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I prefer the amenities and the energy of urban living. The price you pay is well worth it if you're into that kind of living. Cheap places are cheap for a very good reason.
This. As I said before, buying real state in a non-booming small town is rather unsound as these are hard to sell. Nowadays job precarity is a given, so we have to plan accordingly. Reinforcing the above quote: people favors to live in the suburbs for good reasons.
Last edited by stackoverflow; 02-04-2016 at 03:10 PM..
I live and work in Chicago. Before this, I lived in Baltimore and worked in DC. The commute, even by train was AWFUL! When we moved to Chicago, we decided we'd live as close to my job as possible. Even though housing is pricey (we rent) it is totally worth it to us to live where do. Quality of life and all that.
It depends on how much you enjoy driving, I guess. Some people actually like it, or actually don't mind it much.
Some people say they deal with a long commute by listening to books on CDs or something like that, even learning new things
I have a roughly 45 minute to 1 hour commute, but it's on rural "blue" roads, very little traffic, entertaining roads with curves and features, so for me it's "quality time". Usually around here the weather is at least good, most of the late spring to early fall is excellent.
Driving an hour one way in urban traffic, though, I wouldn't do that.
I have read studies that most people will tolerate a 45 minute one way commute, beyond that they move or find a different job.
Long commutes suck and they are made even longer with traffic delays, accidents and bad weather.
I had a 1 hour 15 minute 1 way commute that turned into 6 hours when snow basically shut down a portion of the PA Turnpike.
NO! That's my vote.
his is why rail transit, specifically commuter rail, makes so much sense for cities and residents living on the edges. Think "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House".
Come watch me fall into my house around 6:30p each day.... or see me struggle to stay awake when my 45-50 min commute goes to 1.5 hrs, I look like I just came out of a gulag... DON'T do it! Move closer. Yesterday it took me 50 minutes to get to my halfway point on my commute home - normally takes me 20-30 minutes. As I rounded the bend at a blazing 10mph, all I saw for miles was brake lights - I wanted to get out of my car and scream. My point is, most commutes aren't predictable. At some point you will get sick to death of it. And it will wear you down.
If I could get in a bus/train 5 minutes from home and get out 5 minutes from work, then yes. I would read, surf the web, and enjoy life. Driving for two hours every day? Lost time.
What type of work do you do? Can you work remotely? Would you be able to work from home even one day a week?
A friend of mine who has anywhere from 55 to 75 minute drive is able to work from home one day a week. The entire team at work does this, so no one schedules any kind of meetings that require everyone to be in the same room. Although these days, those kind of meetings for modern companies are becoming less and less. Often people are at different locations in most meetings anyway. On days where the weather is bad, employees also work from home and don't drive in.
Again, I don't know what kind of work you do, but you might also look into jobs where the position is entirely remote and might only need to come into the office once a month if that.
I went from a 15 minute commute on surface streets to over an hour on freeways when I got married years ago. My wife owned a home and I had been a renter. I hated it with a passion. During the Winter months I would sometimes leave the house in the dark and not arrive back home until it was dark. If it rained or there was an accident, the hour commute turned into two hours or more. I've since gotten divorced and now live four miles from work. I would never, ever live far away from my job again.
Even in the outer suburbs of D.C., you're looking at $425k - $450k minimum for a small SFH.
Try the Bay Area. If you want something that "cheap" think 2 hour commute each way.
If I wanted to rent within a mile of where I work, I'd need to pay 3x more than I pay now. I am lucky and have a cheap rent controlled apartment. If I was paying current market rates I'd pay roughly 2x to live within a mile of my job. Interestingly, living 4 miles away from my job, in the city I work, would actually be more time than it takes me now to take transit to go the 12 miles between my home and job. And would still be 2.5-2.8X what I pay now.
Buying a 1 bedroom condo within a mile of my office would be about $650-700k. 4 miles would be about $500k and a 1 bedroom condo where I live costs about $360k.
I live 15.3 miles from my old job but it still took me 1hr most days. Sometimes location can trick you. In Portland our traffic becomes increasingly unbearable every year. In 2012 my commute was only 32 minutes.
What I'm trying to say is sometimes you can't plan far enough in advance and you get stuck in long commutes no matter what.
More than 1hr begins to fray my nerves.
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