Here is my analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of Bonner and Boundary counties in north Idaho:
Advantages:
1. Very large tracts of undeveloped land under the stewardship of the Idaho Department of Lands and the US Forest Circus with considerable amounts of game and fish.
2. A variety of microclimates can be found here. Parts of Bonners Ferry can get half the snowfall of the Sandpoint area. Normally, the weather is more moderate proximate to Lake Pend Oreille but heavier snowfall occurs next to Lake Cocolalla and Priest Lake.
3. Our growing season is approximately 110 days.
4. Mountainous terrain with heavy forestation is historically optimal guerilla country.
5. Contiguous to a porous international border.
6. No building departments in either Bonner or Boundary County (for now).
7. There is a curious self-selection of emigrants to North Idaho who have a self-reliant attitude and a vigorous skepticism toward any level of government. The Palouse attitude is diluted due to the transient population of students and the tendency of universities to produce enclaves of state-worship.
8. Huge amounts of water both above ground and resident in giant aquifers.
9. Temperature in the teens and below are virtually unheard of yet even summer nights tend to be in the 40s and 50s.
10. Crime is extremely low.
11. One single major arterial (Highway 95) and minor arterial (Highway 41) run north-south.
12. Very small comprehensive law enforcement presence.
13. It is possible to travel just north of Priest River and have access to over 40 miles of travel north to the Canadian border over state and federal land without touching or traveling on any private land (trespass).
14. Heating fuels are practically unlimited.
15. Access to Montana for tax free goods.
16. Vibrant horse culture for emerging transportation needs.
17. Major source of hay for the region, critical for horses and cattle.
Disadvantages:
1. Huge influx of People’s Republic of Kalifornia (PRK) refugees (55% of all new Bonner County vehicle registrations) is causing a shift in the local polity to dampen skepticism of government.
2. Winters are presently following no pattern but snowfall is inevitable. Snowpack concentration tends to be Schweitzer mountain and points west
3. High housing and land prices (Bonner County has the second highest values in Idaho out of 44 counties). The immediate Sandpoint/Schweitzer axis is especially spendy. Although since the housing and lender bubble has burst, prices are careening downward at a wicked pace.
4. Tendency for overcast days November through February for solar energy usage.
5. US Border Patrol jurisdiction is 60 miles south of any border.
6. Transcontinental railroad systems throughout Bonner and Boundary with approximately 60 trains per day.
7. The Rocky Mountain states tend to have the highest fuel prices.
8. Proximity to Fairchild Air Force Base.
9. Economy dependent on tourism and approximately one of every three jobs is government employment.
10. Proximity to large populations centers in Coeur d’ Alene and Spokane.