Will LA eventually get so dense, that OC and The IE become too far/impossible to commute from by car? (San Diego: real estate, condominium)

[I Love Buildings]

I'm just wondering if there will ever be so much infill within a 25 mile radius of DTLA, that traffic makes it impossible to commute. For example. The 5 Freeway today seems to have reached its limit. No way can someone commute daily from San Diego county into Long Beach like back in the day. Corona seems to be developing so fast, that Riverside and Moreno valley will be "blocked off" by extreme congestion.

Also real estate wise, most homes in the IE advertise as "only one hour from LA and coastal Orange county". That one hour won't be like that forever. Imagine weekend rush hour being the new normal on sundays and everyday. It'll make the drive to the beach a good 2.5 hours each direction. Not only does it affect the inland folks, but i have many friends from Newport and Huntington beach that love to go to Big Bear and Palm Springs, will this will also affect their quality of life/leisure get aways.

Literally every SoCal suburb is constructing some kind of townhome or condominium project. The once outskirts of the high desert and Coachella Valley are now the new masterplanned community boom.

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

Dense does not necessarily equal traffic. If we had vastly better public transit, comparable to other megacities, it wouldn't be an issue. Housing development isn't the problem.

Having said that, I don't know who could be dumb enough to buy a place in IE or further with the intention of commuting into LA every day. Not a smart move.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkyPunks

Dense does not necessarily equal traffic. If we had vastly better public transit, comparable to other megacities, it wouldn't be an issue. Housing development isn't the problem.

Having said that, I don't know who could be dumb enough to buy a place in IE or further with the intention of commuting into LA every day. Not a smart move.

Jobs.

[BGS91762]

IE to LA commute is easy if you can take Metrolink. Driving into LA from IE is stupid. I work Downtown LA and take train from Montclair. Most of my coworkers live in the IE and almost nobody drives. That is the future.

[adr3naline]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

IE to LA commute is easy if you can take Metrolink. Driving into LA from IE is stupid. I work Downtown LA and take train from Montclair. Most of my coworkers live in the IE and almost nobody drives. That is the future.

Bingo. I have several colleagues that ride the Metro from the IE to DTLA. Although it might take a while...depending how far you are...the commute is "easy".

[Astral_Weeks]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

IE to LA commute is easy if you can take Metrolink. Driving into LA from IE is stupid. I work Downtown LA and take train from Montclair. Most of my coworkers live in the IE and almost nobody drives. That is the future.

If you are lucky enough to work in Downtown LA or another area close to a metrolink or light rail station, then yes absolutely. However, a lot of LA's employment is disbursed and not always proximate to a mass transit stop.

Hopefully, as the rail network expands more employment will concentrate in these areas..making commuting by rail more feasible.

[BGS91762]

Yes you think that proximity to transit would be a main consideration where a business locates or expands. For example, a business in London would never even consider locating far from transit lines. Hope that mentality catches on in LA!!!

[PCALMike]

Public transit obviously the solution.

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkyPunks

Dense does not necessarily equal traffic. If we had vastly better public transit, comparable to other megacities, it wouldn't be an issue. Housing development isn't the problem.

Having said that, I don't know who could be dumb enough to buy a place in IE or further with the intention of commuting into LA every day. Not a smart move.

I laugh at the vastly superior. I took my husband2-3 hours to get home when he was released from work early for sewage problem. His work was near a metro link, I mean within walking distance. The problem is the Norwalk center and to other areas in OC. It's crap. The people that built the metro link was not thinking.
It took him an hour to drive for similar destinations.

[BGS91762]

Metrolink does not work for everybody but it saves me an hour a day over driving in from the IE. I've taken the train for over 15 years and would NEVER go back to driving.