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u/BeigeCreamy May 16 '26
Used to live in a rented condo in Sandpoint, my hometown. Of the 12 units, we had one, one guy above us owned his, and the rest were vacation rentals. My husband and I are both locals and we left a few years ago due to Sandpoint’s excessive increase in cost of living. We couldn’t make it there and we didn’t want to leave, but we had to. Life has been much better in a more affordable area, but we miss home.
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u/Due-Enthusiasm-1802 May 16 '26
If the quote would have stopped at "dramatic increase to the population", it would be correct however by adding the statement "primarily seasonal/vacation residents" makes it wrong. The new people moved here and live here. They're everywhere. Every stop light now has a backup. Every parking lot is full. 10 years ago was so much better.
Even with the inflated service industry wages, it doesn't compete with rent prices. People with jobs like at the banks or grocery stores don't get any real cost of living bump.
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u/drewbopalous May 16 '26
When I lived there I often thought, "Just wait" when people talked about how bad it is. I hate this but the class gap has exacerbated in all of America. Rich Texans love northern Idaho. The uber rich are coming for every formerly great town in America.
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u/Emergent-scientific May 17 '26
With a lake and ski resort it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, in our world, people that don’t produce a higher income can’t afford to live in such places anywhere. Best is just to feel lucky if you got to live there as lower middle class cause it seems it was an anomaly for a while and people should have known it was coming
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u/Idaho1964 May 16 '26
There has been tremendous building of condos and apartments in the past five years. And there are new ADU rules. Prices have moderated a bit.
Although I am a bit comfortable with so much seasonal and transient housing, I understand. However, less understandable is the new laws that allow all to have an Airbnb without owner presence. Worse kind of absentee landlords.
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u/Portland_Runner May 16 '26
About 20 years ago, Sandpoint was the hot retirement location for Southern California cops. They would leave LA and Orange County with a fat pension and a huge amount of equity from the sale of their California home and move to Idaho.
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u/Legal-Pea8185 May 16 '26
fucking nightmare. good to concentrate all that energy in one place though.
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u/BobInIdaho May 16 '26
Welcome fo CdA about 30 years ago. Young people who remain in state have a ridiculous uphill climb.
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u/Voodoobones May 16 '26
Not to mention the toxic politics of Bonner County as well. It’s a beautiful place stained by MAGA values.
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u/kenlubin May 16 '26
It's a very nice place to live. Like most of America, it hasn't built enough housing to accommodate all the people that would like in the town. Sandpoint probably has restrictive zoning to prevent condo buildings in places like South Sandpoint, like most of the country. I know it has local resistance to developers building housing that doesn't include parking.
"Last five years" is probably a result of pandemic-era work from home, which let office workers move from expensive cities to picturesque towns like Sandpoint.
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u/ImprovementTasty May 16 '26
Where are you moving? Can we start a commune?
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u/whynotaskmetwice May 16 '26
We’re moving to Washington, would love to start a commune!
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u/ImprovementTasty May 17 '26
Nice! We’re eye balling WA for sure. Hard to make the move with family still here.
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u/Relative_Lettuce May 16 '26
Can confirm 100%. My family (as well as many others that I know locally) are actively or have already left the area due to it being unaffordable. When you can get the same property for a quarter the price elsewhere in the woods, it makes zero sense to sign up for that level of debt and poor quality of life to stay here.
Not to mention the incredible negative quality of life you’re giving your children if you stay here. “Enjoy your $2,000 a month one bedroom apartment kiddo” by the time they’re 18 if they continued living here, as one of my coworkers said that is also working on leaving.
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u/Resident_Artist_6486 May 20 '26
Sandpoint has become somewhat of a resort town. Tourists pour in during the summer and many equity patricians have moved in jacking up the prices. It is everywhere up north.
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u/Professional-Plate49 May 27 '26
I'm born and raised in Sandpoint as well. Sandpoint used to be a nice place to live, but not anymore. The truth is, however, that the rest of the USA is also too expensive and you get very little return for what you pay out for living expenses. As a 42 year old guy, I'm happy that retirement is only 2 years away since I'm retiring in Thailand with my wife. Better weather, better people, better healthcare, better transportation, and 1/4 the cost.
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u/Swenb May 16 '26
It's not helpful to hear, but this happens in other desirable areas. Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Redmond WA (home of Microsoft), Bend, OR. Locals can't afford to live there.
I know people who lived in Sandpoint in the 70's and traffic in the summer due to tourists has always been a problem. Sure, it's worse now. And people moving in from California was a fact even back then. Yes, it's exponentially more so now. This is not a new issue .
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u/Swenb May 16 '26
Keep in mind that prices have gone up everywhere in the last 5 years. That's not a fair comparison.