All rights reserved. Even though its not far as the crow flies, I have to budget up to 90 minutes to get to work. If OP reads this and thinks, You know, thats not at all the tone hes using, and I dont think hes trying to convince me Im foolish for feeling stressed about this, then hooray. Ended up being a big mistake. In the mean time, he goes in pretty early and leaves early (like 7 3) in order to avoid some of the worst of the traffic. Start looking for something closer. When I lived in Houston, my commute for 30 miles was about 45 minute-1 hour drive in the morning and 1.5 hour drive in the evening. I also did the South LA-the Valley commute for grad school. Any longer and I would start to really resent it cutting into my free time so much. I am in Orange County and it takes me anywhere from 35 minutes to over an hour to drive 14 miles. Taking the train or local Staten Island bus, to the Staten Island ferry, to the Manhattan subway, could easily take two hours from south-shore Staten Island to midtown Manhattan if a subway was delayed or the ferry was running a modified schedule. And if you paid extra for the express bus, and there was an accident jamming up one of the highways or bridges it literally could take shorter to fly from JFK to Florida than to travel 15 or so miles from Staten Island to Manhattan. DC area. Plus, I work weekends, which decreases the commute time considerably (plus the lights change immediately when you trigger them on Sundays, which helps a lot). Why?! Its not my favorite thing in the world but Im willing to do it for family reasons, and given how many people I see taking the train with me I know Im not the only one! I did figure out there were some things I could do to ease my commute: Now I dont even use half of it (but my Wifi at home is bad and so I dont want to get rid of it). All I can offer is sympathy. Even if I could have found housing, NO WAY was I willing to move there. Uh, it totally depends on what your commute is the Bay Area too. I now work in LB (and actually still get to WFH many days) and my quality of life is 500% better. 30s, 53, female here. NYC had an incentive to grow *up*, where LA had more incentive to grow *out*. More people here commute than dont, even from places like Riverside to LA. So while I think theres a few factors contributing here, I think its perfectly OK to not WANT a two-hour commute, and to figure out how to make your life easier on yourself. The nine Bay Area counties have always been Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco. Commute between one and another at your peril. This is interesting because my husband recently took a job in a middle-of-nowhere college town where the only jobs besides university-related ones are in the service or healthcare industry (neither of which Im qualified for), so Im looking for work in the nearest city, two hours away. . Traffic is bad-and others certainly do have commutes that long-but a more reasonable one is possible. Now I live 6 miles away from the office and have a 25-minute drive (on side streets only). Driving would be too stressful. I lived in San Jose commuting to Cuptertino for 6 years. 118, 5, 170, 101 then streets (4 freeways? (I get to keep whatever I dont spend.) My niece and sister drove me crazy that day: niece was driving and had her phone out to GPS the route, even though Id already GPSd it on mine. Most of my coworkers that live on the North/South Shore of Boston commute around that far. Come on. I did that length of a commute for about a year when I lived there. Everyone driving cars on huge highways is a very inefficient way to get masses of people to and from work, especially considering how bad human drivers are at efficiently using roads (I recommend that everyone watch CGPGeys video of traffic). It was a cost of living/housing/real estate thing at the time. That movie is amazing on so many levels (not least of which is the open season on the LA Freeway scene), everyone should watch it. Hot, muggy, smoggy, YUCK. Im sure 2 hours is a totally normal travel time for the distance the OP is driving. And what would be 3am traffic here in SD on the freeways. Anything more would made me very anxious. My current drive isnt bad at all, but it is certainly not as pleasant as riding the bus. I wish I knew how good I had it back then! Radio gets old real quick. Folks where I grew up (California) seem astonished that I live just 6 miles from downtown Boston. My commute is outlandish for here in New England. Ive lived in Orange County for 35 years. I definitely have one of the longer commutes in my office but there are a growing number of us who have it. Its incredibly stupid, a massive waste of personal time and extremely harmful to the environment. The other parent leaves a little later and drops off the kid, but works later. Then Id get rid of my car and take the bus everywhere. Commuters into NYC from NJ could have a 1.5-2 hour commute (I have), but its usually all on public transit, so you at least get that time to read/sleep/whatever. I recently watched a special on TV about super commuters defined as people who commute 90 minuets or more one way. That makes it more bearable. where is this, omaha? I think 10 is about the limit. I no longer am off at noon on Fridays, but Im also on top of chores and household tasks, so that by Friday Im off Im not spending it cleaning the whole house. I stuck it out for around six years because the pay and benefits were good, but I hated it. Short commutes on the east coast are for people who can afford to live close to work. (Forgot to add, distance is just over 20 miles.). Like can they really not fathom that other people have different thoughts and feelings than they do. Easily 1.5 -2 hours one way but these were spectacular paying jobs, like 6 figure salaries. Count your commute as work hours when you start looking for a new job. I was in the same situation when I started my job, thankfully I can now work at home part of the time. I zone out or just watch a movie on my phone or just sleep. Would any of those get you there faster? For context, Im in the DC area and my commute door to door is roughly an hour on mass transit. Isnt the only person to answer this you? Many other issues made that job unsustainable, but the commute was icing on the cake. Its open season on the LA Freeway!, (I can quote every line of this movie. Even a cab will take me about 30 minutes due to rush hour traffic. Your boyfriends in the right on this one. And its not unusual for our area, but I understand why some folks would try desperately to avoid it. This is interesting to hear! Dont let him hold you back from reorganizing your life to make it more tolerable to you. SF Bay Area here. Yeah my other sister lives in Issaquah, and I hear the traffic is getting just as bad as it is where Im at now. The trains are fine. Books Are Our Superpower. It doesnt really matter what your boyfriend thinks is normal if thats simply unsustainable for you. Oh darn it my first comment didnt show up, so I tried again and now it just looks like Im repeating myself! severe financial hardship) or I could work during the commute and cut down time at the office. The average commute in the U.S. is 26 minutes, according to Census data. And like the Countess, I moved to a more expensive area. I live in the SFV, two major freeways are short drives away. Your commute is not going to change before this commute makes you lose your mind. I wouldnt take a 2+ hours commute either and have actually rejected or self selected out of jobs that would put me in that range (and I dont drive but exclusively use public transportation). Yeah, in California it is becoming moreso. Good luck to you I hope you can find something without such a hard commute! TBH I dont think Ive ever worked in the same location as him, actually. Its also not healthy for ANYONE, even for those who supposedly dont mind it. Still, commute times in all peer metros have worsened and the Bay Area now falls in the middle of the pack. There are NO single family houses for sale for under a million anymore. I would find 2 hours each untenable, and thats okay! Im in Atlanta, which is notoriously bad for commutes. Im lucky in that, as soon as I get into London, its one train all the way. to 75 min. Its not unheard of, but its also not okay. Yes 30 miles is too far for a daily cycle commute. I now have two traffic lights that slow me down to 10 minutes. My husband has nearly that work situation (Kingston to Bermondsey!). To live closer to work, my mortgage would double, my house would shrink by half, and my utilities would triple (the county where I work is REALLY poorly run). I could leave at a certain time and usually expect that everything would work out, but sometimes the world said Nah, lets make a car careen off the road today.. Miss the bus, catch the one 10 minutes later, and have another 30-45 minutes added to the commute. Work is close to the edge of its city so I dont run into much there either. )even the drive to school wasnt that bad! I know its somewhat stupid but yeah. I drove from southeast LA county to central OC for 7 years, about 35 miles each way. It is wonderful. Or alternatively, find another job with less of an arduous commute? For 8 miles Im usually looking at 30 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. It would be completely intolerable. Oh, Los Angeles! The trade offs were the unique work opportunities in my field and a 4 ten hour day schedule. Taking either Sunset or 101 to 405 because of that interchange. But Ive done the 90-minute standing each way commute too. At least with my commute it is just me in the car (with my audiobooks or silence, depending on my mood). Although, when I did commute on public transit the trains were messed up about 80% of the time, which was very frustrating (South West Trains! I used to live in LB and HB have worked in Santa Monica all the way south to Corona Del Mar. 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. The 5 and the 91 both run through OC, so there is freeway access from, hmm- La Palma, Buena Park, Fullerton, Anaheim, Yorba Linda, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin, Irvinepast that Im not familiar as with. I meant to say cycling is more* tolerable than driving. haha). I only lasted about 9 months in that job and left to avoid a complete mental breakdown. There was no traffic. I got a new job. Id change jobs to avoid moresitting in traffic slays my zen. I left home in the dark and got home in the dark, no matter what time of year it was. The Commute with Carlson. I live in a tiny town so my commute is 5 minutes driving (allow 10 minutes door-to-door). Unfortunately, my university was in deep NW, and my door-to-door commute was about an hour (assuming the Red Line behaved), which was NOT fun when classes get out at 8 PM. I am job-hunting closer to home. However, you have to decide for yourself whether or not this is okay with you. I had a commute once that varied from 1-2 hours that I had to drive because I lived too far from the train, and it was so draining that I make all of my work/housing decisions based on public transit now. Hopefully you find something new soon! Now Im in NM and oh my, its wonderful and I never ever want to go back to a big city. A couple of my team members fly in for half the week from LA or San Diego. It really depends where you live & work in LA, since its a sprawling city/county. Feb 7 2021 1 hr 1 min. Most of the people I know live pretty far away from their workplaces here because thats just the nature of average wages and cost of living. I live in the Denver metro, which is somewhat trafficky but nowhere near LA levels, and a 30 mile commute into/across downtown during rush hour will easily be 1-1.5 hours. I live in LB. Weve got kids and paying 2k+/month for a 2 bed apartment anywhere within 45 minutes wasnt happening. long in miles, loooong in traffic. DO NOT DO THIS TO YOURSELF. Vallejo has always been part of the Bay Area. Can you take public transit part of the way (I know thats a long shot in LA)? LW I understand your struggle. Driving that distance I honestly had instances (both in the morning and at night) where I was about to pass the hell out at the wheel and kind of had that call of the void thing where your brains tells you to just close your eyes for ooooonnne tiny second. yep, same with here in the Bay area. (Its slightly embarrassing for a 38 year old guy to admit, but during my last 6 month contract I managed to get through the whole Harry Potter series. No wonder. To be fair, being ok with a 4 hr commute doesnt mean they dont value their lives & people in it. So, yes even in LA, a 2-hour one-way commute is on the extreme end of the bell curve of commute times, particularly for auto commute. No one can afford to live where the jobs are, so you move farther out and compensate with an insane commute. General Workforce Inc. General Workforce Provides Highly Skilled Workers For Warehousing, Distribution Centers, Construction, Technical, Retail, Restaurants and More! I used to live in LA got a job in Santa Monica and commuted from the Valley. Oh man, OP you might want to look at work in Orange County if you really need to stay in Long Beach (and cant find a good position in Long Beach itself). I love my 30 minute commute on laid back country roads now. At most I usually spend an hour total commuting every day and that alone annoys me sometimes. Oh yeah. It can be normal just off of congestion. Let me guess you drive the 405 every day? etc. When the commute impacts your quality of life its definitely time to think of solutions. It really doesnt matter whether I leave at 7 am or at 9 am it takes just as long to get in every day. bah! Try early morning (commute), lunch (work gaps) and late evening (couch scrolling) as these are typically when TikTok users use their phones. 37 traffic lights, multiple school zones. Even if no one else is doing, for example, a 1/2 hour commute by train, she should do it if it works for her. *Except for the time I was without a vehicle for awhile and that 20 minute commute turned into an hour and a half bus ride. I dont want to get into trouble rolling through the wrong area because of an app trying to save me time. Haha, were not arguing! Yes, for LA (and the SF Bay Area), that is indeed common. I decided to move to a location thats 20 minutes by bus from work. DH & I live in the Midwest (i.e. But yeah, two hours isnt unheard of for any of those cities. I used to commute from Jersey City to Western NJ (about an hour on insane roads) and once I moved to CT my commute went down to about 5 minutes. Ive also taken the local Transbay bus into the city at other times. If public transportation was an option, I think itd be reasonable too. Maybe in the Friday Open Thread? 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. 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). But honestly, we cant figure out how to still live in NJ with under a 3-hour round trip commute. Get horror and comedy with My Favorite Murder! How is it? I did it myself for about 4 years I simply could not afford to live in or around the District so I lived 40 miles outside the city and, on a good day, I was facing a 1.5 hour commute. Ive done a 90 minute commute for a while, but that was a solid train trip where Id reliably get a seat and could happily play with my phone or read to unwind on the journey to and from work. because it took 45 minutes just to make it down La Cienega to the 405. See what Im saying? I feel bad for husband who has to do Kingston Bermondsey! Some people have the stomach for long commutes and some dont. My commute is roughly 3 hours round trip for 35 miles (one-way). Its baffling to me, even coming from Boston where 93 is notoriously slow. Its become a phrase to mean I relate too hard in some corners of the internet. June 29, 2018/ Jim Parker What was the biggest news in the world of cycling in 2017? Oh, I saw that you said it was Long Beach and working in WeHo. Oh, absolutely agreed re the class element. Here is what makes it work: (1) I dont mind it. Thats twelve hours a day of work plus commute. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. But I think the question here is not what is normal, but what works for you and whether the overall benefits of the job outweigh the cons. I would only move back to San Francisco if I could live AND work in the city. Home by 7-8PM There was a guy who was caught living in the back of a box truck in the Google parking lot, because he couldnt find an apartment with a decent commute. Around Chicago, my commute is a 30-40 minute drive from suburb to suburb (Schaumburg/Elgin to Mt. That said, when I relocated to the Northwest, I was adamant that I needed a much shorter commute. Im putting in my notice during my 3-month review.No point leading them on, I know even if I stayed another month Id still quit in the end and its impossible to interview without calling out with these hours. My (Seattle) commute is about 25 minutes of bus and walking. Its definitely not for everyone! Its not going to get any better. Music is a different matter, because I wont lose the plot if my mind drifts away for a bit. I dont know if moving is an option, but it might be worth exploring. That's 2 hours on the bus, 9 hours on Amtrak's Sunset Limited. Right now my partner leaves for work at 5am so that he can beat traffic, which is kind of miserable but at least he has the ability to work flexible hours so he can do it. I live in Federal way and when I was doing my grad school research in SLU it would often take longer to get from Westlake and Thomas to I-5 (~7 blocks) then from Downtown Seattle to Fed (~25 miles). But hes got a scooter so at least doesnt have to change trains 5 times. If this job allows you the finances/time to travel, do things you love then its something you have to take into account. I live in LB too! 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