Idaho is the new 'red state' haven where residents of some of America's most Liberal cities are now fleeing to escape crime and chaos

Americans from liberal west coast states are fleeing in 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 now flocking to, with the state's population surging by 12 per cent in just five years.  

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

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 Vancouver

A protester holds up her hands as police detain other protesters and clear a park after a vigil and march marking the shooting death by police of black man Kevin E. Peterson Jr. 

The City of Portland's homeless encampment tracker pinpoints the exact location of the sites which litter the city 'across virtually every neighborhood'

Manning, the mother of now three-year-old Taylor, said their little cul-de-sac is much safer than their old neighborhood in Portland, adding that she couldn't imagine her son playing outside there like he does in Idaho.

'He just can take off on his bike and it's so safe,' she said. 'Everybody just watches out for him.'

Kostenborder said the same year his family moved to Sandpoint, families from Seattle and San Diego moved next door.

'It's this kind of weird little expat group that we all found ourselves here,' Kostenborder said. 

For Bryan Zielinski and his wife, who moved to Idaho from the Seattle area, it was a combination of things that got them to flee.

Zielinski was the general manager at one of the largest gun shops in Washington, and as a conservative who has an affinity for firearms, the state's growing hostility to his values concerned him greatly. 

'Everything is political,' Zielinski said. 'Whether it's the car you drive, where you work. You're wearing a mask, you're not wearing a mask.'

Tents line the sidewalk on Clay Street on December 9, 2020, in Portland, Oregon

Lawmakers also targeted his livelihood by banning the sale of magazines with 10 or more rounds in 2022 and then banning the sale or import of 'assault weapons' in 2023.

A combination of strict COVID-19 policies and the new gun laws caused Zielinski to move to Idaho and open his own gun shop, which has been in business for four months.

Thanks to these west coast transplants, Idaho's small towns are becoming less small everyday. 

Sandpoint, in Idaho's Bonner County, grew 13 percent from 2020 to 2022. And although towns adding to their population sounds inherently good, there are some drawbacks.

Idaho natives are dealing with rising home prices, new developments in what used to be open fields and wooded areas, and more traffic clogging up their previously sleepy roads.

'Growing up in a wide-open space like this, people get used to having elbow room,' Bonner County Commissioner Luke Omodt said. 'And we're struggling with the fact that there's other people that want to share the same beauty that we do.'