patrick.net

If those were my only options, I'd pick FL because of the following reasons:
- No harsh winters like ID, year round sun
- No state income tax
- Lower COL overall
- Awesome governor
My wife was born and raised in ID. Having said that, I could totally live in ID. It really depends on what you want. If you want lots of rural outdoors, I'd go ID if you don't mind snowy winters.

We're leaving CA next summer and decided on a suburb of Nashville because of no state income tax, low property taxes, conservative, beautiful landscape, true 4 season climate with no extremes on either end.

I only have this to add.

A friend drove trough Utah today. This morning it was 4 degrees and white everywhere. That northern plain system goes through eastern Washington, northeast Nevada, Southern Idaho, and Wyoming.

It’s cold as fuck in the winter. Elko Nevada was zero today and when a relative lived there it was minus 16 one day.

Take it as you will. Like you, I lived in SFV. I lived there for 10 years. The weather was extreme from low 30’s in the winter to so hot in the summer I could jump in the pool at 3am.

Despite being ok with that, I will never ever be ok with subzero temperatures. I hate mosquitos but give me hot and humid Florida any day over piss freezes on contact cold weather.

I bought a place in Twin Falls ID in 2020 but we're still living in Sacramento because wife wont quit her job. We checked out Florida and hated it. Too humid, too many mosquitos and bugs, and a lot of weirdos. I personally cannot imagine living with hurricanes either. While FL currently has a great governor I don't trust that it will stay a red state forever. Idaho will never be a blue state in my or my kids lifetimes. Except for Boise, ID is a deeply conservative state. Open carry is nice to have. The crime is so low that the police actively do traffic patrol but at least the limit is 80 on the highway in most parts. I already got a speeding ticket which my realtor told me makes me an official Idahoan. The ticket wasn't even a hundred dollars. Cost of most utilities except water is very low. Slower pace of life compared to CA. Anywhere you go will have four real seasons.

I really don't recommend Boise. Too many people have moved in and it will take years for infrastructure to catch up. It was also a mask mandating city during the pandemic and is run by democrats. I expect in 10-15 years it will be indistinguishable from any city in CA. The other options in ID are up north in the panhandle where you will get severe winters but enjoy freedom and frontier like living. Coeur d'lane is very Tahoe-like but gets a lot of idiots from Spokane. Southern and East ID are high desert but still so many outdoor options. East will get alot of snow as well. If you want to avoid big snow stay in Southern Idaho no east of the town of Burley. Once you cross that town you gain elevation and enter the frozen winter area. I love Twin Falls because its just large enough to have everything you need as far as shopping and dining but still has a small town feel. But you are in cattle country and there is a serious stink every once in a while in the spring/summer late afternoons. There is no night life which is fine with us.There is also a very strong wind in the spring that you need ot be aware of.

Tampa is a liberal cesspool. I'd stay the fuck away from it as well. Other parts of Florida not near Miami are fine.

No idea about Idaho.

I’d go with FL. Trade offs are kind of equal in my opinion. There are more airports and I love the Caribbean. My bias. Easy jumping off point.

If you like skiing/boarding or other winter activities I’d do ID. You can travel to that though from FL pretty easy 2-3 hours from anywhere in FL to the Northeast.

Hurricanes and humidity is the only draw back. That’s what AC and pools are for though. Live inland 10 miles or so and you’ll be fine. Wind damage would be the only concern. Get a gas generator and you’ll be fine. Winter can be harsh too though hence why I say it’s pretty equal. I prefer warmer weather and no income tax.

WookieMan says

I’d go with FL. Trade offs are kind of equal in my opinion. There are more airports and I love the Caribbean. My bias. Easy jumping off point.

If you like skiing/boarding or other winter activities I’d do ID. You can travel to that though from FL pretty easy 2-3 hours from anywhere in FL to the Northeast.

Hurricanes and humidity is the only draw back. That’s what AC and pools are for though. Live inland 10 miles or so and you’ll be fine. Wind damage would be the only concern. Get a gas generator and you’ll be fine. Winter can be harsh too though hence why I say it’s pretty equal. I prefer warmer weather and no income tax.

I just talked with a lady this week that lives in between Orlando and Tampa. She said when Irma rolled through they didn't have power for 8 days, and she is as inland as it gets.

I've never been to Florida.

Big pros for ID.
Like minded people.
I travel all over the place for work traveling through all sorts of cool small towns. I could walk for hundreds of miles without any fear of any crime. People are really nice everywhere I go even the lower income places it still feels very safe. If you like outdoor activities its pretty good here. Outside of downtown boise it's very conservative. Very family friendly.

FortWayneAsNancyPelosiHaircut says

Hi guys, we've checked out bunch of states and narrowed down our move to two states Florida and Idaho. Very different places.

Anyone here live out there? Can you tell how conservative are those states? We've visited several states (TX/ID/FL/IN). We only saw each state for about 4 days. IN/ID felt most conservative and rural. FL seemed less conservative with all the same corporations around Tampa with their AntiRacist baby books in the stores, and blm/fag signs. But it's hard to tell how those places really are.

Thanks

Florida. No income tax and no endless wave of Coastal Californians fleeing the mess they made.

Yes, NY/NJ/MA in abundance, esp. in South Florida, but they tend to mellow out after time in state and appreciate it for what it is.

Just stay a few miles outside of college towns (Tallahassee, Ocala), Tampa-Hillsborough, and Broward. North of Fort Pierce and you should be fine. Except for the outskirts of Daytona Beach proper and Jacksonville, there are plenty of nice towns (not necessarily high income employment) that are White and Delightsome on the East Coast. Not very familar with the West Coast except the Tampa area is WORSE than South Florida when it comes to rules/licensing, Cops, and definitely Meth and Very Soft on Negroes.

I was in Santa Cruz since 1982 and spent a few years in Florida before moving my permanent residency to Florida. I’m avoiding taxes and other things.

Florida is rainy and has not much scenery.

However, it can be fun if you like boating or scuba diving. Where I lived guys drove boats to the Bahamas for a long weekend. The beach was fun.

Girls are cute and come in assorted shades and nationalities.

I would consider Idaho in the warm months and Baja in the cold months as a possible alternative.

Presently I am in Baja California Sur Mexico and it’s prettier than Florida.
I’m going back to Florida in a month or so and will do dental and medical stuff there.

I have a friend in Florida who lived briefly in Idaho and didn’t like the winters at all, so she went back to Florida.

Interesting that I see a huge number of older people coming to both Florida and also Baja, I see them in the local Walmart.

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but have you thought about Tennessee? Wife and I are going through the exact same thought process now. She loves Idaho because we can drive to see her son in Oregon. The issue is price. Anything on acreage in Idaho is crazy expensive now and pretty much unaffordable. As someone else stated, Florida looks great now from a political standpoint with DeSantis in charge, but that can change in a heartbeat. Negatives are heat and hurricanes. Florida would not be considered a Conservative state in my opinion. So, we stared looking at Tenn. It will never be a liberal state, it's extremely conservative in all but a few counties. The weather is a split between too hot and too cold in my opinion. (we live in Illinois now. winters in Tenn have got to be better). No income tax. RE is high, but you can still find reasonable places to buy, close to a good city, with acreage. And, 6-7 hours if you want to drive to the ocean. Anyway, my 2c.

idaho demographics;

Caucasian 1,507,880 91.0%
Black or African American 11,231 0.7%

Al_Sharpton_for_President says

idaho demographics;

Caucasian 1,507,880 91.0%
Black or African American 11,231 0.7%

Noooooooooo!

Hefff mentioned Tennessee; I met people in Florida (locals) who were going up there to live, for what it’s worth.

clambo says

Hefff mentioned Tennessee; I met people in Florida (locals) who were going up there to live, for what it’s worth.

Yeah, as long as Tennessee is still affordable relative to Florida, that's going to happen.

Hefff says

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but have you thought about Tennessee? Wife and I are going through the exact same thought process now. She loves Idaho because we can drive to see her son in Oregon. The issue is price. Anything on acreage in Idaho is crazy expensive now and pretty much unaffordable. As someone else stated, Florida looks great now from a political standpoint with DeSantis in charge, but that can change in a heartbeat. Negatives are heat and hurricanes. Florida would not be considered a Conservative state in my opinion. So, we stared looking at Tenn. It will never be a liberal state, it's extremely conservative in all but a few counties. The weather is a split between too hot and too cold in my opinion. (we live in Illinois now. winters in Tenn have got to be better). No income tax. RE is high, but you can still find reasonable places to buy, close to a good city, with acreage. And, 6-7 hours if you want to drive to the ocean. Anyway, my 2c.

We haven’t, we only visited Idaho, Florida, Indiana, Texas.

RedStar says

I just talked with a lady this week that lives in between Orlando and Tampa. She said when Irma rolled through they didn't have power for 8 days, and she is as inland as it gets.

WookieMan says

Get a gas generator and you’ll be fine.

If you have a natural gas generator or even gas generator you can power a house with little effort for $3-4k up front as insurance so to speak.

I'd also be cautious of TN. It's a good sized state, but most of it is tourism. Outsiders are coming in and trying to take the hill billy out of the place. Nashville is going full lefty retard. There are some lake communities that are fine, but it's going south faster than most realize. I'm there once or twice a year.

Do not overlook MS or AL. I'll keep preaching this. They are so bashed that it just makes sense to go there. Tornados suck, but there are things you can do to mitigate the risk. COL is low and plenty of inland lakes a couple hours from the gulf. Rarely snows.

I have relatives on both states. The ones in Idaho I believe live in the Twin Falls area, but both are in fairly rural locations. One set are preppers, the other my uncle has refused to ever wear a mask. Seems things lean pretty conservative, but they have complained about the land prices going up. Never been to Idaho myself.

My relative in Florida live in Orlando area. Yes it's humid, but if you live by the ocean in San Diego, it's more comparable than the Midwest in the summer(sauna). And last time we were there last spring, was 80's a couple days, but felt good to us. After Arizona, I don't think anything will feel too hot ever again. Also, strikes me as a more conservative area. My cousins girlfriend is in real estate, and my cousin does home inspections. You have my contact info, let me know if you want me to put them in touch with you.

Hefff says

but have you thought about Tennessee?

Downtown Knoxville is pretty nice. There are some sketchy "diverse" areas nearby, but there is also UT and some pricey areas, too. A Knoxville suburb, Maryville, is nice, and still relatively affordable, although that is relative.

@fortwaynemobile,
Which parts of Texas did you visit? Its a yuuge state and you can find something for everyone ( unless you like cold)?

Bd6r says

@fortwaynemobile,
Which parts of Texas did you visit? Its a yuuge state and you can find something for everyone ( unless you like cold)?

Dallas

If you can work remote or are retired, try smaller towns. Dallas, Houston, Austin are not very pleasant

Bd6r says

If you can work remote or are retired, try smaller towns. Dallas, Houston, Austin are not very pleasant

Only have had a layover in Dallas as a kid. Been to Austin a dozen times and Houston about three times. You're 100% spot on. If you're 25 and looking to get laid, then sure, give Austin a shot if you want an STD. Texas is huge, but I've never understood the appeal of it from my visits. I'm sure small town Texas is nice though. Most small towns across the country are if you can integrate with the townies and fit in.

I had to work in Dallas for a few months over a decade ago, thought it sucked balls.

Bd6r says

Its a yuuge state and you can find something for everyone ( unless you like cold)?

One hot muggy early November morning in San Antonio I already got soaked with sweat walking across the parking lot to the rental car at the Omni hotel. Last thing I ever considered was taking a jacket or sweatshirt with me.

I was at the job site, in a windowless building, all day and into the night. Left the building around 9-10 PM. Ice Storm. That's the coldest I've ever been, walking across the big parking lot at night in an ice storm with only a T-shirt in San Antonio, Texas.

B.A.C.A.H. says

One hot muggy early November morning in San Antonio

Spent the majority of my military brat years growing up there. Sucked that I was losing my hair in my early 20s coming out of bars in Austin at 1AM and couldn't cool down. Bad hair nights.

Fortunately I look great with a shaved head. Moving back next year and I won't have that problem. I WILL be at the bars and such in SA and Austin but maybe 4th street in Austin instead of 6th street and maybe not the same places I haunted in SA.

WookieMan says

Texas is huge, but I've never understood the appeal of it from my visits.

You have not been in W Texas, I assume. Try visiting Ft Davis and parks nearby - this is best hiking I have ever had. If you like beaches, then vey S TX is quite good in non-Spring Break times. Other than that, the biggest appeal is sane economic policies, which are severely lacking in most other states.

B.A.C.A.H. says

One hot muggy early November morning in San Antonio I already got soaked with sweat walking across the parking lot to the rental car at the Omni hotel. Last thing I ever considered was taking a jacket or sweatshirt with me.

I was at the job site, in a windowless building, all day and into the night. Left the building around 9-10 PM. Ice Storm. That's the coldest I've ever been, walking across the big parking lot at night in an ice storm with only a T-shirt in San Antonio, Texas.

Sounds very familiar, weather here is bipolar. It can be 80 in morning and 40 in afternoon, in fact we had this type of weather last Saturday.

For FL aficionados, very South tip (Brownsville and up to Corpus Christi) will have weather that is somewhat similar to that in FL with rather nice beaches, and you can buy a oceanfront house without spending millions of $$$.

just_passing_through says

Fortunately I look great with a shaved head.

Don't you worry about it getting sunburned?

Booger says

Don't you worry about it getting sunburned?

Yes and it sucks. If I could install solar panels up there I would.

Beats a sunburn with thinning hair though. When that peels it looks like nasty dandruff.