Well, I’ve never been there in winter.  I doubt the writers of these kind of reviews have ever been there.  Even in summer.  They crunch some data and then conclude Valley County is the best place to retire in Idaho.  The thing is, the data may be right.  It’s lovely there.  You have this marvelous woodland setting but you’re not far away from the amenities in Boise. 

McCall is pretty but I’m probably not quite enough sophisticated to blend in with the crowd.

Valley County isn’t the cheapest place to live in Idaho but compared with some rankings of best places in other states you could save thousands of dollars in comparison, over the course of a year.  The retiree population is actually quite small, but then so is the population of the county!  Slightly over 10,000 people.  You certainly would get some elbow room.

You can read more at theladders.com by clicking here.

In my roaming around Idaho, I’ve found many places I’d like to call my last home.  None are larger communities.  McCall is pretty but I’m probably not quite enough sophisticated to blend in with the crowd.  Hagerman, Wallace, Victor and Driggs are more my style.  Especially the first two.  Locally, I say Kimberly.  What the data crunchers can’t say is how it “feels” when you walk the streets of these small towns.

As you walk, what are you thinking?  As a boy in spring, I could walk and smell lilacs and roses and hear the sounds of kids playing ball.  These are things we really can’t measure by numbers.  Oh, and I’d like a place with a big porch!

More From 98.3 The Snake