Americans Keep Living Farther Away From Their Jobs

[memememe76]

It's not always about time, either. It's also ease of movement. A 30 minute drive with little traffic and few lights is a lot more enjoyable than a 20 minute drive full of stops and starts. Similarly, a 45 minute subway ride is more enjoyable than a 30 minute transit full where you have to exchange buses.

[plinko]

Originally Posted by Reverberation

You mentioned they have families. I bet that is the only quiet time they have and compared to kids, sports, work, and chores, that commute feels like a vacation sometimes. Factor in also that modern cars are practically living rooms compared to 10 years ago and it's an hour, but at least it is an hour with entertainment and good lumbar support. It could be worse.

Horseshit. I drive 30 miles each way from Ventura to Santa Barbara every day on one of the country's most beautiful roads (US101) right along the ocean...and there is NOTHING vacation-like about it. My uber equipped car and gorgeous scenery does not compare to the 90-120 minutes a day I waste not hanging out with my wife and kid or doing something useful with myself. Then again, I've only been doing that for a year or so after 8 years working from my house.

To each his own I guess, but everybody else I know who does that same drive fucking hates it.



I'm sure that most people who have commutes like that would tell you that they would rather be doing ANYTHING else.

[MayDay]

"Funny comment above about long commutes being a welcome respite from home/work. Does life really suck that much?"

Sadly for some people, yes. I know a few who 'love' what they call their only "quiet time" while they're sitting in traffic. I've been told by co-workers I'm no longer allowed to complain about my drive to work. Due to construction, I have to take alternate streets that get a little backed up from time to time, so instead of five minutes to downtown, it can take ten to fifteen. Add in inclement weather and we're looking at twenty minutes. Transit... probably thirty minutes if I take the bus to the Rapid station. Mind you, the co-workers' drive to/from exurbia is an hour in *good* weather and then they're so frustrated they need a half hour to simmer down and be productive

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by plinko

Horseshit. I drive 30 miles each way from Ventura to Santa Barbara every day on one of the country's most beautiful roads (US101) right along the ocean...and there is NOTHING vacation-like about it. My uber equipped car and gorgeous scenery does not compare to the 90-120 minutes a day I waste not hanging out with my wife and kid or doing something useful with myself. Then again, I've only been doing that for a year or so after 8 years working from my house.

To each his own I guess, but everybody else I know who does that same drive fucking hates it.



I'm sure that most people who have commutes like that would tell you that they would rather be doing ANYTHING else.

i met an eastern european guy (cant remember where he was from) in malibu once who stumbled into my oceanside campsite. i thought he was drunk...he said he was taking a break from his daily 2 hour each way commute (it was probably longer than that) between long beach and oxnard. he was just so very tired...

[Steely Dan]

i have to echo others here who think that it's really sad that some people have such pathetic lives that they consider the 2+ hours they spend stuck in a cage in traffic as one of the best parts of their day.

when i was a footloose bachelor, i lived 15 miles from work and biked it each way everyday. it took roughly two hours a day, but i was at least getting 2 good cardio workouts in, and riding a bike is just shitloads of fun to me. because i had no one waiting for me when i got home from work, i had plenty of surplus freetime, so i was like "why not ride, this kills 3 birds with one stone" - commute, exercise, recreation.

now that i'm married with a kid, we moved much closer to my job so that i could shorten my commute to give me more time to spend with my family. i took roughly 40 minutes out of my commute each way by moving. instead of leaving for work at 7:20am, i now leave at 8:00am, giving me an extra 40 minutes of time each morning to spend with my daughter. and instead of getting home from work at 6:40pm, i now get home at 6:00pm, giving me an extra 40 minutes to spend with my daughter before she's off to bed around 7:30pm. those extra 80 minutes each day with my family are huge, HUGE, HUGE!

now that i'm a dad, there is no freaking way in the universe that i would ever want to spend more time commuting at the expense of time with my wife and child.

[Centropolis]

some people feel they have no choice, and perhaps they indeed have little choice.

the larger sunbelt cities without heavy-duty commuter rail (like metra) are going to have to hit a sort of growth limit, soon. driving an hour to work across endless suburbia is SO 1990s in the worst way and younger generations who grew up in that shit in the 90s and 00s are increasingly allergic to it.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by plinko

I'm sure that most people who have commutes like that would tell you that they would rather be doing ANYTHING else.

I enjoy not living close to work. I like the separation between work and home spheres, and the commute allows me to decompress.

And, it's anecdotal, but I know tons of people with kids who seem to be totally fine with longer commutes, as it's the one time of day they don't have to be "on". It's the only "me" time.

[Gordo]

I've known people who enjoyed a 20-40 minute commute in order to decompress, catch up on news for the day via their phone, read, etc.

However, all of these people were commuting via some other means than driving themselves.

I've never met anyone who enjoys a 30+ minute commute where they have to have at least a good portion of their attention on the road while holding a steering wheel. There's just nothing relaxing about that long term.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Gordo

I've known people who enjoyed a 20-40 minute commute in order to decompress, catch up on news for the day via their phone, read, etc.

However, all of these people were commuting via some other means than driving themselves.

I've never met anyone who enjoys a 30+ minute commute where they have to have at least a good portion of their attention on the road while holding a steering wheel. There's just nothing relaxing about that long term.

right, and worth a disclaimer. i think someone is insane if they actually enjoy a longish drive-commute unless they are commuting into eureka, california or something.

[chrisvfr800i]

And, it's anecdotal, but I know tons of people with kids who seem to be totally fine with longer commutes, as it's the one time of day they don't have to be "on". It's the only "me" time.

I guess if you like where you are going...both directions...a commute is just a cost of doing business. Occasionally, I get to commute on 2 wheels, (of the powered variety), and on those days, my 30-35 minute ride each way feels far too short!!!

[liat91]

I have actually personally heard of the following commutes (I left the preposterous examples involving air travel)

NYC to Emmaus, PA
LA to Solvang, CA
Chicago to Janesville, WI
DC to Chambersburg, PA
San Francisco to Angels Camp, CA
Boston to Martha's Vineyard

Freakin' insane