At this point, Im spending about 20% on housing costs. Not to mention the stress of driving in traffic! My biggest concern with many miles is what happens when your car is in the shop. Its pretty easy to demonstrate that this isnt true just by reading this comments thread. This made the commute a reliable 45 minutes, whereas driving probably would have taken 1-1.5 hours (and these days would probably be closer to 2 hours). Someone I know did the Westside to the SGV (San Gabriel Valley) commute. I have a good job at a good organization that Im not willing to leave, and trying to find work in a different state is a difficult endeavor. I used to do Reading-Aldgate and it was one of factors that contributed to my looking for another job. Since the pandemic, he has only come home twice, each time with two-week quarantine. Am I crazy? Also, people who work in offices I think are much less likely to take public transportation, which means they can sometimes get around quicker (especially if its outside of rush hour, which a lot of service work is). But I will say that routinely taking 2 hours to go only 30 miles is unusual sometimes, sure, but 4 days out of 5 iskind of whacked. Reading to North Oxford! If any of those were different, Id change jobs or areas for a better commute. Other people make different choices, though, and thats completely valid. The average daily commute in the U.S. is about 25 minutes. Right now Im willing to make less money to work at a job with flexible hours (I work 7am-3/4pm) so I can avoid traffic. You do have control over your car! I lived in hollywood, worked in Brentwood. Ahhhhh, Im so happy for you. Based on mainstream media coverage, you might guess it was Chris Froome's awkward descents during the Tour de France, his crotch hugging the top tube as he stared down at the pavement directly in front of him. 2 hours is long, but traffic has been getting worse, so its really not wildly outside normal in this area. My daughter is almost always the first at daycare, and last to leave. It is not sustainable. Ive lived in Queens and Manhattan and have never had a commute less than one hour. In the US it'd probably be considered living close to work! Read a zillion comments & all I can think of is that here in California we are really suffering with tons of jobs but zero transit & housing solutions (sigh). I would text my friend/workers a picture of myself sitting on my couch at 5:20, while they were still at the subway stop. The 2 hours doesnt surprise me at all. So NYC has that fun going for it. My husband is a Hong Konger and works in Hong Kong. A 2-hour commute is on the very high side of normal here. Actual experience trumps book learning every time. Just be sure to do a lot of research before accepting a new job. Id be on board with public transportation options too, but given how long those take to get funded & built, self driving cars are more likely to happen first. It is a brutal commute. I went from a job where I worked from home 100% of the time to one where I commuted 90 minutes (if I was lucky) by train and subway. Mine is 35 minutes. It will very unlikely get better, and has the potential to have a huge impact on your mental health and well being. Only you know what you are able to deal with, and its ok if you dont want to do it. Sports game at the stadiums where the bus has to pass adds another hour just to get out of town. AND, it didnt matter what mode of transportation I took; train to Union Station to Metro with a 1/2 mile walk to the office took the same 2 hours as driving and parking a few blocks away (because it was about $40 in my building). If I take the subway (and there are no delays), my commute is about 35-40 minutes. That doesnt mean traffic here isnt bad, it means I found ways to avoid it. A non-resident worker (NRW) who works as a cleaner in Macau but lives in Zhuhai tested positive for COVID-19 in Zhuhai on Monday, Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordina However, realistically, I might not get what I want. each way. Im seeing people list such short commutes and I literally cant imagine that. All it says in the brief mention of his is that hes insisted that its normal for the area. I am willing to sacrifice in terms of living space and location in order to have a short commute. Once I did that my brain stayed engaged. most people I know in the Us walk or bike to work. Itd be unthinkable. I figured out why I was too tired to go to the gym after work; I spend two to three hours a day behind the wheel. my team planned a wine-tasting while Im pregnant, no one is paying attention to my training, and more, coworker sent me his racy photography page, do I need to give my coworkers gifts, and more. I live 40 miles south of my workplace. I enjoy NPRs Wait Wait Dont Tell Me, which is a light-hearted way to catch up with current events. Its a big place, like any major metropolitan area, where traffic sucks and there are bad drivers and stressful commutes. If you do decide to suck it up and live with your commute, start exploring alternate routes. I listen to audio books that are young adult novels so its harder in my case to lose track. (And I agree!). I live in the suburbs and work in a mid-Atlantic city. I assume the writer lives in the valley and works on the ocean side which means theres only one way through the mountains the 405, aka the busiest highway in the country. These are my hard limits: Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosures. She creates really unique / weird worlds. Obviously it comes down to you personally but I wouldn't mind that at all. LA traffic is no joke and unless you are able to afford living right next to your work, it is just how its going to be. I dont think there are any good options here for your. Hes not wrong though. I think youd be shocked. It would be one thing if they kept to themselves while riding the train (which is what most people do) but Ive seen them curse out other passengers for no reason. Yes, why? You dont have to believe it, I guess, but its true. The downsides are that a lot of elderly and disabled take the bus so that slows things down when they have to raise/lower the ramps to let them on/off; and everyone can talk on their cell phones. OP, I live in a suburb outside of NYC. Oh, and audiobooks, podcasts and library books. Oh, well be able to visit Griffith Park, no problem well, we visited it, but it took a lot longer than expected. I have lived in CA for the last 16 years, & been in LA for the last 13. I have TAP cards for both LA and San Diego, and I live in Orange County. On some freeways its almost all trucks and it makes a difference. We have people commuting to our company near LAX from far and wide, including Thousand Oaks, Pasadena, Long Beach and even Riverside County. For more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com . Ha ha. 2 hours isnt normal, but its not unusual. Its so hard for me to give 100% at work when I can barely recharge to 50% by Wednesday which is not only unfair to me, but also unfair to the owners and my colleagues. My commute is 7 minutes from door to door. LA is currently investing in more public transit, now, but it will take years before it comes online. But those are 6 very, very long miles if you drive. The bus is so much better than the subway: no musicians playing, no panhandlers; no homeless people sleeping on the seats (although sometimes there are smelly homeless on the bus); if you get stuck in traffic and youre close to your destination you can just get out at the next stop and walk instead of being trapped underground in a tunnel with someones armpit pressed against your face; better air conditioning in the summer, etc. It is wonderful. Theres no bus/transit that does a straight line between home and work, so I either have to take one bus into downtown then switch to another to get to Soma, or take a bus downtown then walk 20 minutes. My best friend lives 25 miles from her work and leaves early. LA resident here, though Im a transplant from Chicago. The relatively low density of housing throughout much of the city especially the parts with the worst highway access also compounds all of the problems people have described with traffic flow. Thank you :D. I use them to read books that I wouldnt have purchased or spent valuable eye-reading time on, and Ive discovered a few favorite authors that I wouldnt have expected. But since its against traffic, its 25-30 minutes of highway driving. Former Angeleno here: This is not normal! It is doable for me, and Im not driving that entire time. However, you have to decide for yourself whether or not this is okay with you. It might be normal for an area, but that doesnt mean its a good thing. oops, replied in the wrong place, but at least it sorta fits here! Go to Nottingham (don't commute) Go to Holloway (commute) A jsuch01 I am going to uni in sep, and i am considering commuting 2 hours, each trip, to my uni. Welcome to the coast without much public transit. With no traffic it would be about 20-25 minutes, with traffic it could be 45 minutes or longer of gridlock, plus parking is expensive. Now Im constantly having friends visit and being like OK so were going to stay in Santa Monica and tomorrow well go to the Norton Simon museum and then Universal Studios. As someone who grew in Rural Washington, I completely understand! Most of my colleagues travel at least an hour to an hour and a half, and mostly by mass transit. In the end, I was only able to handle this for a year. Now it take 15-25 minutes depending on how long the lines are at the main gate. Yeah, I live in SD county, and we could have a shorter commute but we love the city we live in, it is a great space for our kids to grow up + close to the beach + affordable. Im in NYC. Look for something new. Somewhat related: I just did my taxes this week and I never noticed before that theres a relocation benefit if youve moved for work. I commuted from Huntington Beach to Burbank one timeit wasnt fun, but it was normal to me. In the evening, it was generally 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen. Public transit is not that amazing, especially if you are outside the city core. that isn't considered living close in the US. The New Englanders are so so so jealous of your weather! Could sometimes shave a few minutes by taking the freeway, but PCH was always, always worth the the extra 10 or so. -A big bag of your favorite nuts and some icy cold water. Why?! Make sure you check the commute times for any potential employers. OP cant expect her commute to go from 2 hours to 15 minutes because the boyfriend has told her that isnt normal, but she can make reasonable decisions now on how to cut the commute down to a more acceptable hour or hour and a half. Id still bring it up to your boss if thats not tenable for you personally there may be another work around, like you leave at 3pm but have a wireless headset in the car to direct calls, and you arrive before him every morning to finish the tasks left for you the previous evening. I could tell so many stories about the times where out-of-towners (friends, relatives, etc) think I can get them from Silverlake to the coast in 30 mins because it doesnt look that far on Google Maps!. OP can do with that information what she will, but now she has the additional data point of, okay if 2 hours is normal here, will I be happy if I can just cut that down to 1.5 hours, however I can?. If you had spoken with someone whos lived in LA for a few years, they would have talked you out of it. If it looked awful to go home, I just wouldnt. FASCINATING. Its 8 miles away against the flow of traffic. But what everyone is saying is true this might be not as uncommon as you think but if its not right for you, its time to look elsewhere for a job thats closer or has flexible scheduling. But if you live outside the downtown core, youre looking at a minimum of an hour. 45-60 is way more common, as are 20 minute commutes if youre traveling between neighboring cities (e.g. In the afternoons, if I left between 4pm and 6pm, the commute home was an hour or more at least. I live AND work in Redwood City (also SF Bay Area) and it takes me 20 minutes. She doesnt visit the coast much I see, lol. Have you considered buying a motorcycle, moped or bicycle? If you live in those areas and want to reduce your commute you need to be strategic about the location of where live and work. It might be normal for some people, but that doesnt mean accepting it is your only option. This thread is making me so grateful for my commute! with no traffic, so 2 hours isnt a huge difference. Oh, OP, I feel for you. If the commute turns out to be terrible, look into renting a room at someone's apartment or house (or even in a nearby extended day or hotel, if that's financially feasible). Is your work near a subway line? Yeah, this is an interesting point. I live on the East Coast and my commute is about 15 miles and takes me 20 minutes. Right, its not just the time, its the type of time. It can be fun and you get to bond with coworkers. So Cal native yup, 2 hours can be totally normal. my toxic former employee is poisoning my staff, my employee blows up my phone with memes and videos even in the middle of the night and refuses to stop, VP is pressuring everyone into choreographed dances, boss eats while on the phone, and more, I got in trouble for using a mouse jiggler despite my excellent work, 10 impressive questions to ask in a job interview, my employee doesnt think were doing enough about bears at work, I caught my employee in a compromising position in the parking lot, employer only gives raises for promotions months later, and more. I used to commute to San Francisco from Redwood City and even taking the express train and express bus to the financial district and back it still took me 2 2 1/2 hours per day (twenty minutes of that was driving the one mile home from the train station), and I thought that was a lot. Im fortunate enough to have flex time and very understanding bosses. Eventually, I moved in with my now-husband and my commute went to 11 miles/35 minutes (unless something was going on at the Hollywood Bowl and I forgot to take an alternate exit then it was 50). I live six miles from my work, and it takes me fifty-five minutes by public transit (when its working on time, etc) and about an hour and fifteen by car. I stuck it out for around six years because the pay and benefits were good, but I hated it. Mind you the highway is 4-7 lanes wide at any given time plus 3 feeder road lanes! If I am lucky, I am in traffic for 1.5 hours. I live in Brooklyn and my commute to downtown Manhattan is usually 40 to 50 minutes. My commute is about 30 to 35 mins, most of that being on the bus. I used to live in LB and HB have worked in Santa Monica all the way south to Corona Del Mar. OP, commutes are really important to quality of life and employers understand when theyre not feasible. Its one of those things you have to be okay with in your work-life, so if the OP needs a different job with a better commute, that makes total sense to me. My commute is 1 hour, but its on the bus so I get to spend the time as I like. Were building more but its going to take a long time. People love to gripe about traffic, but it only will make you feel worse. If youve ever seen LA traffic in a movie or on the news, where the freeways look like parking lots, you are seeing the reality of it- some places look like that almost all day long! Im sorry! Thats how crazy two hours is. When I lived in a bigger city is was probably 30 minutes. My dad had a 1.5 2 hour commute each way growing up (so, 25 years ago) in socal. Silicon Valley, for example, has tons of jobs, but not enough housing, so people commute from all over, packing the roadways. Ive had between an hour 1.5 hour commutes for most of my working life, along with nearly everyone Im close to. I live in southern MD and commute two counties north of me for workon amazing days (think unicorns farting rainbows rarity) its 45 minutes each way. But in this case there is wide spread collective knowledge that confirms the traffic. My current drive isnt bad at all, but it is certainly not as pleasant as riding the bus. I guess my number 2 worst commute is anywhere east of DTLA to anywhere west of Los Feliz. :) It doesnt matter if its Anaheim to LB, Pasadena to Westwood, etc. My commute now is 35 minutes walking, 12 minutes by bike or bus. miles. Of course, being able to just clock out and listen to music or something on the train is what makes it bearable. Im in D.C. and two hours is long, but definitely not weird here. I left LA in 1998, and when I visited a few years later, was horrified to discover that rush hour traffic was still going strong at 10pm. I think its worse now. Facepalm, I just saw that you already do this. For almost 3 years my commute was 4 hours daily and another commute was 3 hours with a toddler buckled in the car seat I needed her day care to be close to my work because of emergencies. I hated it, was never home, had zero life, and didnt sleep that much, on top of having a highly stressful job that made me physically ill. I have a ten minute commute. (I had a part time flexible schedule and worked out super early near work on the days I did not to avoid the worst of the traffic. Not only are all houses money pits, my executive function issues are too severe for me to deal with the major responsibility of it all. Former Calli girl here. Splurge on Audible, or ad-free Spotify. Traffic is bad-and others certainly do have commutes that long-but a more reasonable one is possible. Best day scenario for a friend of mine is 1.5 hours Concord to downtown. As a Californian2 hours each way is normal for LA. You know what your time is worth to you. The idea of driving into the city center or to the other side of the metro area makes me shudder. My job is 6.2 miles away from home exactly a 10K. If I was taking public transport, I may find it easier because I could possibly be getting some work done on a train. I did figure out there were some things I could do to ease my commute: door to door. The shortest average daily commute is about 15 minutes for people living in Midwest cities like Witchita, Omaha, and Tulsa. But I guess its normal there. I love my 30 minute commute on laid back country roads now. I am applying for university and my firm choice is 1.5-2 hours away depending on traffic. I live/work in northern VA (just south of DC), and traffic is notoriously bad here, as well, though not as bad as in LA. my employee doesnt want to come to work when it snows. Makes sense if you receive more benefit on the other 6 days of the week. Some people have the stomach for long commutes and some dont. So cal born and raised here! I do think its more about what works for you than what the norm in your region is. Californians absolutely choose jobs (and/or homes) based on the commute they can bear. But at night traffic honestly doesnt clear up till like 7:30-8 pm here which is an hour before my bed time. I live in the Chicagoland area, although I dont work in the city. It would take me only 15 min longer to walk, which I should probably start doing! My commute to work takes about 30 minutes but going home takes about 45. Or if you rely solely on bus and are coming from an outer city in the direction of traffic. Too many people, too much traffic.even though I learned to drive out there, I cant do it any more. Good grief! I think if I were able to do public transportation, a longer commute would be more tolerable, but obviously not ideal. Who cares whats normal if it doesnt work for you! It might be 3 hours at rush hour, when offices and schools re-open. My top tip would be to work in the same location as your partner ! I had a long distance job and I was able to survive through it with carpooling. But if the commuter bus leaves at 6:45 AM once daily and leaves at 5:15 PM once daily, and I have to work past 5:15 sometimes, then realistically, driving was my only option. There are plenty of routes you can take in LA to get from point A to point B. If you like your job I wouldn't see it alone as a reason to leave even, sounds like you've got a decent manager. I miss some things about city life, but I dont miss city commutes, and I will have to be living somewhere amazing to go back to that kind of lifestyle. The rest of the year would probably be fine weather-wise!
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