Welcome Smokechaser. I too am a fairly new member here. Great site. BTW I'll be heading over to the Boise area on the 30th to start looking for property. We plan to move to your area sometime this summer or early fall.
Good luck on the proerty search. It is a desirable place to live and the home values have gone up correspondingly. We moved here in April 1997 and it is now too big for us. We are looking to move somewhere With a bit slower pace of life!
Just an update. We found the home of our hopes in Nampa. Just 3 miles to I84 yet in a country setting. Being retired we travel when we can avoid heavy traffic times such as morning and afternoon work traffic but heavy traffic here by comparison is a breeze for us. Very much so enjoying getting to know the area and what it offers which is a lot.