Commute to Mountain Home? (Boise, Meridian: real estate, rentals, neighborhood)

[Christie.]

My husband is considering a job prospect in Mountain Home. Would it make sense to just live out there or is the commute from Boise/surrounding suburbs not so bad? Keeping the commute in mind, what would be some good areas to consider living in? Kuna looked pretty close on the map, how is it?

We are a young couple with a baby on the way and we'd like to find a newer home in a neighborhood. I really like master planned communities, or at least community amenities like a pool, not sure if we will have any luck finding something like that.
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[boisefan88]

Live there. Why on earth would you want to do a 35-45 minute commute?

Sometimes foreign mentalities boggle my mind. If you don't have to commute, you shouldn't. Even though it seems short, and time-wise is probably grapes compared to what you've dealt with before, keep in mind these two things:

I84 from Mtn Home to Boise is extremely treacherous in the winter, especially when it snows unexpectedly. My friends nickname it the "freeway of death" because it seems like there's a fatal wreck about once a week on the thing.

Also, when a semi overturns on I84, which happens a few times a year - or any wreck, really - traffic will be backed up for at least an hour, but potentially longer. If you commute to Mtn Home from Boise M-F at normal commute times, I'd expect to get stalled about 3 or 4 times a year.

I used to make a commute daily from Boise to Twin Falls for work for a period of two years - that's not a freeway I'd want to drive on a daily basis. However, I do know people who do it in reverse (Mtn Home to Boise) and get by.

[Christie.]

Originally Posted by boisefan88

Live there. Why on earth would you want to do a 35-45 minute commute?

Sometimes foreign mentalities boggle my mind. If you don't have to commute, you shouldn't.

I guess I'm just having a hard time finding rental listings for Mountain Home, which really surprises me given the AFB. I found a few on Craigslist, but they actually seem to be more expensive then Boise/Kuna. No luck either with Rentals.com or Realtor.com.

Also, there doesn't seem to be much information about the town itself online. I'd love it if someone would share their thoughts on Mountain Home.

[boisefan88]

As with anywhere, you really should go there before you move. There's only so much you can learn about a place from the internet.

And Mountain Home, being a smaller place, probably doesn't list rentals as much on the net. You might have to go there and drive around and look, maybe pick up a local Super Ads or paper or whatever. You can try calling the air base for suggestions, too.

[Lacerta]

Commuting from Boise/Kuna/Meridian to Mountain Home? No thanks. Not unless I had no other choice. The rent might possibly be cheaper, I don't know what rates are in Mountain Home, but by the time you figure in time, fuel, and wear on your car, it won't really be cheaper. Boisefan is 100% right

Funny commuting story though to show what people from other parts of the country think is normal. My parents have been real estate agents for about 20 years in Boise. About 15 years ago (when traffic was much much less than it is today), they had someone moving from the east coast tell them they wanted to be within a 2 hour commute of work, and stay in the Treasure Valley. Parents had to explain to him that he could live across about a third of the state, even into parts of Oregon and be within a 2 hour commute of Boise. He ended up with about a 10 minute commute. They all had a laugh over it.