barn at 20 below. But temperatures that cold aren't all that common, unless you're out in the mountains. And spring, summer, and fall are wonderful.

The whole intermountain west generally has lower cost of living and lower wages than most of the rest of the country. People are attracted to the area for the high quality of life.

It's a well established fact that the nuclear testing site was releasing a radioactive isotope of iodine (I think that was it) during the time I was growing up. Cows ate it along with the grass, us kids drank the milk, and there were some health issues because of it. But that was a long time ago.

All in all, it's a great place to live and to raise a family.

I drive through Idaho Falls a couple times a year going between Utah and Montana. So while I'd have to say that I much prefer the two endpoints of those trips, the midpoint isn't bad, either.

If you need a job, and you don't have one already waiting, you'll not get a decent one unless you're LDS.

I was stationed out at the Naval Reactors Facility at INEL during the early 80`s. I was teaching Radcon and chemistry chemistry there and we surveyed frequently for radiation and airborne and surface contamination. It was not uncommon to have out of spec airborne contamination levels in the winter due to a buildup of radon during a temperature inversion. The same radon that can build up in homes was emitted from the desert materials, rocks and such, and built up to high levels when the atmospheric conditions were right. The same atmospheric conditions would make it smoky in town, Blackfoot, because of all the wood burning stoves in use.

Yes.

More than anything it's the lack of nearby fishing opportunities. It's Colorado but the front range is nothing like I imagined or am used to. Everything within a two or three hour drive from Denver is a zoo of people. I grew up in N Ca and lived in Alaska where there was fishing opportunities galore and even when I lived in San Diego I was only ten minutes away from the docks and great ocean fishing.

I'm soured on the crowds and the fishing here and I just don't go anymore. I used to fish 50 to 100 days a year, it was a big part of my life, and I miss it.

I'd rather risk cancer in southern Idaho than live with the fruit loops in Washington or Oregon.

I ain't never been there. But I hear good things about American Falls Reservoir. Just a hop and skip out of IF, and supposed to be some good walleye in it.

Sounds like you need to move to MN.

If your used to Colorado weather, Idaho Falls temperatures shouldn't phase you. It is windy all along the Snake River Plain. SE Idaho is predominantly Mormon. That may or may not be an issue for you. You can't move anywhere without methamphetamine being a problem. You may add looking at Twin Falls if your interested in places to relocate to in S Idaho. There is good fishing nearby. Happy hunting!

One thing to know about Idaho Falls...there are no falls. It used to be called Eagle Rock but the developers in the early 1900's wanted a more catchy name to attract settlers. Everyone likes water falls so they built a 4' high dam across the Snake River in what's now the middle of town, called it a water fall, and changed the town's name to Idaho Falls. The dam is still there.

If you want real water falls, you need to move 150 miles down river to Twin Falls where you'll find both 180' Twin Falls and 212' Shoshone Falls on the Snake River just 2 miles apart.

Man, what a shame.
I grew up in a likely cancer cluster area of Northwest Indiana.
We didn't know that then, but after my first wife and her two best friends all succumbed to cancer all within a few years (ages 32, 30 and 22) , I took my two kids and was the hell out of there. Moved to Alaska and then ultimately here to remote northern Idaho.

There are problems and hazards everywhere--it's important to not overreact--but if you are a relatively young guy Fish Head and planning on a family, personally I'd avoid a potential cancer cluster area like Idaho Falls.

I have driven through IF several times on my way back to AK. I stopped twice for a beer at that place right before I got back on the road. Nice place!


There you have it!

I live in a town 45 miles from IF, good quality of life here. Not too far to get to something bigger if you need to. Close to great skiing, snowmachineing, hunting, fishing, etc. Good luck on your decision.
Jon

fish head,

have you looked at Grand Junction? Or are you looking to escape Colorado completely?

Sycamore

I have bad news. Compared to AK, the fishing ANYWHERE ELSE is going to suck moose cock. If you really love to fish that much, guess where I'd suggest?