Idaho is a weird, weird state. Has all the things you stated but also the people who are trying to live in their own borders, tons of white supremacists, and such. All states have their weirdos but on a per capita basis, Idaho is right up there, no?
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Ummm… it’s really not the place people think it is.
I’m certainly not gonna sit here and say it doesn’t have its share of nut jobs. It really does. I know a few of them. But it certainly doesn’t feel like somewhere that you feel exposed in the middle of a Klan meeting. CDA is very liberal. And increasingly cosmopolitan. Mainly because the population has come from CA and WA for the most part. The nut jobs tend to live out in the middle of fucking nowhere up by Bonners Ferry and not ever come into town, so you don’t interact with them much. Preppers don’t do hipster coffee houses.
It’s also, weirdly, conservative with a small c. Yeah, a lot of them are Republicans, but its that old fashioned style of Republican where they’re good neighbours and clear your driveway when it snows and bring you a fruit basket and casserole if you’re sick and believe in being a good human first and not paying for “gang bangers social security checks” second. It’s old school values more than being a right wing c**t. More old fashioned than bigoted.
For the vast majority of the time everyone is exceptionally nice. Schools are good. Like everywhere its much better to be rich there than poor, but where isn’t.
What you get a lot of is outsiders causing trouble. For example there was a festival at Sandpoint which had a no guns policy. Some guys turned up, refused to give up their guns, were not allowed in, and sued the festival organisers. Judges agreed with them and the festival was told it couldn’t stop people having guns. They couldn’t get musicians to come after that and it shut down after like 36 years. Shitebags. But, the guys who turned up were from fucking Boise and the court case was heard in Boise. It wasn’t locals doing it. Most of the locals I know never carry guns into town. They use them for hunting. It’s the CA blow ins that make a point of carrying and the locals think they’re total wankers.
CDA is famous for the Aryan Nation having a compound there in the 90s but the locals basically conspired to get them out and took over their compound, giving it to the community and calling it the Peace Park. Of course, all anyone remembers is “Oh yeah, that’s where the Aryan Nation are”.
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Interesting, and a good reminder that a reputation is not reality.
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I’ve often wondered about the Whitefish - Kalispell, MT area as being quite ideal in regards to natural beauty and having most all the amenities you would normally need. I need to visit in the winter though to find out if I can handle that kind of prolonged cold weather. In the Willamette Valley I already think the winters are long when we have 36 degrees, grey, and rainy from the end of October to March basically.
I visited Glacier a few years ago and that just kind of stirs your soul. No secret, obviously.
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What I will say about up there is the spring can come really late. You frequently have sunny days in March or April and think YAY! only for it to dump snow overnight and another 4 weeks of winter sets in. It can be brutal.
But then the summer comes in May / June and you’re flying til October.
My mother tends to always schedule a trip to Europe in Feb and she goes away to Mexico or Hawaii in late March, early April to break up that post Christmas to May / June stretch.
And, like anywhere, you build a life that goes on, even in winter.
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Yea can’t go wrong with Charleston. Explosion of people moving here is insane right now. Golf and fishing scene is great. Love to updates to Muni. that is when I can get a tee time out there.
Wilmington, NC is right up the coast too. Another good spot
Greenville, SC. Tons of cheap quality public golf options in the area. 45 minutes from the mountains, less than an hour from 2 gorgeous lakes, 3 hours to the beach, 3 hours to Pinehurst, 2 hours to Charlotte and Atlanta.
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I live in Minnesota and it’s great for about 4-5 months. I am most likely moving to Georgia this upcoming summer.
Georgia/Tennessee/South Carolina/North Carolina
Oregon/Washington
Texas
Massachusetts
Utah/Colorado
These are some of my favorite areas.
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States with No State Income Tax:
Alaska (not great for golf)
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire (not great for golf
South Dakota (very tax friendly and hiding private wealth, see Pandora papers, not a great golf season)
Tennessee
Texas
Washington
Wyoming (probably not great for golf?)
States with No Income Tax with year round golf weather:
Florida
Tennessee
Texas
That is probably how I would approach it. Chattanooga is probably the best “city” to live in Tennessee from a quality of life standpoint. Florida is Florida. Texas weather is a bit too oppressive to me. I think I would vote for Chattanooga?
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Knoxville is a killer town too
You must not have spent much time in MA.
Never lived just visit a lot. I know it would be a tough place to live though.
I am biased but there are many towns in RI where cost of living / quality of life / proximity to ocean and good golf are far better than most of MA.
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Maybe you could live somewhere nice and, I dunno, pay taxes?! 
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Monterey CA
quarter zip weather 365 days
great food
Hi end private and very good public golf
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Great town. great golf. My sister has sold real estate there for 30 years. Her current problem… lots of buyers…nothing to buy?
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I hear the Carolinas are a great place to live for seasonal weather. Going to Scottsdale next week for the first timed. Will relay what I think about the area.
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Pacific Grove is the better, more idyllic town.
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So gifs the Florida guy.
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