In 2012, The recorded population of Idaho Falls was 57,121 people. 10 years later, in current day, the recorded population is 66,898 people, with a majority of those people moving to Idaho Falls between 2018 and current day. With the high amounts of people moving here in the past recent years, let’s take a look at a not-so-big community within the small city that hugs the Snake River, that community being the car community.  With the growth in Idaho Falls, the question arises if the influx of people moving here has benefitted the car community at all and helped it grow. Before we talk about the car scene in Idaho Falls, we want to dive into a little bit of the important history of the car community first, more specifically the history of Cars & Coffee.

Cars & Coffee started as an unofficial event held publicly for the first time in Irvine, California held in a parking lot at Crystal Cove Promenade, and dates back to 2006. The meets were typically held in the early hours of the morning and there was no marketing or any official organization involved at the time, all there was then was a Facebook group that wasn’t run, and still isn’t, by any official host[s] or volunteers. This first event back in 2006 racked up an impressive 350 cars for the event’s debut show. These meets would hold consistency over the next 8 years into 2020 until the event[s] got so popular that some would have to be canceled due to the overwhelming attendance. Cars & Coffee would earn their rightful reputation over those 8 years and almost 410 consecutive Saturday events yearly and become known for the most recurring car meets across the entirety of the United States. 

Over the past couple of weeks, members and enthusiasts of the car community in Idaho Falls were interviewed. They were spoken to and asked questions about the community itself and what waits on the other side of it for people looking to join the world of automotive fun. When asked if the influx of people moving to Idaho Falls benefitted the car community here, Don Thompson, a car enthusiast, replied: “Well the answer to that question is interesting. Most people would think ‘surely with all these people moving here the car community would grow’, but at the same time that lots of people are moving here, lots are also leaving and moving out … I’ve seen the community start to dwindle ever so slightly, but more and more these past couple years, some of those people leaving, being well-known and loved members of our community. Even with people like that gone though, I suppose I could say overall that it’s helped us because of all the young people moving here.” 

After talking with Don, we spoke to Ryan Macchino, we asked him if there was any advice he’d give to someone looking to get into the car community, what would it be? Ryan replied with this: “When you get into cars, learn your car and its fundamentals first, don’t dive right into modifications and all of the fun stuff. Learn to maintain it and keep it running. One of the most important things to know is to not be concerned or worried about what other people are gonna say or think about your car and what you want to do/have done to it, so many people get shot down because while most of this community is welcoming with open arms and friendly, there will always be those few people that want to take shots at others. Don’t let those people shoot you down and push you away from the community, if anything use those people and their words as motivation because if you have people hating on you or your build, you’re doing something right because they’re hating on you cause you’re happy with yourself and the work, time, money, and sweat you’ve put into your build.”