average commute time to work in orange/la county. (Huntington Beach: how much, house)

[raj2009]

Hi,
i would like to know what's the average amount of commute time to work for people in southern california particularly oc folks. i know oc is preferable to buy a home compared to la county.but there are not many jobs in oc and everyday i see the 5,405,91,605 whichever freeway i take is all clogged with cars, so i am wondering how much time a person spends in his car. is 1hr 10 minute commute each way to work considered a bit long or is it normal. please share your experiences.

[bhcompy]

An hour each way may be normal, but it may not. LA is so huge that it could be more. Some people travel from the IE and Ventura in to LA for work daily, which puts them at longer commutes.

And there are plenty of jobs in OC. It's a major job center in its own right

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

And there are plenty of jobs in OC. It's a major job center in its own right

Yeah a lot of those people on the freeway are driving TO OC to work.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by raj2009

Hi,
i would like to know what's the average amount of commute time to work for people in southern california particularly oc folks. i know oc is preferable to buy a home compared to la county.but there are not many jobs in oc and everyday i see the 5,405,91,605 whichever freeway i take is all clogged with cars, so i am wondering how much time a person spends in his car. is 1hr 10 minute commute each way to work considered a bit long or is it normal. please share your experiences.

I go 55 miles from South Orange County (Las Flores near Oso and Antonio) to El Segundo in less than an hour in the morning and a little more than an hour MTW and maybe 1:15-1:20 Th and F.

But (a big "but") I leave my house at 5AM and get to work at 6 and leave work around 3 or 330.

Now, I am taking a vanpool from Laguna Hills Mall which leaves the mall at 5:10, arrives El Segundo at 6, leaves ES at 340 and back to the mall 430 on a good day, 445-500 on a bad day.

It was costing me $20/day just for gas when I drove my 4WD F-150 (no carpool lane either) now it is around $125/month in the vanpool and I just kick back and go online with my laptop and high speed aircard and we zoom by in the carpool lanes.

[Coldjensens]

I always try to live close to work so that i have a much better overall quality of life. 2-3 minutes is a good commute to me, unless I am walking, then 10 minutes is not bad.

[raj2009]

i am commuting 1 hr 15 mins fom irvine to monterey park each way.

[ferretkona]

My drive differs as locations change. I get 35 minutes to 60 in the morning(4am), 1 hr to 2 hr returns.

[prettypele]

I drive from Huntington Beach (home) to Tustin (work) and it takes about 20-30 minutes in the morning and up to an hour at night unless I avoid the 405 like the plague that it is!

As far as general Orange County commutes go, it depends on how close you are (I'm about 15 miles) what freeways you take, if any (sometimes avoiding freeways can be helpful) and what time you are traveling (I work 8:30-5). Many people opt to start work earlier to miss the awful 5 pm rush hour.

[raj2009]

@ferretkona: what kind of job do you do and from where do you commute? 60 mins at 4am in the morning seems to be a long way.i do 1 hr 15mins each way and sometimes get bored.

[raj2009]

considering all the commute times and given the poor economy what would be a good place to buy a home?in LA or OC? or @ the border which would help us to search for jobs in both oc and la.