commuting for work? how far do you? pro's/cons

[Grumpy's Gal]

We are thinking about a "change" and one of us would have to commute to work to a nearby city.

Who commutes? how far? how do you figure up a money ammount that it costs you for a year? gas, oil, wear / tear on the tires, etc.

Pro's and con's of commuting.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[FreshTressa]

Well, DH had a 1hr 20 minute commute, so we sold our beautiful brand new house and moved 5 minutes to DH's work. Have lived there 7 years, but the new house is about 40 minutes in the moring and 20 in the evening. So far, it is not bad.

 

[Miller1412]

I have a 40 minute morning commute with my teaching job. It used to be great, because it gave me wake up/thinking (or not thinking) time in the am, then time to wind down before I picked up my kids. Now my DD comes to school with me, so my quiet time is over. LOL.

 

[MorganLeFey]

ok, I have a horrid commute. two years ago my office moved from Wall Street to Jersey City. it's an extra fare, because I have to take the PATH train. I live on Long Island, so my commute takes 2 hours and includes a ride on the Long Island Rail Road and the NYC subway as well as the PATH. I knew I was getting into a long commute when I took the job 4 years ago, but I didn't expect the additional burden of the PATH ride.

I went where my job went.


I love where I live, my children have deep roots in our community.

so I have no intention of moving closer to the job.

if something closer to home comes along, however...

 

[BillSears]

I have a 2 mile commute and I love it. I can even go home for a quick lunch if I want to.

The only problem with it is that the neighborhood isn't as good as I'd like. It's ok but it does have some problems and the schools aren't great. But private schools took care of that.

I don't really have estimates of costs. But I usually fill my tank every other week and I only put about 8000 miles a year on my car.

Personally I'd never move to a spot further then 30 miles from work and even that could be too long depending on the traffic on the roads.

 

[tmt martins]

Aren't the Schools in B-more great. Private for us as well.

As far as commute my company covers most of MD from the Pa line to Northern VA. bay is the east cutoff.

I had a 1 1/2 to 2 hr while working in Rockville and Gaithersburge for about 2 years then I moved a bit closer last year and now I have a few machines I can walk to and all of DT B-more.At any given Time I have to go where they need me but I start at 8 and end at 5 so the close territory helps with that and we have to pay milage for our work van so it cuts that down as well.

One of our Managers just relocated to Orlando so I'm waiting for the call that he need help.

DW drives about 4 blocks to work and DD is about 2 blocks to school.

 

[LadyBears]

I once had a job that was 65 minutes each way - it svcked! There were other locations closer to home, but this was my foot in the door with the company. The places closer to me had no openings at the time.

The highway was looong & straight. I used to get that highway hypnotism.... It took everything I had to concentrate on getting there & back. Windows open, heat off, music blaring.

Also - I worked 3 days on 3 days off. Those 3 days on I did a 10 hr shift, a 24 hr shift, then a 8 hr shift!!!!



After falling asleep at the wheel twice - I told them move me closer to home or else I would give my 2 weeks notice. Fortunately, they moved me closer to home (1/2 hr away at the most depending on traffic). I left that location & never looked back!


Luckily, at that point in time, I was mid 20's no husband or kids to worry about. Sometimes, to avoid the drive, I would just sleep there. After that I SWORE that I don't care how much money is offered to me, I will NEVER EVER EVER do that again!

Now, I have had a career change - I work 10 minutes from home - if that!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Takes me about 45-50 minutes in the summer, up to 1 1/2 hours in the winter.

Pros:
Can sing for a long time without anyone cringing
If I have an emotionally tiring day at work, time to get it out of my system
Can work in the city and live in the country
Can eat breakfast (granola bar and Diet Pepsi, the breakfast of champions!) while driving...and they say only office workers can "multitask!"


Cons:
Sometimes long drive is tiring after long day (esp. in winter!)
Looong drive when bad roads
Lots of gas-$
Could get a few more minutes to sleep if I worked closer

 

[Sonya]

I echo what cool-beans said. You get downtime and a chance to eat breakfast. However in the winter the roads get bad and that is stressful. But it is a chance to work in the city and live in the country. I have a good commute, it is on mostly country roads.

 

[robinb]

When I lived in Chicago, I used to commute about 30 minutes in the morning and 45-90 minutes in the evening (depending on weather).

I really liked a 20-30 minute commute. In the morning, it got me in the "mood" for work. I was able to drink my first cup of coffee and transition into "work" mode. On the way home I was able to unwind and be ready for my home life. FWIW, I reversed commuted ... I lived in the city (1 mile from Wrigley Field) and worked in the suburbs. I loved the city life every night, especially on the weekends and I was no more than 20 minutes from my back door and my season tickets for the Cubs.

When I moved to Wisconsin we bought a house on the Isthmus and I lived 5 minutes from my work. I always felt that I didn't have enough time for a home/work/home transition and I ended up bringing "home" things into work and "work" things back home. There is something to be said for a decent commute.

 

[BeckWhy]

Well, I don't commute to work... I might have to in the future though. But I commuted it school.

The commute could be between 30 min and 1 h depending on traffic. It was a two lane highway, not a four lane.

Pros for me: gave me time for just myself where I didn't have to worry about anything (except what was happening on the road).

Cons:
During winter: it could take me up to an hour and a half to get to school.
Slow drivers: this is the worse part. I would always leave 1 1/2 to 2 hours before school started, so I was never in a hurry but god do the freakin speed limit.
Construction: unless you have some way to know upcoming construction, it can just appear or start at any time (for me they started construction of widening the road at a bridge which lead to only one lane roads).
Accidents and the like: these are unpredictable. And if you don't know the back roads, you can be in trouble. One day I was driving home and they closed off a 5 - 7 mile stretch of my drive home. Not to mention they also closed off the only backroad I knew and the volunteer firemen were not willing to give me any advice as to how to get home (they just screamed at me to keep moving).

I don't live in a large populated area, so I don't know what it's like to drive in rush hour traffic, so I can't comment on that.