I'm talking completely out of my ass, but my guess is out-of-state people buying expensive houses while the locals are making sub-par wages. Many places in Idaho are popular with people who want to move out of HCOL areas

The Seattle to Idaho migration pattern

Lived in Idaho for nowhere near long enough, and can confirm that CDA and Sandpoint are expensiveAF: as in, private jets at the airports on a daily basis (some with fin numbers you can trace to holding companies and shell companies associated with some very high-net worth individuals) and multimillion-dollar homes on the lakes. Even saw whatever the four-wheel drive that Ferrari make (not the SUV) with a plate prefix of ‘7B,’ which means it was local. Porsches on parade, quite a few seaplanes, and the summer festival of Car d’Alene is not to be missed. And apparently the skiing up there is spectacular, but since I don’t know how to ski I can’t comment on that.

Big problem with the place is that employers will use Spokane as the basis for salary, which is a complete slap in the face when you work in a high-knowledge industry (engineering) and you’re offered a completely lowball salary ($70k vs the $130k I was making in Mooresville, NC for virtually identical work). Nearby places like Hayden and Athol (which I always pronounced as ‘asshole’ with a lisp 🤣) are more affordable. Basically if you plan on buying a decent house in CDA, Dalton Gardens, Sandpoint, or basically anywhere nearby you need to be married (or living in sin) and both you and the spouse need to be six-figure earners.

There are a few dumbfucks in the area whom I “lovingly” refer to as Y’all-Qaeda, mostly stupid rednecks who insist “dem mex’kins” are coming to take their jobs (that they’re not qualified for anyway) and to help the government steal their guns; I jokingly tell them that us brown people are only in the country to vote democrat and rape white girls, because ignorant morons are like nazis: no matter what you do to them, you never feel bad. Despite the reputation the area got from some idiots in the past, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t notice any kind of racism or similar bullshit there that was any better or worse than anywhere else I’ve lived — which is to say I experienced almost none of it, but I’m also a fairly big guy with a permanent scowl and a contempt for humanity that wafts from me like waves of acidic cologne (and also everyone thinks I’m Italian or Greek for some reason…), so your mileage may vary.

One somewhat annoying drawback is that Spokane is the closest ‘normal’ airport, so getting in or out of the place is a pain in the ass because you’re going to be routed through SEATAC or MSP for pretty much any destination. Not a huge deal but when I have to fly to PHL or JFK the extra connections are irritating. But whatever: I always say that if you’re important, other people should wait for you.

Anyway, thanks for reading my pointless rant that allowed me to reminisce about God’s country; 10/10 would absolutely slowly torture motherfuckers to death to be able to live there again.

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