Will LA eventually get so dense, that OC and The IE become too far/impossible to commute from by car? (Long Beach: home, job market)

[Des-Lab]

Traffic and long, frustrating commutes, and congestion is just a very small pittance of a price to pay for the perks and privilege of living in SoCal, home to nice weather, scrumptious fish tacos, Mongolian art museums, and interracial dating. Obviously millions upon millions of people think this 'price of admission' is worth it. If it wasn't, they'd be fleeing to other states. Yes, I know that many have, but for every one that leaves, TWO come in to replace him.

And it's not just the LA area freeways that are choked solid.

Try driving the 5 through Tustin/Irvine. That sucker is 6 lanes in each direction.

Or the 55 or 57.

Except for very late at night or the wee small hours of the morning, ALL are effectively impassible and congested to a complete standstill. That stretch of the 5 between the El Toro Y and the 55 interchange is what? 8 miles or so? Try driving it at 5 or 6 at night. An hour. Even an hour and a half is not unusual or even uncommon. It's THAT BAD. But people do it. So there's obviously some benefit to living there.

[BGS91762]

I laugh when people here complain about the traffic. Try living in the New York or Washington DC Metro areas and you will know what "bad" traffic is. Once I drove 40 miles from Newark AP to Long Island and it took 4 hours and $30 dollars in tolls.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Because the IE is nothing but tract homes, strip malls for low wage retail, and back-breaking low wage warehouse jobs.

If you are lucky maybe you can land a Government job or a trucking gig. Other than that, it is commuting in to LA/OC

Or waiting tables. Believe it or not, the IE is self-contained enough for many to not have to work in LA/OC.

[echoParkDate]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Or waiting tables. Believe it or not, the IE is self-contained enough for many to not have to work in LA/OC.

Do you have any stats on this? Yes, most people who live in the IE live there too. That's always been the case (I lived there in the 90's). But a LOT of people commute to LA and I don't think the percentage of commuters has declined. I suspect its gotten substantially higher as people priced out of LA move to the IE but keep their LA jobs.

Commuters are higher earners for the most part and until the IE gets some white collar jobs I expect the traffic will continue to worsen as the region grows.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by echoParkDate

Do you have any stats on this? Yes, most people who live in the IE live there too. That's always been the case (I lived there in the 90's). But a LOT of people commute to LA and I don't think the percentage of commuters has declined. I suspect its gotten substantially higher as people priced out of LA move to the IE but keep their LA jobs.

Commuters are higher earners for the most part and until the IE gets some white collar jobs I expect the traffic will continue to worsen as the region grows.

These are the percentages of commuters that commute outside their counties of residence. It doesn't break down what counties they're going to, as obviously some of these are intra-IE, and many of the higher ones are next to county lines. All of the people that aren't leaving their counties of residence are working somewhere, right?

Adelanto city, California 18.8
Aguanga CDP, California 28
Anza CDP, California 17.9
Apple Valley town, California 9.6
Baker CDP, California 0
Banning city, California 23.7
Barstow city, California 2.5
Beaumont city, California 43.3
Bermuda Dunes CDP, California 5.2
Big Bear City CDP, California 6.9
Big Bear Lake city, California 2.7
Big River CDP, California 2
Bloomington CDP, California 32
Bluewater CDP, California 0
Blythe city, California 1.6
Cabazon CDP, California 14.2
Calimesa city, California 67.9
Canyon Lake city, California 35
Cathedral City city, California 3.9
Cherry Valley CDP, California 35.7
Chino city, California 53
Chino Hills city, California 63.6
Coachella city, California 2.7
Colton city, California 24.8
Corona city, California 50.5
Coronita CDP, California 50.1
Crestline CDP, California 18
Desert Center CDP, California 7.2
Desert Edge CDP, California 10.7
Desert Hot Springs city, California 7.7
Desert Palms CDP, California 17.6
East Hemet CDP, California 12.6
Eastvale city, California 74.1
El Cerrito CDP, California 39.9
El Sobrante CDP (Riverside County), California 44.4
Fontana city, California 34.1
Fort Irwin CDP, California 0.6
French Valley CDP, California 36.7
Garnet CDP, California 4.6
Good Hope CDP, California 17.2
Grand Terrace city, California 29.3
Green Acres CDP, California 24.2
Hemet city, California 16.3
Hesperia city, California 16.9
Highgrove CDP, California 35.5
Highland city, California 15.6
Home Gardens CDP, California 43.9
Homeland CDP, California 20.1
Homestead Valley CDP, California 18.7
Idyllwild-Pine Cove CDP, California 11.3
Indian Wells city, California 11.9
Indio city, California 4.3
Indio Hills CDP, California 0.3
Joshua Tree CDP, California 22.3
Jurupa Valley city, California 48.9
Lake Arrowhead CDP, California 16.5
Lake Elsinore city, California 37.8
Lakeland Village CDP, California 30.5
Lake Mathews CDP, California 39.8
Lake Riverside CDP, California 14
Lakeview CDP, California 8
La Quinta city, California 7.3
Lenwood CDP, California 5.9
Loma Linda city, California 20
Lucerne Valley CDP, California 10.7
Lytle Creek CDP, California 45.9
March ARB CDP, California 17.9
Meadowbrook CDP, California 21.4
Mead Valley CDP, California 22.9
Mecca CDP, California 3.2
Menifee city, California 28.7
Mentone CDP, California 12.4
Mesa Verde CDP, California 1.4
Montclair city, California 48.7
Moreno Valley city, California 33.1
Morongo Valley CDP, California 47.6
Mountain Center CDP, California 0
Mountain View Acres CDP, California 14.8
Murrieta city, California 32.4
Muscoy CDP, California 28.2
Needles city, California 1.2
Norco city, California 50.6
North Shore CDP, California 10.7
Nuevo CDP, California 27.7
Oak Glen CDP, California 32.3
Oak Hills CDP, California 25.7
Oasis CDP, California 6
Ontario city, California 39.4
Palm Desert city, California 5.9
Palm Springs city, California 9
Perris city, California 27.2
Phelan CDP, California 17.9
Piñon Hills CDP, California 36.8
Rancho Cucamonga city, California 37.1
Rancho Mirage city, California 15.6
Redlands city, California 15.8
Rialto city, California 28.7
Ripley CDP, California 1.6
Riverside city, California 33.3
Romoland CDP, California 25.5
Running Springs CDP, California 22.3
San Antonio Heights CDP, California 35.2
San Bernardino city, California 20.8
San Jacinto city, California 18.5
Searles Valley CDP, California 33.5
Silver Lakes CDP, California 10.1
Sky Valley CDP, California 8.2
Spring Valley Lake CDP, California 13.3
Temecula city, California 37.3
Temescal Valley CDP, California 53.2
Thermal CDP, California 2.2
Thousand Palms CDP, California 3.7
Twentynine Palms city, California 3.4
Upland city, California 46.6
Valle Vista CDP, California 14.4
Victorville city, California 18.8
Vista Santa Rosa CDP, California 0.3
Warm Springs CDP, California 40
Whitewater CDP, California 12
Wildomar city, California 30.5
Winchester CDP, California 16.7
Woodcrest CDP, California 31.2
Wrightwood CDP, California 27.4
Yucaipa city, California 22.5
Yucca Valley town, California 20.1

[SupBro]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

Traffic and long, frustrating commutes, and congestion is just a very small pittance of a price to pay for the perks and privilege of living in SoCal, home to nice weather, scrumptious fish tacos, Mongolian art museums, and interracial dating. Obviously millions upon millions of people think this 'price of admission' is worth it. If it wasn't, they'd be fleeing to other states. Yes, I know that many have, but for every one that leaves, TWO come in to replace him.

And it's not just the LA area freeways that are choked solid.

Try driving the 5 through Tustin/Irvine. That sucker is 6 lanes in each direction.

Or the 55 or 57.

Except for very late at night or the wee small hours of the morning, ALL are effectively impassible and congested to a complete standstill. That stretch of the 5 between the El Toro Y and the 55 interchange is what? 8 miles or so? Try driving it at 5 or 6 at night. An hour. Even an hour and a half is not unusual or even uncommon. It's THAT BAD. But people do it. So there's obviously some benefit to living there.

I get on the 55 at McArthur, then get on the 5N and get off at Anaheim Blvd 5 days a week. It takes me 40 minutes. I'm glad I'm not behind you on the freeway, you must drive really slowly.

[socal88]

Traffic gets worse, but people keep coming to California. Bay Area traffic has become pretty bad as well.

We all complain about traffic, but apparently whatever pros SoCal has to offer trump the traffic.

I was driving through the IE the other day and just can't believe how built up it has become. Apparently it's worth the 3-4 hour roundtrip for folks commuting core LA or OC that can't afford to live in those areas.

My M.O. is that if you can't stand the traffic and aren't bound by family obligations or anything else forcing you to stay, pack your bags and move somewhere else. There's plenty of other real estate in this country.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Have fun with all that driving. I have worked within 15 minutes of home for my entire work life. I had wanted to work in the LA area when I was younger. For about 6 months I had worked in Glendale while I was training for a job in Oxnard. That cured me of the desire to want to commute.

As far as the IE, don't they have hospitals or other things that people work for? Schools? What about other services?

[BGS91762]

LA/OC is a world class area with many well paid jobs. Just like NYC, however they don't pay well enough in many cases to afford a nice home in an affordable area, hence the reason the IE is so important to LAs economy. It allows people to fill jobs and still have a relatively affordable life. That's exactly the way it is in NYC, London, Tokyo and most other large Metro areas. For example, most people's that work in London live at least an hour away.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

As far as the IE, don't they have hospitals or other things that people work for? Schools? What about other services?

Right?

I like how some people portray the IE as one huge subdivision of houses and jammed freeways full of cars heading west. It's not all like Adelanto for goodness sakes.