FWIW, I live in south of Boston and I think our commuting times are a little longer than other parts of the country.
DH and I are looking at houses and DH definitely wants a house south of Boston. We found a great house but it would significantly add to the commute we have now. Now we drive to the train station (5-10 minutes) and then take the train to work (about 20 minutes) so our total commute time is 25-30 minutes. DH has no interest in living where we are now.
If we were to buy the house we are looking at now, total commute time with no traffic would be probably about 50 minutes. However, doing out the traffic now (8:15am) it would be about an hour and 15 minutes. DH doesn't have to be at work until 10, so it would probably be closer to an hour, but still. It would also necessitate us getting a second car if we didn't go in at the same time every day (some of the other closer DH could drive me or I could take a bus).
But then I look at towns closer and it seems like they have really far commutes too. Parts of towns that I would consider really close to the city, seem to also have commutes of 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic, so I'm not sure how much difference it really makes.
How long of a commute would be too long on a regular basis? Maybe time to find another job outside the city (easier said than done).
My commute is usually less than 10 minutes and I think that's too long. My mother commuted 90min+ every day for more than 15 years til she retired. I don't know how she did it.
Honestly, I don't consider a 45 minute commute that bad. My commute can be anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours (depending on traffic) to drive 42 miles. Unfortunately, there is no public transportation I can take to work but if there was I would almost relish that time to read or just sit and not use my brain. :)
I used to live in the San Francisco Bay area, and a 45 minute commute was too much to me, but on the shorter side of "average." Now that I'm in a much smaller town in the northwest, my three minute, one mile commute is perfect. It all depends on what you're used to - I could never go back!!!
My husband commutes 45 min to an hour depending on traffic right now. He doesn't like it. Its doable but he feels like he is wasting a lot of time during the day having to drive not to mention all the miles going onto his car. My current commute is 20 min which I think is fine. Our new house will be more in the middle, his commute will be 30 min mine will be 25 min. We both think around 20-30 minutes is reasonable.
I would be ok with a longer commute if it was on public transportation at least then I could read or do some work. I would hate sitting in Boston traffic everyday for that long though.
I think for a larger city like Boston, 50 minutes + doesn't seem too bad. I always thought that was the typical commute for those types of areas.
I live in the Milwaukee area and I think my commute is too long. It takes 1 hour to get to work. I'd say the typical commute time here is between 15-30 minutes. We're staying in our current apartment for 1 more year and then moving closer to both our jobs - I can't STAND our commute. It really elevates my stress level, and to me, that makes our nice apartment far from work not worth it!!
I've done all types. Currently I live about 8 miles from the office, and my commute runs anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on traffic/accidents/etc.
I've also lived 25 miles from the office and my commute was over an hour on a good day.
To me, anything more than 30 minutes is a beating. I say that because I'm spoiled now. I've never had this short of a commute and I'd hate to go back to it! :)
I have driven anywhere from 5 minutes (now) to 1 hr and 30 minutes, and I, personally, would never, ever, go back to a long commute. I did a 45 min commute for about 8 years and that was doable. I think anything over an hour is a waste of time.
To me, 45 minutes is pretty standard. My commute is currently a little less than that, but I've had commutes up to an hour and 15 minutes in the past. I also work in the city.
What does your husband think about having to sacrifice the ease of your current commute to move to a different area?
My commute is 15 minutes (barring road conditions, accidents, stupid people) and that's okay. My old job was actually closer geographically, but took me almost 30 minutes, which was far too long.
It certainly is a trade off. My friends were just debating that when buying a house and ended up going for the hour commuite to get a house in a nice neighborhood with great schools.
I do 1:15 in the AM now and 1 hour in the PM and it sucks. But I do get used to it since most of it is on the train. At least I get to read. I do really wish I had that time of the day back. If you work long hours, it only makes the day really long, but if you work average days you can still get things done (like cook dinner, gym etc)
It is a tough call. When we move next we will be moving closer to where we work so we dont have as long as a commute because of the long hours we work on top of the commute. We will pay the extra money or give up space to get it.
20 minutes is my maximum. I had to travel 30-45 minutes last year for a few weeks and it was miserable.
Right now, it's 35 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes in the afternoon. I don't use public transit, because it would be 65 minutes in the morning, and about 90 minutes in the afternoon. But my shift is 6:30 - 3:30, so I miss most of the traffic.
When I took public transit to my job in downtown LA, my commute via train was about an hour.
My commute is 25 minutes each way & I can definitely handle that my max would be 30 minutes.
It's usually about 30-45 minutes for us in a fairly large Canadian city. Pretty average for where we live.
I live in the boston area and it takes me about an hour to get from my apartment to work becuase of traffic on Rt. 128 each morning. It drives me insane because to spend so much time commuting when all of my coworkers live within 10-15 minutes of the office 
I've almost always had an hour commute, for five years I was driving from Central PA to Baltimore; then I found a job closer to home and had a 20 minute drive for about a year. When I met my now husband I ended up moving into his house in the next county over, so now I'm back to an hour commute dependent on traffic.
I love the commute to work...catch up on the news, have some "me" time, yell at other drivers. Commute home I don't like as much b/c it means we don't have dinner until almost 7 -- but I like our house and my paycheck, so it works.
To me a normal 90 minute + commute would be out of the question...but less than that doesn't seem unacceptable.
My commute is about an hour each way (10-15 minutes to drive to/from the bus stop, 45 minutes on the bus). I live in a suburb about 15 miles from town. When I drive it takes me even longer and I also want to kill people, so I don't really mind it!
Before my husband and I moved in together, I lived a mile from my job and I walked. It was glorious.
I would not and could not do anything over 30 minutes. We live in an immediate suburb of Seattle, where traffic really sucks. I WAH now so I don't have to worry about it, but we bought a house 10 mins from DH's place of employment. We have DD and having a huge commute (our house is old; a lot of people wanting affordable new construction live 30+ miles out) would just be wasting time that we could spend as a family.
I just bought a house west of Boston and I absolutely refused to live South of Boston or on the South shore. The traffic there is just seems terrible and unpredictable. I've tried going down that way on random Saturday and Sundays and there just always seems to be traffic. Around that area, I wouldnt choose to move any further away. It may be different for me since I dont work in the city, but my commute is typically 20-35 minutes. I used to do 50 minutes-90 minutes at my old job. It sucks, but you get used to it. But that was when I was living at my parents house and had practically no responsibilities at home. I cant imagine doing that now, and espeically after we have children.
I work in my state's capital. So from Louisville, I drive to Frankfort everyday. From my house to headquarters is 40 minutes, 30 minutes of that is highway. It also helps I work four days a week, but longer days.
I am in the same boat as you! I currently live a 20 min each direction commute to work and my fiancee comutes about 40 minutes each direction. We are talking about possibly moving north of the city which would make my commute over 1hr each direction....seems shitty but it would also mean we could rent a beautiful home for what we pay downtown. I also am not cut out for city life, I 100% prefer small communities.
It's a tough call. I say if you love the house and are willing to make the compromise then go for it. My reccomendation is to take your commute time as "you" time and bring a book, get a latte and chill on the train. I always find long commutes easier if I prepare for the journey.
My commute is just over an hour each way and I have to say it's pretty draining. I have actually been looking for jobs closer to home because it's just so late when I get home... Especially if I am stuck at the office for a while or have an evening event to attend.
When I lived in the (relatively near) Chicago suburbs, my commute was about 50 minutes each way. It was very normal at the time, and it was mostly via train so that makes a BIG difference, but I look back on it now and realize 2 hours a day is too much wasted when you then work long days on top of it.
For driving, I wouldn't want a commute over 25 minutes.
Via public transit, I'd probably do up to about 40 minutes.
Commute time is a BIG deal to me though, especially in areas with bad winters. Less is better and we are picking where we live based on it. Luckily I work from home now, so 0 commute time.
But still thinking about FI's commute, and I just believe quality of life goes way up with a shorter commute. The other factor is how much traffic. A 25 minute commute with no traffic and few stop lights may be way more tolerable than a 25 minute commute where you are sitting in bumper to bumper.
I live in Boston too. We recently moved from downtown Boston to another part of the city somewhat west.... my commute is about 30 min (driving) in the morning, and 45-60 in the evening. My fiance's is about 30-40 on public transit in the morning, and 45-70 in the evening.
Ultimately I would like to move further out, but I am nervous about what that will mean for our commutes. Kind of a sucky thing about being in/near a big city!
Down here in philly I would say 50 minutes isnt too bad about standard. FI drives 5-10 minutes to the train and then takes a 40 minute-ish train and walks 2 blocks to his office.
I work in the airport so my situation is unique. I drive about 35 minutes to the employee lot and then have to take the shuttle over to the airport and walk thru the catacombs to get to my office. From front door to office door it takes about an hour.
My commute is a minimum 1 hour for 38 miles. On the worst days it's been two, but at least twice a week it will be an hour and a half. Last night there was an accident on the on-ramp of the mass pike, just after the tolls. Traffic was backed up for a mile because there were only three toll lanes, and only two were EZ pass. What a nightmare.
Some people can get used to it, but it's been three years and I just find it more and more infuriating each day. It's physicially and emotionally draining, when you've had a bad day or don't feel well, and just want to get home. It's always those days when traffic seems to be the worst. A 9 hour work day can easily turn into a 12 hour day. It's very taxing and I can't wait to move for a shorter commute, I never want anything over 30 minutes again!
I work 7 miles from my house.. my standard commute is 30 minutes, but can be up to an hour on bad days. My worst has been around 2 hours and that was due to a storm coming and everyone trying to get home. That same day it took DH over 4 hours to get home, and he drives about 15 miles.
Living in more populated areas means longer commutes usually. You need to see if you can tolerate sitting in a car for that long each way, each day. Maybe do a trial run or two with the commute time. I can handle about an hour with traffic when I'm going farther away. It sucks sitting in it now, especially since I could literally bike to my office quicker (if there was a safe route), but I deal.
I've read articles that say that commuting an hour each way every day is terrible for you. It makes you gain weight, tired, depressed, etc.
I live in NY. My job is 17 miles away. I walk 5 mins to the rail, wait for it to come, then it takes about 30 minutes to get to Manhattan, where I have to switch to the subway, wait for the train, then take it to Brooklyn, which takes another 20 mins, but drops me off right out front of my job. My commute takes an average of 1h10m. If I were to drive to work, it would take a minimum of an hour, but closer to 1hr15m, if not longer because of traffic.
Honestly, the commute is really stressful. Previously, my position didn't have a set end time, I would have to arrive to work before 9am and stay much later than 5pm regularly. Now, it's not so bad, I leave at 5:15 every day, I'm home by 6:30. I definitely don't have time to cook and work out and get a full night's sleep though. I'm working on getting the schedule right so I do have the time for everything!
I'm moving though and I said that there's no way I would deal with a commute longer than 30 mins. 45 mins MAYBE if it was necessary or the pay was good or something, but ideally, it would be 30mins or less.
My commute is 45 minutes each way, and Mr. LK's is 90-120 minutes each way. It sucks, but according to CNN this area has the worst traffic in the nation (we're apparently tied with Chicago for the honor. lol). The county that is midway between our work cities does not offer the best schools, so we chose a county that has one of the highest rated school systems in the nation, and I happen to get the better end of the commute stick. Mr. LK's longest commute one day was 9 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. It took him 9 hours to get home. He walked the last 2 miles of the commute in a foot of snow because mass transit would not take him back to the bus stop where he had parked his truck. There was another day where, after 3 hours of trying to drive to work, he just turned around and came home. He simply could not get anywhere near the city due to the traffic. Like I said, the DC area has the worst traffic in the nation. Fun times.
I will tell you that once you go past 75 minutes, it starts to wear on you a lot. I used to commute into the same city as Mr. LK, but I just could not tolerate it long-term. He, on the otherhand, has been doing this for 10 years. He hates it, and we'd love for him to get a job closer to home, but he's surviving.
My commute is an hour each way now, and it definitely wears on me over time (and it's on a train, not even driving). I would strive for a 30-minute commute or less in the future... 45 minutes absolute maximum!
My commute is about 50 minutes each way. I really hate my driving time but I love my job and I love where we live so the commute is just something I have to put up with. :(
Yeah my commute on the subway is 45 minutes usually. Sometimes on the way home it is closer to 30 if I catch the trains just right. I don't think driving could possibly be worse than being packed into a super crowded train for 45 minutes. I think if you love the neighborhood and job then go for it, you will get used to it. My dad commuted 1.5 hours every day for 20 years and it was only a problem when it snowed.
My current commute is 10 minutes via car. (I know, I'm lucky) At one point though, I was living on the north side of Chicago and commuting to the suburbs. My commute would be anywhere from 45 minutes on a really good day to 2.5 hours on a day where the Cubs were playing a night game (I lived right by Wrigley field) or there was snow.
Our commutes are an hour each way. I only live 8 miles from work too. I feel pretty stuck and know that I can't do this for the rest of my life.
Worst commute I had was when I was living in one borough of NYC,and commuting to the northern Bronx,by subway(and a 10 minute walk once I got off the train). 1.5 hours each way,on most days. Occasionally 2 hours each way. It was exhausting/defeating. Now that I have a car,that same commute is 25-35 minutes each way.
25-30 minutes is NOTHING.
I lived in Brookline and commuted to Kendall Sq in Cambridge for years. It's only 2 miles, but 45 mins by T. Since parking cost $300/mo at work and $150/mo at home, we sucked it up and only did subway and Zipcar.
I would have killed for a 25 min commute!
I live in S. Cali I used to have a 10 minute commute to work, but after I married, bought a house 72 miles away from work my commute obviously changed....if I drive each way it's 1.5 hours one way except Fridays when it becomes 1 hr and 45 mins.
If I take the train it's 1.5 hours each way as well, but I don't have to worry about the miles on my car and the traffic...so I break it up every now and then, only pain with public transit is the buses and train times are never realiable.
My commute is at minimun an hour each way, usually more like an hour and 15 each way, except on Friday mornings when it's a half an hour and Friday afternoons when it's like 1 hr 45 mins or 2 hours. It's extremely draining and I wish I didn't have it but it's about where I work and where I choose to live. I choose to live in a more rural area b/c I like it better so that means I have a longer commute. Traffic is pretty bad in my neck of the woods...
My commute is about 10-15 minutes each way, which is great considering I live in a major city. Luckily, the southeast is really affordable and we were able to purchase a home in a lovely residential area that is still "inside the perimiter" as Atlantans call it. I think that 30 mins is where it would start to bother me. I lived in NYC during law school and my commute involved a bus and two subways... Ranging anywhere from 20 mins to an hour and a half. Never again!!! I also have flex hours, so I can come in any time between 6am and 9:30am. If I had a longer commute, I would use that more.
You must log in to post.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| MrsPanda99 | 49 |
| AlwaysSunny | 32 |
| jesssamesssa | 30 |
| vorpalette | 27 |
| Gemstone | 26 |
| This Time Round | 23 |
| ajillity81 | 22 |
| Caroheart | 21 |
| renierose | 20 |
| MrsWBS | 19 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
 susi_petunia |
4 |
| sugarpea | 3 |
| sn2bmrsmntgmry | 3 |
| orchidaloha | 3 |
| Gemstone | 2 |
| stillme | 2 |
| megz06 | 2 |
| Meant2Bee | 2 |
| Cyri | 2 |
| minted | 2 |
