A Private Life in Rural Idaho
Challenges Living in Rural Areas
Living a private life can be enticing. One way to do this is to escape urban and suburban sprawl–upward and outward respectively–and into rural areas. But this has its own challenges. The nearest clinic or hospital can be more than an hour away. Sometimes registered sex offenders move here because of cheap housing or to hide. And differences in ways of being in the world can keep neighbors at arm’s length despite being of similar age.
Beyond Community Gardens
My outdoor-enthusiast daughter quickly adapted to her private life in rural Idaho. It’s slower, quieter unlike life in suburban and urban settings where she had previously lived. Nature isn’t a community garden but down the road leading to wilder nature. The kind where it would be wise to take a satellite communication device when camping and hunting.
The 2008 Housing Bubble
During my visit, I took several pictures documenting her daily life. A life narrowed down to 19 photos that I hope captured her spirit, struggle and love of this specific place in rural Idaho. An area where a developer once had a dream of building a community of suburban-like homes until the 2008 housing bubble burst. This left behind vacant lots and a smattering of houses that sold for a song amidst dirt streets that never got paved and discarded fire hydrants. Houses that seem to have fallen here haphazardly, a little too dressed up. They wait for the party to start among the older, weathered dwellings that knew the party was over before it even began.
Cost of Housing
Since my visit, my daughter has moved. And those empty lots? They’re being snapped up by people moving into Idaho from other states they can no longer afford to live in. The other day, my daughter texted a photo of a bumper sticker. It was in the shape of the Idaho state with “no vacancy” written across it. So, my photos also convey something else. That period between the housing bubble and the flee movement that’s driving up housing costs in Idaho and other states.
Credits
Image of Dworshak Reservoir, Idaho, USA by Micah Tindell for Unsplash
Featured image by Perry Kibler for Unsplash
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Jill Boyles' photography has appeared in such places as Cargo Literary, ArtHouston, and Cold Mountain Review. Her website is jillboylesphotographer.com.
