A little late, but I'll add my two cents. I've been at RAH for two years, commuting to reserve for about half of my time here. Ive been stuck at the bottom of the seniority list on the 145 because they haven't hired many onto it pretty much since I came on board. You hear a lot of negatives on these forums, and just like Yelp and other forums, people generally only speak up when they have a negative experience. With that said, the biggest issues I've had while here have been the low starting pay (fixed with new contract), no cancellation pay (also fixed, and I've already made 10+ hours of it), having one base close on me, and being stuck on the 145 (I would have needed a crystal ball to avoid that). I've been able to get my schedule for the next month around the 20th, show up to work when originally scheduled, come home and not hear from anyone on my days off- just how I like it. Once I am finally able to get off the 145, I'll be bidding top 25% in most bases which will be a huge QOL improvement.

I've spent a lot of time in crashpads with guys from virtually every regional and at least under the old reserve rules, RAH is up there as far as being a better experience (no junior manning especially). The whole regional industry is a sham, and in a perfect world, the majors would take back the flying. Even with our new contract, it's a step in the right direction, but we still aren't compensated what we are worth. However in my personal experience at RAH, it hasn't been a terrible place to work when compared to other regionals.

For the OP- being able to get based at home right away and driving to work would be as ideal as it gets. I really haven't met many people here that live in base and have many complaints.