What can the hometown forum tell me about relocating to Pocatello?

How many times have you visited the area ??

Start there.

Because telling you about it doesn't really do anything.

Reading about the parks, rivers, breweries, shooting ranges, whatever.... doesn't do shit.

Visit in the fall, visit in the spring, visit in the summer, visit in the winter.....actually visit IN PERSON.

Get a feel for the area......spend some time there........then decide if it's going to be a fit for you.


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Mormon central. Are you mormon?

I moved to Pocatello on a whim a few years back.

There’s not going to be any where you really want to eat here. Lots of fast food, local places are mediocre.

Infrastructure feels like a small town, that now has a LOT more people living in it. There isn’t traffic in a city sense, but the two lane road through the middle of town gets…congested.

If you want some semblance of a night/going out life, you won’t find it here.

Two golf courses, one country club.

One shooting range that’s pretty okay, BLM land surrounding town is mostly free range for cattle, so you have that to deal with.

Utah folks frequent the place and Idahoans despise them almost as much as any recently relocated folks.

If you aren’t LDS, it will be difficult to fit in with a decent chunk of the town. Read that again and really try to understand it.

Pocatello was great when it was a super cheap, quiet place to live. It’s still mostly quiet, but not the bargain that made it alluring a few short years ago.

If you are raising a family, there’s oodles of parks and whatnot, and everyone here has a child. If you live outside the lesser parts of town, it’s a quiet, mostly safe place to live. Two and a half hours to salt lake and an airport (idaho falls regional works for a lot) great hub for being close (but still a ways away) from anything to do. Hiking/biking trails are abundant within ten minutes no matter where you live.

I would only half way recommend it. Everyone I work with who is a transplant also is less than impressed by it.

What I want to know is what people hope to solve by moving to Idaho?  Idaho isn’t the utopia people make it out to be.  When I moved here in 2008 it was an adjustment for me. As a matter of fact I hated it here for the first few years I lived here. All I’ve seen of this state since everyone decided to show up at once is more traffic, more crime, the cost of living going up and either Utards trying to turn the area into SLC or the lefties trying to turn it into Portland.  

As far as Pocatello is concerned most anyone I knew that was from there don’t live there anymore.  More than one person considered Nampa a step up from Pocatello and thats not saying much.  

In all honesty you should pick a better place than Pokey if you are bound and determined to move here.

This.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the area.

It’s a not so small town, that has neither the amenities of a large town or city, nor a small town feel any more.

It's mostly just a giant factory that spews gross air.

Moved the family to Pocatello in '95 for work.  Moved back to Oregon in 2019 for work and to be closer to my Mom and Mother-in-law as they were getting into their 80's.  

It was a good place to raise our four kids. Much more conservative than Oregon.  Oldest son was 5th grade and had a difficult his first year in school because we are not LDS.  I don't know that not being LDS is a big a deal now.   Crime rates have certainly increased over the years.

Cost of housing when we moved was great, now not so much.  Shopping has improved with Costco being in town. Restaurants are much, much more diverse than they used to be, and there are good micro breweries now.  Idaho Falls has more shopping and more restaurants and is an easy 45 minute drive (non-winter).  

Pretty good gun range very close to town, you can shoot out to 380 yards. Also a lot of shooting disciplines there.   Oregon Trail Gun Range

You really want to consider the weather, especially if your have not been through cold winters. Snow staying on the ground would start about Thanksgiving and melt off by late February through mid March.  Saw it snow as early as September and as late as June. Winter snow doesn't normally get real deep but it sure does blow around. Always one to three weeks of 10 to 20 below zero weather in the winter. Spring seems to last a couple of weeks and then it is summer. Highs in the upper 80s, low 90s are normal but the humidity is really low.  Fall can come really quick or be late and seems to transition quickly to winter.  If you like wind, lots of wind year round, Pocatello is a great place to be.  

For outdoor activities, there is a lot to do around the area (near by and within a day's drive) year round. You would really want to find a winter activity to help you get through it, skiing, snow machines or ice fishing all help.

Not a bad place to live but it helps to check it out in person and doing so in the winter could be a real eye opener for you.

Maybe you should move then?

I’ve dug in and improved my position.  I’m not going anywhere. Besides, me moving wouldn’t put me any better than the people who leave where they come from rather than doing anything to fix it there.

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You must be from Pocatello.  Why give me shit when all I’m asking is whats to be gained by moving here and adding to the higher prices, congestion and all the other ills this state has suffered? Your info, if accurate, lists you as being in Nevada, that state is a perfect example of outsiders coming in and turning the area to shit so one would assume you would agree with my line of thought. But with double posting ass dragging dog memes, perhaps not.

I'm kind of half-following this, but as someone living in Nevada and thinking about going North, specifically I would like to improve 1) Cooler weather 2) Cost of having a few fertile acres. 3) Water access 4)Ag land.

Seems pretty reasonable to me. What am I missing?

1) Cooler weather? This is Idaho, I’ve seen triple digit temps in Bonners Ferry.  
2) Farmland won’t be cheap.  From what I gather you have to try to hit up someone who wants to retire or their kids are looking to sell after they plated their Dad.
3) Water access? See above.  

Other than that, Idaho does offer quite a bit.  I’d rather see a farmer move here than some slack jawed Californians coming here to tell me how great it was there.

All of the above, including the arguments. Bring your own water.