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I don't like the early winter darkness....but being offset from metro Spokane's time zone would be a bigger issue IMO. So I'm in agreement that staying on Pacific Time is the better option.
Yup.
I've never liked the fact that the north is so isolated from the rest of the state. It would be to all Idahoan's advantage if more of our money and goods were purchased and spent in-state than out of state.
I'm also concerned that N. Idaho could become the poorer sibling because it's cut off from a lot of the growth and development that is happening down here, where the majority of the population live. The north should be, in my opinion, a twin to the south. If that ever happens, Idaho could become a real western powerhouse due to it's location, resources, and advanced technology development. We could grow to the size of Utah or even close to Colorado and still keep all the stuff we treasure here with no problems.
Possibly changing to mountain time could prove to be a good first step in this. For sure, uniting the 2 Idahos would be a long process, but I believe weaning ourselves away from Spokane in the north and Salt Lake City in the south would be a very good thing for us all here.
I understand what you're saying...but I don't think north Idaho can reasonably be weaned from the closest metropolitan area to us, and it's conveniences. Even if there were a highway through the center of the state, or we were forced onto the same time zone. It's a long state and the south is far away. If I want to take my family to a nice restaurant or go shopping, or take my child to a specialist or hospital...you can bet it's going to be "local" and in Spokane. It may be in a different state, but we live nearby and we're neighbors.
As far as darkness in winter, we're going to have a lot of it no matter what. We're far north and we pay for our lovely long summer days with short winter days.
Last edited by mistyriver; 11-25-2012 at 09:39 PM..
I understand what you're saying...but I don't think north Idaho can reasonably be weaned from the closest metropolitan area to us, and it's conveniences. Even if there were a highway through the center of the state, or we were forced onto the same time zone. It's a long state and the south is far away. If I want to take my family to a nice restaurant or go shopping, or take my child to a specialist or hospital...you can bet it's going to be "local" and in Spokane. It may be in a different state, but we live nearby and we're neighbors.
As far as darkness in winter, we're going to have a lot of it no matter what. We're far north and we pay for our lovely long summer days with short winter days.
I agree, Misty. Even if the north-south connections were improved, Spokane will remain the major center city for the region. It is, after all, the second largest city in Washington. Boise will also remain the political center of Idaho, and it would take decades at least for the different cultures that have developed in the north and south to blend into a single state mentality.
After reading through this old thread, I got to thinking about how the difference in latitude might make Pacific Standard better in NID.
It's 7º latitude closer to the North Pole than the southern end of the state, and the farther north one goes, the longer the winter nights and the longer the summer days.
Being an hour behind the south in both seasons might average out the daylight some.
I vaguely recall our differences in latitude amounted to about 15 minutes difference in daylight/darkness between the north and south at the borders of each.
I vaguely recall our differences in latitude amounted to about 15 minutes difference in daylight/darkness between the north and south at the borders of each.
Your post prompted me to look up and find out "stuff". Found an interesting web site:
(You can use the search window to select a different city. I did, and this is what fell out upon a very brief look.)
On the Summer solstice, CdA will have 16 hours of daylight. They go on to show "civil twilight" and "nautical twilight". Civil twilight is when we still played baseball in the street in front of our houses without any lights. Nautical twilight is when we still played, but it was getting hard to see the ball very well. (There are technical definitions, which you can read.)
In CdA, we can play ball from about 3:15 in the morning until almost 10:30 at night! (Of course, our parents would call us in well before then because we had school the next day.)
In Boise, on the Summer solstice, they have about 35 minutes less of sun, and because of where Boise falls in the time zone, they can play ball from about 4:40 in the morning until almost 11:00 at night!
(Solar noon in CdA is at 1253 and in Boise at 1346, almost an hour later!) (A case can be made for the Treasure Valley switching to Pacific time.)
On the Winter solstice, CdA only has 08:25 hours of sunshine, (that is when the sun is actually shining and not the usual heavy overcast). In Boise, they get just over an extra half hour of sunshine. This shows, in North Idaho, they get almost twice the sunshine during the summer solstice than at the winter solstice. No wonder so many have SAD.
Hmmm...
I remembered that Idaho Falls got more winter sun than Moscow, but I had the amount of time mis-remembered. I can't recall when I first learned about the latitude thing, but it must have been a while back.
I.F. gets the same amount of sun as Boise, as both are close to the same latitude.
I prefer Pacific Time. If my business is out of state, it is to Washington or Oregon. I can't imagine I'm ever going to do much business with the plains states. Its easier to do business while in the same time zone. Offices close at the same time, people are up at the same time. No figuring out what the time is before you call.
I'm a bit surprised that southern idaho isn't on Pacific time. Culturally Idaho is Pacific Northwest, not a plains state.
The daylight saving issue, if they ever stop that, I'd be happy to be on daylight saving year round. But again, only if everyone does it, so times are consistant.
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