The red state that residents are rushing to from Democrat cities in California trends now
Americans from liberal west coast states are fleeing in greater and greater numbers to a neighboring red state to escape political riots, homelessness and crime.
Idaho appears to be where disaffected residents of California, Oregon and Washington are flocking to.
Husband and wife Nick Kostenborder and Ashley Manning are among those who brought their then-9-month-old son to Sandpoint to escape Portland.
The couple's baby, who they named Taylor, was on the way in summer 2020, right when the Portland riots following George Floyd's death were in full swing.
A view of downtown Boise, Idaho's biggest city with a population of over 236,000 as of 2022
Boise's capitol building is seen near sunset
Kostenborder pointed to the homeless problem in his old city as something that swayed his decision to up and leave.
'You're worried about someone else besides yourself. So you start to notice threats more. Like, it's no longer charming to have the homeless guy asleep in front of the grocery store. Now it's like, all right, this actually might be dangerous,' Kostenborder said.
In fact, the homeless problem has gotten so out of hand in Portland, that its own city government has a tracking portal detailing the number of encampments in the city.
'Currently there are hundreds of unsanctioned camps spread out across virtually every neighborhood of our city, over a massive 146 square mile area,' according to the Portland city government.
West coast problems could be part of the reason Idaho's population soared more than 12 percent from 2018 to 2023.
Tents that shelter homeless people line the sidewalk along Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles
Homeless encampment is seen in Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California on August 28, 2023
An image of a night of protesting and rioting in Portland on October 31, 2020. Armed counter-protesters stand outside a bail bonds agency as a protester holds a shirt with a picture of Black man Kevin E. Peterson Jr. who was shot dead by police in
