Commuting to and from work

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Fyro

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Last year I was able to walk to work. It was great.

This year I have a 25 mile drive which takes about 28 minutes. It's through rural wooded country, so it isn't horrible. Unfortunately it's 55 mile speed limit and in the winter it will be rough.
 
Quineloe

Quineloe

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around 20 minutes if I walk. 10 minutes on bike, 15 minutes by car during traffic, 5 without traffic.

Not spending 2 hours a day commuting is quality of life for me and I'd rather move than do that.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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Every time I have to drive through Seattle I can't comprehend how people deal with commuting through that day-in-day-out. I see those estimated travel times for cities that are 15 miles away with hour+ commute times pretty much any time I am in the area during rush hour (which is pretty much from 6:00am-11:59pm in that city) and my mind is just blown that people deal with that 5 days a week. I'm sure I could put a dollar figure on dealing with it, but it is probably way higher than most of the businesses there would be willing to pay me. If I am in Seattle around 5:00pm I don't even bother trying to drive anywhere and just find a local brewery to chill at for a couple of hours.
 
A

Asherah

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Around 20 min on bike. Around 1 hour if I walk because there's too much snow to cycle. A nice way to get a bit of exercise every day.
 
D

Desidero

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Right now I work on the west side of the loop in Chicago. It's very convenient for me to go from my place -> Metra train -> work, but the commute takes about an hour and 15 minutes each way. I've been thinking about moving closer to work for a while now, but the west side is kind of dead at night since it's more business-oriented.

If you could either:
A) Get an apartment 2 blocks from work (gym, groceries, etc all very close) and walk to the loop or take the L to the north side for entertainment
B) Get an apartment on the north side where there's more to do, but the commute is still ~35 minutes and includes a lot of walking in shitty weather

Which would you choose?

*edit* Also, if it matters, I'm 29.
 
Araysar

Loser Araysar

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Desidero_sl said:
Right now I work on the west side of the loop in Chicago. It's very convenient for me to go from my place -> Metra train -> work, but the commute takes about an hour and 15 minutes each way. I've been thinking about moving closer to work for a while now, but the west side is kind of dead at night since it's more business-oriented.

If you could either:
A) Get an apartment 2 blocks from work (gym, groceries, etc all very close) and walk to the loop or take the L to the north side for entertainment
B) Get an apartment on the north side where there's more to do, but the commute is still ~35 minutes and includes a lot of walking in shitty weather

Which would you choose?

*edit* Also, if it matters, I'm 29.
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Its a tough call. But i think it would really come down to what you do when you get home. If you got something to keep you busy (hobbies, etc.) and you just hang out with your friends on the weekend, then take the West Loop apartment option.

If you're like me and just randomly go out to restaurants and drinking with friends on weekdays when you're bored, pick the North side option. Your friends arent likely to come to the Loop to hang out with you, everything is expensive, parking is a bitch and everything is touristy. Since you're considering moving just for convenience, I assume that money isnt an issue. Living away from loop would save you a couple hundred bucks a month in rent as well.

Another thing about living and working in the Loop is that it never quite feels that you actually left work, so eventually it just grinds you down.

All in all, I would probably pick to live in Lincoln Park, Bucktown or West Town instead of Loop. In a way, I enjoying commuting, it functions as a welcome barrier between work and life to establish some sort of work/life balance
 
Nola

Nola

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Our house and close family members is the reason why I do the long commute. My in laws watch our kids when we have to work and that alone saves us around 1k a month in daycare. Plus the neighborhood we live in is very quiet and nice plus the school system can't be beat for education. So the pros definitely out weighs the cons.
 
Caliane

Caliane

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yeah. commutes can suck it.

I've done 45min commutes. 30min. in highschool/college days.
Sucked so much. gas prices in those days was much cheaper too.

out of college, it was a nice 5min drive. basically, rural area, to downtown of the small town.
But the move to comics. even that became a fuck it.

My commute is now 10second walk to my studio/spare bedroom.
 
Lejina

Lejina

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6 to 8min for 2.5km pending if I get that one red light. Gym is at half that distance.

No commute to speak of really add to the quality of life.
 
Mahes

Mahes

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I am also 6-8 minutes based on whether or not I hit the 4 lights in between my house and work. I used to commute 25 minutes each way and I love only taking 6 minutes to get to work now. A person I work with commutes 55 minutes each way for the same job I do. Being on the road for 2 hours a day + fuel just does not seem worth the whole 15+ an hour.
 
D

Desidero

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Araysar_sl said:
Its a tough call. But i think it would really come down to what you do when you get home. If you got something to keep you busy (hobbies, etc.) and you just hang out with your friends on the weekend, then take the West Loop apartment option.

If you're like me and just randomly go out to restaurants and drinking with friends on weekdays when you're bored, pick the North side option. Your friends arent likely to come to the Loop to hang out with you, everything is expensive, parking is a bitch and everything is touristy. Since you're considering moving just for convenience, I assume that money isnt an issue. Living away from loop would save you a couple hundred bucks a month in rent as well.

Another thing about living and working in the Loop is that it never quite feels that you actually left work, so eventually it just grinds you down.

All in all, I would probably pick to live in Lincoln Park, Bucktown or West Town instead of Loop. In a way, I enjoying commuting, it functions as a welcome barrier between work and life to establish some sort of work/life balance
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Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I'll have to look into some of the west/northwest neighborhoods a bit more - I've mostly been focusing on the Lincoln Park area.
 
Araysar

Loser Araysar

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Desidero_sl said:
Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I'll have to look into some of the west/northwest neighborhoods a bit more - I've mostly been focusing on the Lincoln Park area.
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Some of the closer neighborhoods are nice too but I dont know what your price range is. I mean, can you do Streeterville or River North? I just think that the ones I mentioned earlier give you the best bang for the buck vis-a-vis rent prices, stuff to do and commuting time/distance.

Also, I forgot about Old Town. That is a top notch area to live in. Its like it combines the best features of River North and Lincoln Park.
 
Kaige

Kaige

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We work on different sites depending on what job we're assigned, so it can be anywhere from 15 mins to an hour, but our boss tends to assign us all to ones that give us all roughly the same distance to travel from home. So usually my travel is about 30 minutes.
 
N

Northerner

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Nester_sl said:
8 minutes. 3 years ago i moved cities and took a new job, it used to be 50 minutes. Yes 8 min is as great as it sounds, i love going home at lunch!
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Preaching to the choir here.

Years back I decided to live where I work essentially. I'm ten minutes (walking) from work and have never regretted it at all.

Now, if I had kids and shit to worry about then I might feel differently I suppose but screw it, as it stands it is incomparable. I used to commute ~45 minutes each way and absolutely hated it with every fiber of my being.

(EDIT: Now, occasionally I do have to travel internationally or within Alberta and that is what it is. I don't actually mind that so much (change of venue is fun) but it is the daily waste of time that pissed me off mostly. If they ever figure out the autonomous car thing so I can do something other than drive while driving then I will re-assess.)
 
Falstaff

Falstaff

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About 45 minutes in the morning. Takes me less than that on the way home because Chicago traffic is ass-backwards.
 
Khane

Khane

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There is nothing better than living close to work and having a short commute.

My first job out of college was a 2.5 hour commute each way, second job was about 1.5 hours. My next job after that was about 50 minutes and I did that for 7 years. About 6 months ago I started a new job and it's only 15 minutes each way. I really had no idea how much better life can be with such a short commute because I had always had ridiculous commutes to work.
 
jeydax

jeydax

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fifey_sl said:
I don't know how you people put up with such hellish commutes, time spent in a car driving I view as just wasted time that I'm not getting paid for.
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No shit. When I first started my job out of college commuting from my parents house I was driving about an hour to an hour and a half each way. I went batshit insane after I sat back and really understood that 15 hours minimum every week I was spending just driving. I'll never do that again. Any commute over 20 minutes (imo) is just silly. Your quality of life improves drastically when you make such a big change like that.
 
Falstaff

Falstaff

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I used to love taking the Metra to and from work, even if it was a 45 minute train ride + 10-15 minutes to walk to my office (plus about 10 minute drive from my house to the train station). Always really quiet and relaxing, no one obnoxiously talking on their cell phones, etc. Wish I could do that now.

I actually lived 2 miles from my office and moved farther away to live closer to family and friends (and buy a house). I'm suburb to suburb and there is no easy way to get there so that's why I have to drive.
 
Eomer

Eomer

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Yeah, I wouldn't mind a longer commute if it was on a reasonably comfortable train, subway, or whatever. At least then you can read the paper, surf the web, have a coffee, or practice your English on some chick in the hopes that she'll take a shit in your bed.

I am also eagerly awaiting the advent of automated cars. That shit's going to be a massive game changer in ways that we can't really predict in terms of how cities are built and organized (much reduced need for parking lots within commercial districts, much more efficient and safer usage of existing infrastructure, so on and so forth). And from my perspective, I spend a lot of time driving 4-10 hours each way on a Friday and Sunday night to go skiing/biking/whatever in the mountains. Being able to sleep or do other shit while doing that drive would be fucking amazing.
 
Dyvim

Dyvim

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Shit is allready further than you might think. From what ive read these automated prototypes react surprisingly well to driving situations (overtake, let other car pass then overtake etc). Still someone got to place a hand on the steering wheel (mainly for legal reasons) and can rest it there.

On topic i commute 1h to 1 1/4h each way daily, since i love to drive it doesnt bother me much.
 
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