Neighborhood of the Week: Neighborhood cold cases in Coeur d’Alene
With snow and frigid temperatures on our minds the past week or so, Neighborhood of the Week is feeling ICE COLD.
That frosty perspective doesn’t exactly match the North Idaho real estate market. Sure, winter is usually the quietest time of year for home sales, but in a market like ours, that doesn’t mean much.
So let’s try to look at this another way. What about those neighborhoods that rarely seem to have homes for sale? We’re talking about those idyllic, in-demand developments where residents never want to leave. They live there because it’s perfect, and they can’t imagine living anywhere else.
We’re calling these places Neighborhood Cold Cases. Cue the theme song.
Case File #1: Canfield Park and Bentwood Park in Coeur d’Alene
Though we’ve found ways to cover the area in year’s past, this Neighborhood of the Week writer has often lamented about the lack of inventory in this family-favorite stretch of Coeur d’Alene just east of 15th Street near the Dalton city limits.
Canfield Park, located at the base of Canfield Mountain and near Canfield Middle School, has long been a preferred locale for families looking for a safe, quiet and convenient central location. As a kid who grew up just outside this area and rode his bike through the neighborhood on the way to middle school, I badly wanted to live there. The homes were nice and it was a much shorter bike ride to school, especially during those snowy winter months.
On the edge of this development is a terrific open space for families — Shadduck Lane Park, which includes one of my kids’ favorite playground areas. The south end of Canfield Park connects to Bentwood Park, which is populated with towering trees. When I was a kid, this area was just a place to practice sweet dirt bike jumps … well … other kids jumped. I watched them do sweet jumps while I took regular puffs on my asthma inhaler.
Connecting east to Bentwood Park and just off Thomas Lane is a new(ish) neighborhood, Alpine Point, developed by Aspen Homes. Just two years ago there were homes under construction and several active listings. Well, the people who moved there don’t seem to be relocating anytime soon.
Sure enough, finding a listing anywhere in this area right now is tough, but that’s long been an issue. On multiple occasions in the past few years, I’ve driven through Canfield Park and Bentwood Park to take pictures in the hope of finding enough homes for sale to warrant an article. I was regularly disappointed, though we did do a Bentwood Park feature in August 2019 (we’ve mentioned Canfield and Bentwood as part of other pieces too, notably about the development of Alpine Point, but also in a November 2021 article about Coeur d’Alene area price cuts — there was one and nothing else for sale, as usual).
Right now, just one active listing exists in the area — a beautiful three bedroom, 1,600+ sq. ft. home near Shadduck Lane Park priced just under $800,000. Filtering the search on Realtor.com and Zillow.com (hardly the most accurate measure, admittedly), we found less than 10 properties sold across Canfield and Bentwood over the last 18 months. Maybe not the most reliable source, but that number certainly matches the eye test.
Case verdict: ICE COLD (Translation: An awesome place to live, if you can manage to get in there).
Let us know about the standout neighborhoods around North Idaho you want to see featured in Neighborhood of the Week. Realtors! Reach out to us with updates on new developments and established neighborhoods in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum and beyond. Contact Tyler Wilson at twilson@cdapress.com