commute strut
roneazy
111 Posts
Just curious who does it, how long, is it really as bad as they say in your opinion? I've done it a few times in my life, and they were tough times, but I liked the routine of it and the opportunities it provided in terms of employment... this would be for school, but i'm possibly facing this prospect again.. seems 'extreme commuting' is quite a buzzword these days... 3.4 million Americans since 2000 and counting... thoughts, please! RON
Comments
Don't move to La.
Until I moved into the city proper I was commuting 2 hours both ways (grand total of 4 hours on the road daily. Los angeles has terrible public transportation and traffic and Los angeles are forever linked.
Now that I lvoe i nthe city its a 20 minute drive both ways and a whole lot more sleep
I've ended up in some pretty shady neighborhoods because of it.
How long, Guzzo?
My mom commuted 2 hrs. each way growing up, and ended up buying a 2nd house to spend the night in after night classes. After 15 years of that, she and my Dad decided it was time to live in one house again...so, they did it EXTREME and made it work.
are you asking how long I was making this trek?
the answer would be 2 years. I always hoped that the redline/ gold line anyothercolorlone would eventually open up near my old spot but no plans have been put in motion. So I went ahead and moved
I think you have to have a certain kind of personality to be a good bus/train commuter. I see people who seriously blow their top when we're stuck in traffic. You have to give up control when you're not driving. I find that easier than dealing with road rage.
I deal with it by looking at it as enforced "down-time". I can turn off my phone, read the paper, listen to music, sleep, whatever, and it gives me an hour to prepare for work in the morning and decompress in the evening.
"sounds to me like your working for your car, man...simplify!"
i loved my three years of training it to work, and i can't wait until some of the stuff here gets built up, and the commuter rail starts going to our front door.
walking is where it's at.
When the bus gets a little full, I get a little irritated and grumpy due to claustrophobia, and there are some snotty high school kids some days. But it beats driving as far as my wallet and sanity are concerned. ESPECIALLY in the winter when the roads are shit.
When the weather's nice, I might get off the bus a little early. So it'll be a 30 minute ride plus a 50 minute walk. Very relaxing.
I try to ride my bike to work at least 2 times a week. That usually takes 30 to 45 minutes.
I used to commute about 8 miles within the city and it would take me 30-45 minutes driving.
Maybe it's because I'm a lifelong NYC resident, but I've never had a job where I didn't commute at least 20-30 minutes each way. If I could hop in a car and be home in 5 minutes, I don't think I'd be in the right frame of mind to relax when I got home, I'd still be in work mode, and vice versa in the AM. I need that subway ride to switch gears, especially in the AM, nothing throws my day off like running into someone I know on the train and having to talk and stuff instead of getting in the work frame of mind.
It's all good, I got a new car a couple weeks ago so I don't mind that much. Besides, I used to commute an hour each way when I was living in San Francisco so this is much better.
My commute to work is about 20 minutes each way (or about 18 miles there and back). On the one hand, driving on the main roads through downtown Milwaukee (my route to work) is pretty easy, especially after rush hour when I go into (or leave) the office (circa 10AM and 7PM, respectively). On the other hand, Interstates 43 and 94, traffic-wise, are virtually impossible to drive during rush hour. I use the drive in to listen to music and gear up (or down) for (from) the day. It's cool.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
My comnmute is roughly 40 min in the morning, 50-60 in the evening. There are times when it drags but for the most part, it's not so bad since it's rarely in stop and go.
NPR helps a lot.
Cosign.
It's a funny thing about NYC though, my coworkers who live in Queens and Brooklyn think I'm crazy for commuting an hour each way, but it takes them almost as much time to get to work as it does for me, between waiting for the subway and transfers and police activity and all the usual stuff.
If you're from Montreal I believe that- best looking women in the world HANDS DOWN!
RON
ps. so far, the girls in KW that I've seen are NOTHING like those in Montreal.. I mean, atleast the girls in MTL have teeth!
you don't want to be stuck doing that route in the winter. i did thornhill to oakville for a year and it wasn't fun. an hour commute can easily be 2 or 3 in bad weather (and it was). kitchener/waterloo definitely does sound bad, but you'll be saving THREE hours 5 times a week. assume you would otherwise drive 15 minutes - you're saving over 10 hours a week. put it into dollar terms even - assume your time is $20/hr (20/hr)(4 wks)(10 hrs/wk) = $800. don't forget the additional gas in that too and oil changes etc. you could easily head to toronto for the weekend parties and spend lavishly on hotels & drinks.
and yeah, k/w ladies may not be the finest, but at least you have laurier & waterloo migrants for 8 mos/yr.
My commute is around an hour and a half each way by train and foot and I use it for the same purposes. As long as I've got some new music to listen to every couple of day i really don't mind the journey - really good for getting work out of my system before I get home as well.