Long commute to work? Why do you do it?

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I can't understand why with gas prices being what they are and the amount of time added to your day why anyone commutes so far for work. If you are one of those that does this, please explain to me why you do.
 
I do it because I do not want to move to where I work.
There are no "affordable" places to buy in the area, and I can't afford a free standing single family home on my 1 income. I also like where I live and I grew up there. My compromise was to get a car I did not really want that was really good on gas (my Civic) Honestly the Civic makes it all possible. If I was commuting in a big 4x4 or something I would probably go bankrupt.
 
I cheerfully drive 30 minutes each way to and from work. It's not all that far (about 15 miles), but the time in the car lets me unwind after the day. I also frankly just enjoy the act of driving. If it were stop-and-go, it'd be different. But I'm fortunate to not live in that kind of area. Most of my driving is at 35-55 mph.
 
26 miles and 30 minutes each way for me. I enjoy my spot in the country. Buying a new house and moving would far exceed my annual fuel savings for a good ten years.
 
I used to drive 50 kilometers one-way for work.

Why did I do it? The job paid well and I didn't want to move closer due to a variety of reasons. Just bought a house, wanted to be closer to my wife's school, fuel wasn't that much of my monthly budget, really disliked the area where my job was located.

Now I have a much better job much closer to home - a leisurely 14 kilometer drive. I'd love to sell my house and move further out from the city but I probably wouldn't go much beyond the radius where I am now. In good weather if I had no other time demands I can bike my commute in about the same amount of time it takes to drive it.
 
I live in Fort Worth but work in Dallas. It is about 31 miles from my front door to the office. I do it because we have an outstanding school district where we live...Dallas=NO way! That and I cannot afford a Private school in Dallas and to live in a non drug infested, gangland neighborhood. Fortunately they have added a commuter train that has a station about 7 miles from my house. That has cut my fuel cost to about 1/10th.
 
Almost 75 miles one way which can take me between 1hr 5m to 5+ hours.

I'd hate to have to live where I work. Jobs are hard to get these days (I know since I had to find one lately) so if you want to make more than $10 its up to the "city" and beyond.

Lucky for me I hardly get into stop and go. With 251,000 miles on the factory pads and shoes prove that!

A vehicle that is comfortable and costs little to operate is one thing that is mandatory.
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Almost 75 miles one way which can take me between 1hr 5m to 5+ hours.

I'd hate to have to live where I work. Jobs are hard to get these days (I know since I had to find one lately) so if you want to make more than $10 its up to the "city" and beyond.

Lucky for me I hardly get into stop and go. With 251,000 miles on the factory pads and shoes prove that!

A vehicle that is comfortable and costs little to operate is one thing that is mandatory.


Amen, Bill.
251K on original brakes despite the driving conditions is impressive. Mine look new still at almost 70,000KM, we'll see how far they can go!

One of the reasons I went with the Civic is the comfort of the cockpit. I drive an hour one way to work and it's a great highway commuter, my back is not sore when I get home, or to work in the morning. I chose my car 50% on front seat comfort, 40% on fuel economy, 5% on resale value, and 5% on looks.
smile.gif
 
My old job was 90 miles round trip. I used to burn around $100 a week in gas, now I work about 500 yards from home. I took a huge cut in pay by opening my own shop, but now I spend about $20 a week on gas and I don't have to spend 2 hours of my day driving.
 
long commutes are an unintended consequence of the 'American Dream'; the areas with 'good paying' jobs also have a higher cost of living, so if you want to live at a certain level but can't afford it, you have to live where the cost of living is lower.
very common here in PA; either locals went for jobs in Philly or NJ or NYC, or folks from the city moved out here to get a house with lower taxes.
well, eventually it all catches up. our school taxes have gone up with the influx of NJ people, along with the crowds and violent crime (Stroudsburg, PA is like the Bronx now)
so commutes will only get longer and longer, as people chase the dollars but don't want to live in the urban areas.
 
In our rural communities, sometimes the best job you can get is 30+ miles away.

Right now, I just don't have any other options. The pay cuts I would take to stay in town would hurt worse than the gas prices.
 
I did a 1.5 hour commute twice a week this summer. It went up from a 20 minute commute. It was nice getting to drive on some fairly twisty roads with little traffic. I waved goodbye to it since that stretch gets pounded by lake-effect snows in the winter, and the hours I was getting were unpredictable and often not enough to justify the 3+ hours a day spent in the car. It paid well enough, just not well enough to make it worth 3 hours a day in the car. At least I exited well-liked, with an invitation back.
 
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I was commuting 36 miles or 45 minutes to work when I graduated college. I moved and am now driving 22 miles or 23 minutes. It was only a 20 minute difference but there was a big effect on my gas consumption and that extra 20 mins at home makes a big difference on getting things done before supper.
 
You're talking about sustainability and urban sprawl. Rather than living close to work (in a large city) with a denser population, people want their big front yards, "privacy", etc.

I've lived in downtown Chicago since I graduated college. My commute to work is a 15 minute bus ride, or a cab ride to the airport.
 
Before I got married, wife and I worked about 1.5hours apart. When we got married we kept our jobs, and eventually bought our house, right in the middle. We love the area--my son has like 10 other kids in his class! His first ride on a snowmobile was at preschool too. Top that in the city...

Right now we'd be crazy to move, as we'd loose too much on our house (25% hit in value) plus we'd need a bigger house anyhow. And I'd still have a 30min commute, unless if I were to move right next to work (10 miles of city can take just as long as 30+ on the highway).

Right now I drive about 45 miles to work. If I drive fast I can do it in 50 minutes. Tends to be closer to an hour with sane driving. Unless if it snows, in which case it can be close to 2...

While I'd love to have the time back, the quiet area, good schools, and the friends we have here are definately reasons to stick around. Plus, I like to cycle; and to do that I just go out my door. There's like two traffic lights w/in a 20 mile radius of home.
 
My typical commute is about 9 miles and 15-17 minutes. Not bad. But Im often traveling, so then my commute is 2 hr+ (Im doing this at least once a week). With technology, its not so bad.

But no way would I have a routine commute that is the 2 hrs that many have in DC (on a daily basis) or the 50+ miles that some do, at least not here on the east coast. I did a 40 mile commute for a number of years, and it drags on you, especially when traffic and stoplights effect your times by a good amount. If I was in the country, or someplace not as dense, I might consider it, because a diesel, cruze eco, or similar car that gets good MPGs would make it a non issue cost wise... So then it is all about wasting life in a commute versus doing other things, and how that balances with amenities and where you live.

The country is diverse enough that there isnt a one size fits all answer, though I do see a ton of stupidity in long commutes in giant guzzling vehicles with one person inside. But they get their result at the gas pump.
 
I'm very fortunate to have a large lot with plenty of yard and space around me right in the middle of what is now "downtown." It was outside the city limits in 1940 when it was built. What remains to be seen is whether I can afford the onerous property taxes on it after I retire in 5-10 years... at that point I may move 400 miles further from downtown into deep West Texas.

If I weren't that fortunate, I'd deal with the long commute because living in an apartment or condo with no place to be outdoors is totally counter to human nature. In fact it SUCKS. Urban life is OK when you're 23. Its just sad if you're still stuck in a high-rise without even a little postage stamp of back yard when you're 40.

Another reason is that people tend to change jobs a lot these days. Truth be told, they change homes a lot more than they used to... but if someone changes jobs within the same area, many times they don't want to give up the time and effort they've put into making a HOME where they live.

The key in all cases is whether you see your home as a HOME- a place that is part of your life, a part of yourself, and a part of your family- or if you just see it as a place to go crash at night and your work is more your life. Count me in the group that wants home and work clearly separated.
 
My commute is 18 miles one way. To put it simply, I do not like the area where I work... it's all expressways and strip malls.
 
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