I sympathize with Millie Hayes’s assessment of the remorse she may now feel after her decision to move from California to North Idaho.

I personally prefer North Idaho, and there are now many reasons not to want to live in California, some of which have been alluded to in recent letters to the editor in response to her letter. It is a fact that California has more climate zones than any other state, and if you have the opportunity, you can select the area that best suits your lifestyle. Unfortunately, most of the best paying jobs are in areas that are overpriced, overtaxed and often in high crime areas. The population of California is higher than the population of Canada.

I recently moved from Osburn to Hayden. I sold my house for $120,000. One of my cousins lives within commuting distance of San Francisco. His house could be sold for more than $1 million and it isn’t nearly as good as the house I recently sold in Shoshone County (location, location, location).

She is entitled to her opinions, and perhaps she wants to move back to California, which is her choice, but why antagonize the locals? I don’t hold any animosity toward her. I don’t know her, so I can’t presume to judge her or her motives. I really don’t even have much of a problem with her venting her frustrations, although perhaps she shouldn’t have put them in print.

Post Falls is growing. I remember 30+ years ago when it had less than 5,000 population. Give it time; it is growing! And it already has two Walmarts and a Cabela’s.

She referred to the lack of Sears, Penny’s Home Depot, etc., in Post Falls. But, since she and her husband both work in the Spokane area, they have to drive back and forth past the Valley mall which has almost anything they would want to shop for. If that doesn’t suit them, all these stores also have outlets in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden.

BOB RIDOUT

Hayden

P.S. Please don’t think for a moment that you aren’t welcome here. We welcome everyone. Sometimes it just takes time to adjust. When you and your husband reach retirement age, you can become “snowbirds” and spend the winters in Arizona if you choose to do what hundreds of us choose to do each winter (not me, I like it here).