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600K Americans spend 3 hrs/day commuting. How far/how much time would you?

How far would you commute (each way)?

  • Not more than 5 miles each way

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • Not more than 10 miles

    Votes: 5 41.7%

  • Not more than 30 miles

    Votes: 2 16.7%

  • Not more than 50 miles

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not more than 10 minutes each way

    Votes: 2 16.7%

  • Not more than 30 minutes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not more than an hour

    Votes: 2 16.7%

  • Don't care, assuming the job/pay is worth it

    Votes: 1 8.3%
  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
N

Neomalthusian

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[h=1]600,000 Americans have 'megacommutes' of over 90 minutes - CNN[/h]
130305111549-commuting-traffic-620xa.jpg

Over a half a million Americans travel more than 50 miles and 90 minutes each way to work -- dubbed 'megacommutes' by the Census Bureau.

Just under 1% of full-time workers make that kind of trek. The average "megacommuter" is more likely to be male, older, married and higher-paid than the average worker. They're also more likely to leave for the office before 6 a.m.Just over 8% of full-time workers -- almost 11 million people -- had merely "long commutes" that took over an hour each way in 2011, according to the report.
New York had the highest percentage of people making these long commutes, at 16% of its workers. Next came Maryland and New Jersey, at about 15% each.
Click to expand...


Personally I would never commute this far. I'd rather be a poor country bumpkin than ever do this. How can people tolerate this?
 
Neomalthusian said:
600,000 Americans have 'megacommutes' of over 90 minutes - CNN


Over a half a million Americans travel more than 50 miles and 90 minutes each way to work -- dubbed 'megacommutes' by the Census Bureau.



Personally I would never commute this far. I'd rather be a poor country bumpkin than ever do this. How can people tolerate this?[/FONT][/FONT]
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If you work in a major metropolitan area you probably won't be able to find affordable housing in close so your options are rather limited: Live in a hovel, probably with roommates, or drive in from out of town.
 
We act as if these are choices we get to make, lol.

Would you rather these folks DON'T make those commutes, and we have 600K fewer employed folks?
 
KevinKohler said:
We act as if these are choices we get to make, lol.

Would you rather these folks DON'T make those commutes, and we have 600K fewer employed folks?
Click to expand...

It would be nice if so much time and gas was not consumed by this. I know that just saying that doesn't provide an easy solution to the (what I consider to be a) problem, but it's a problem (imo) all the same.

I don't care to tell people what to do or what not to do WRT where they live and work, I'm just expressing incredulousness that so many people can tolerate this as such a major part of their lives.
 
Neomalthusian said:
It would be nice if so much time and gas was not consumed by this. I know that just saying that doesn't provide an easy solution to the (what I consider to be a) problem, but it's a problem (imo) all the same.

I don't care to tell people what to do or what not to do WRT where they live and work, I'm just expressing incredulousness that so many people can tolerate this as such a major part of their lives.
Click to expand...

We have this problem because we are a social species, and we congregate into groups. The greater our technology, the larger the groups we are able to "sustainably" congregate into. The larger the groups we can congregate into over smaller, fixed areas, the more scarce the number one resource (land) becomes. The farther and farther, then, we much travel. It's why inner cities are meccas of poverty and crime, the two go hand in hand. There is not enough physical space to sustain the numbers of people congregated, and so the resources must be shipped in from elsewhere, which invariably drives up the cost for those resources. Scarcity, again. No one is growing their own vegetables, or what have you, in NYC.

So, as mentioned above, you're either rich, and can afford to outbid everyone else for those scarce resources...or you resign yourself to living in a hovel, like a peasant, in order to retain work in the areas that HAVE work...or....you commute.
 
My commute is already 45 minutes.

I use the time to listen to music and plan my day, before I walk in on the crisis du jour....
 
When I worked in DC and lived in NoVa, it was about an hour fifteen to thirty each way and I lived at all times within 20 miles of work. I hated it. It wasn't the commute so much as it was the traffic just trying to get to the grocery or movies or whatever within Fairfax/Springfield when I was off work. There were time it would take be 20+ minutes just to get out of my neighborhood alone because there was no light there and we fed into a pretty big feeder road to the beltway.
 
I used to commute 75 miles one-way to work. Usually took me an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half on a good day. Some days when there was snow, or bad construction, or a wreck, it could take me 3 hours to get to work. I did that for 4.5 years.

I'd do it again if I had to, but I'd do whatever I could to try to avoid that kind of drive on a regular basis again.
 
Two summers ago I did a commute for an internship that was 1.5 hours each way, 40 minutes of which was walking.

It was a worthwhile experience overall though.
 
the most i've done : 50 miles each way.

current commute : 30 miles each way.

50 mile commute : on a good day, i could get to work in about an hour and ten minutes. when it snowed, it took 3+ hours.

30 mile commute : i get to work in just under 40 minutes. in heavy snow, that becomes an hour and a half.

initially, i didn't care much about the drive, because i enjoy driving. however, it has begun to really weigh on me. i'm starting to hate it, and i would love to work closer to home.
 
Some folks don't like the actual living conditions where they find their work. Back when I was young and dumb and gas was 25 cents a gallon I commuted an hour either way. This allowed me to work at the hospital in downtown Roseville, while living in the foothills where my nearest neighbor was two miles away. Now, my commute is from my bed to my computer. :mrgreen:
 
Neomalthusian said:
Over a half a million Americans travel more than 50 miles and 90 minutes each way to work -- dubbed 'megacommutes' by the Census Bureau.
Click to expand...
Once per month I do a 55mile commute in 40min. What's their problem?
 
I travel 278 miles round trip in a van pool 4 days a week. We leave at 5AM and get home at 7:30 pm. During the summer I frequently ride the motorcycle instead...I can leave a half hour later and get home a half hour earlier. Since we leave so early I can still sleep an hour and a half on the ride in when I am on the van (I cant sleep on the ride home).

Only REAL problem is...well...some people have never heard of Beano.
 
Fisher said:
When I worked in DC and lived in NoVa, it was about an hour fifteen to thirty each way and I lived at all times within 20 miles of work. I hated it. It wasn't the commute so much as it was the traffic just trying to get to the grocery or movies or whatever within Fairfax/Springfield when I was off work. There were time it would take be 20+ minutes just to get out of my neighborhood alone because there was no light there and we fed into a pretty big feeder road to the beltway.
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Yeah, I would think a significant percentage of that 600K are people who work in DC. I know during my periods working there the only decent places I could afford to live involved a long commute (timewise more than distancewise). I am sure it is similar for other big cities. While there are great jobs in the city, the best living is usually a ways out. I am willing to commute if it means my children having a yard to play in.
 
It was horrible when I worked in the House, but once I went to work for a PAC, I was allowed to set my own schedule as long as I worked the required hours per week for my salary which made it much easier. I;d try to work 12 hours days when I wasn't on the road just to get as many days off as possible a week.
 
My current commute is 5 miles each way
 
Neomalthusian said:
[h=1]600,000 Americans have 'megacommutes' of over 90 minutes - CNN[/h]
130305111549-commuting-traffic-620xa.jpg

Over a half a million Americans travel more than 50 miles and 90 minutes each way to work -- dubbed 'megacommutes' by the Census Bureau.



Personally I would never commute this far. I'd rather be a poor country bumpkin than ever do this. How can people tolerate this?[/FONT][/FONT]
Click to expand...

They go where the money is. I'd commute that far if they made it worth my while.
 
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