how far is too far (Boston, Springfield: real estate, house, taxi)

[western mass and love it]

I live roughly 90 miles from the North End of Boston , and now have 4 neighbors out of 7 that commute to Boston for work. To me that is insane and leads me to wonder just how far is to far.

I know in CT it is not unheard of to live in New Haven or one of it's burbs and work in NYC but to me that is also insane. So just how far out from Boston do others think is to far. My commute for work is 30 minutes and I find that taxing sometimes. I think I would be miserable with anything over an hour.

[David223]

To commute 90 miles each way to work is insane in my opinion.

[AtkinsonDan]

My commute is 40 miles each way and it takes me between 45 and 55 minutes depending on traffic. 90 miles each way is insane.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

My commute is 40 miles each way and it takes me between 45 and 55 minutes depending on traffic. 90 miles each way is insane.

Especially 90 miles into BOSTON. I live 24 miles from my office in Boston and it takes me 1 hour 20 minutes each way if I don't have to drop off the kids. I have a coworker who lives in Princeton which is about 65 miles from the office and it takes him a little over 2 hours each way. 90 miles into Boston is easily 2.5 hours each way. 4 out of 7 neighbors do this? I want to call BS on that, but there's no reason the OP would be lying so I also think his neighbors are insane!

[Mr. Joshua]

A 1 hour commute to work equals a forty hour work week spent in your car every month.

[Parsec]

western mass and love it: Now I am curious where you live and what your neighbors do for work which make it worth the commute! I picked a random town on the map about 90 miles from the North End and came up with Wendell. Wendell is basically nothing but a state forest, so if your town is similar it seems like your neighbors could easily live in say, Ashby which also has nothing but least it's only 55 miles from Boston which would save them an hour on their commute everyday.

EDIT: I just noticed the median household income in Ashby is nearly $83k so maybe I was right - their residents DO enjoy the small town feel but still have pretty decent jobs out by 495 somewhere (but probably not BOSTON, lol).

[western mass and love it]

Three are in finance and one is in the MSP. I live in West Springfield , and there are many people out here that work inside 128. Some leave early around 5 to beat the traffic and others just suffer.

[MikePRU]

I haven't been a commuter for many years now so any commute seems unreasonable to me at this point.

As a real estate agent though, I've worked with a lot of commuters and obviously the length and ease of commute is a huge factor in deciding where to live for the majority of people. It's a huge reason that it's so much more expensive to live inside RT 128. Also, if you look around during the real estate downturn the towns that faired the best were often those with public transportation options and decent driving commutes. This being said, not everyone lets their commute rule their lives. Some people want a certain size house or yard and to get that within their budget they're willing to spend more time commuting. Some people want to live in a certain environment (usually rural or semi-rural) and again to fit that into their budget they have to spend more time commuting. Then there are others who have some sort of emotional tie to a particular town or area in the state and are absolutely insistent on living there no matter what the commute.

In the end, it's all about personal priorities. I would say though that your neighbors who commute 90 miles each way on a daily basis are likely the exception and not the rule.

[scorpio516]

People commute from Sacramento to San Francisco, just over 100 miles each way! Driving into SF is just about as bad as driving in Boston, except that from the North or East, there are only 2 bridges into the city. I'd guess a lot of people drive to a BART station and take mass transit into the city, saving a lot of money on parking. That would be like driving from the Berkshires to the Riverside MBTA station and taking the green line downtown!

[mdovell]

128 is a ring of death. When I drove it, it took a few times to get used to the flow.

From Dedham north is where the odd stuff happens. Bumper stickers in such large amounts it is a mini thesis!

Trucks trying to get on the pike, exits backed up etc.

I did 50 miles each way from the south shore. About 90 minutes maybe 60 if traffic is light.

In all due respects the more you drive the more likely it is to be in an accident and even if you aren't the backup of traffic is horrible.

I have been to Europe and Asia. I would feel safer riding a bike in Beijing then driving on 128, I've done both.