My wife and I were chatting about moving back to Boise some day. Neither of us want to live in Boise but the job I would be shooting for is at BOI. I know it is not at all realistic but we talked about commuting from a place like Emmett to BOI by plane for work every day. No real terrain between the two airports and from what I remember the weather is usually pretty good in the Treasure Valley. 50 minute drive vs a 15min flight. Add 15min on each end and your at the same amount of commute time but at least you get to fly and you don't have to deal with traffic.

Anyone ever done something like this? I commuted 1 hour each way for work for almost 2 years and I don't want to do that every day but if I could fly all but a few times a month then I'd be happy.

For those that live/lived in the Treasure Valley: how many day a month do you think are unflyable because of weather? I'm not instrument rated and I doubt I ever will be; not on my bucket list.

I learned to fly in Boise and lived there for 2 1/2 years. Can't remember the time of year but there is a month each year when we were fogged in - got very depressing - ground fog that never lifted. Got depressing after a while. Did a lot of vfr flying in the winter. Remember running snowmobiles 100mph+ down the neighborhood streets. All this was back in the early 80s. Loved the flyfishing, loved the hunting, loved the dirt bike riding, and loved the flying. But the economy back then sucked so was forced to leave.

My Mrs' father flies 25 hours a month to work, different places.
The reality is, you need to become a weather-forecast hawk and be prepared to drive about 30%-50% of the time if you're going any distance. And be flexible with working odd hours or from home... there are many days you'll be late.
The worst ones are getting there but not being able to get back, rare but very inconvenient.

I've lived in the treasure valley my whole life and I would guesstimate maybe 20-30 days a year would be questionable (flying VFR) for that short of a distance. Emmett is close to Boise so it would really have to be pretty bad out to make it unflyable. And you would not have to go high enough where an overcast sky or inversion would typically be a problem. There is the occasional afternoon/evening thunderstorm in the early summer but you will be flying a short enough distance you can probably beat them or wait a bit (or drive). Sounds like a great way to get to work!

What happened to Craig, CO?

Whee. Hwy 16 will connect with 10 Mile soon. They are biulding a new bridge over the Boise River. It will pretty much be a straight shot down to 84 and much better than State St and up and down Eagle Rd.

About flying? I haven't been home much recently to give an accurate opinion. But, I think it's doable often.

Since I'm from SoCal, a 30-45 minute drive to and from work is a dream come true. And a lot of people commute between Emmett and Boise.

If I were you. I would look for a place in northern Meridian. That way your pretty much in the middle of work and Nampa/Caldwell airports. And the Meridian school district is pretty good. Lots of new schools in that Ustick and Linder area. It's also a quick and easy drive down 10 Mile to 84.

Let me know if you need a place to stay for a bit. I hardly use the upstairs if my house. A friend from NorCal comes and stays once in a while.

soyAnarchisto wrote:What happened to Craig, CO?

We decided Meeker was not the right move for our family.

Any drive over 20 min is unacceptable to me. Been there, done that and it is a major reason why I don't like big cities and a big part of why I left my previous job. Flying would make it ok and maybe enjoyable.

Meridian is a no go because of commute time and I know someone that lives there and we would end up baby sitting all the time...

LOL! You have some pretty demanding criteria's then. But I understand about the babysitting thing.

Any drive over 20 min is unacceptable to me.

I certainly understand that. Every so often, I hit the worst traffic that Fort Collins has to offer, coming home after work, and I get perturbed because it takes me 8 minutes instead of the usual 6.

I recently had to go to Denver 3 times in a month, and I can't imagine having to make that commute daily. My GPS in the car says it should have taken less than an hour each time, but each time it was closer to 1+20, due to traffic. Coming home one of those days, the traffic watch feature of the GPS directed me off of I-25 to avoid a total stoppage that was about 7 miles long, which was good--but it still took 1+40 to get home.

Cary

Would you put a car at the Boise airport and get a tiedown there? Only the shade hangar tiedowns have electricity which you would probably need if you commuted by plane in the winter. Cold winter days may not be fun but flying nearly every day in the summer may make up for that.

Given that flying to work would actually take about the same amount of time door-to-door as driving, unless there's a compelling reason I'd just stick to the car. Leave the flying for your time off, when you have the time to enjoy it. I lived in Los Angeles until I was 35, and usually had (at least) an hour's commute each way to work. Ditto after I moved here to rural western Washington. But my hour commute up here involved rolling along at 50 or 60 mph, with either the Strait of Juan de Fuca or the Olympic Mountains (or both) as scenery-- instead of being stuck in stop-n-go traffic on an LA freeway. (why do they call it "rush hour" when no one's moving?) A bad traffic day here means being stuck behind a summer tourist (damn kalifornians!) doing 40.

The commute I used to have was all 65-70mph..no stop and go traffic. The commute from Boise to Emmett would be a mix of 65mph and some heavy (by my standards) traffic. 50 min in a car is 50 min in a car and not something I'd want to do everyday. Maybe I'd get tired of it in the plane too, IDK.

scottf wrote:Would you put a car at the Boise airport and get a tiedown there? Only the shade hangar tiedowns have electricity which you would probably need if you commuted by plane in the winter. Cold winter days may not be fun but flying nearly every day in the summer may make up for that.

Probly wouldn't put a car at the airport. I'd have it at home in case I couldn't get to work. I think most days if I could fly to work I'd be able to get home. The days I couldn't I could have my wife come to town and pick me up. I think I could get permission to park right across the fence from where I'd be working. Tie-down only, no electricity. That would be a problem in the winter but not one that couldn't be dealt with.