Where, oh where should my little family live?

[VeeBee66]

My husband works right smack down town and he says it normally takes 20-25 minutes or so to get into work. Says it's slower coming home but I don't think its ever took him more than 45 minutes. Be sure to check out Settler's Bridge subdivision too. We love it and would love to buy there someday if we decide on staying in the area.

[IdaD]

Originally Posted by VeeBee66

My husband works right smack down town and he says it normally takes 20-25 minutes or so to get into work. Says it's slower coming home but I don't think its ever took him more than 45 minutes. Be sure to check out Settler's Bridge subdivision too. We love it and would love to buy there someday if we decide on staying in the area.

I think this is about right for that part of town. A coworker of mine lives in Lochsa Falls (Linder/McMillen) and he says it's 20-25 on his way in before 7:00 am and more like 30-40 back out in the evening. This is to our office in downtown Boise.

By contrast, from Tuscany I could go from my garage to my parking spot in 9-11 minutes and back out was about 15 to 20 minutes. Now I'm more like 11-13 minutes in and 17-22 minutes back out (off Locust Grove, still south of freeway).

None of these are bad commutes by large city standards, but I prefer the quicker drive time and it was a big part of why we didn't want to live in north Meridian, northwest Boise or anywhere in Eagle.

[percydaman]

Originally Posted by angmagrang

Thanks all for the advice. Folks have mentioned the being near the freeway is important. Generally, I would agree with that in just about any city, but I'm curious what kind of a time difference you're talking about when you thin of being "near" the freeway vs. not near it. I'm use to traffic in LA and Seattle where going 5 miles can take 45 minutes at times. I currently live in a town where it takes me between 8 and 10 minutes to get on the freeway, which I think is great!

What is considered a "bad" commute in the Boise area? How long on the worst day could it take to get from Meridian to Boise, for example?

8-10 minutes to the highway is pretty much about how long it takes me to get to the freeway, depending on time of day. (Basically Lochsa Falls) Thank god they added the 10 Mile offramp. I've lived all over the country, that included some pretty large metropolitan areas, and I think the traffic around here is pretty bad in comparison. That said, there's always places that are a lot worse. I haven't lived in California.

[VeeBee66]

I worked in Birmingham, AL for many years and think the traffic here is no where NEAR as bad as it was there.

[obiwan_kenobi]

I used to commute to downtown San Francisco from our home, good day in traffic was 2 hours each way, bad day 3-4 hours.

I could live with your described commutes.

[Eye-duh-hoe]

I think the Boise metro area has grown too far north of I-84 making it a pain to jump onto the freeway from either Eagle or Meridian. I think most people use the city streets who live in either town to get to Boise. I live in Meridian and have played around with my commute of city streets vs freeway. It takes me about 15 minutes to get to the freeway then about 10 more to get to downtown. City streets is about the same time. Unless you live right next to the freeway many times you are better off using city streets. Commute time is around half hour during rush hours. I have been in traffic for about an hour and a half during blizzards which rarely occur. If you are used to LA, the you will think Boise traffic is a joke.