Anyone commute from west Garden Grove to the Pasadena area? (Fullerton: relocating, work)

[mustangjoey]

My wife and I are relocating from the Montrose area (love it there, going to miss it) to a nice little pocket of West Garden Grove, fairly close to where the 22 freeway meets the 405. We're trying to get a little closer to my wife's family, since she takes care of our three little ones by herself, and it would be nice for her if she was closer to family.

I work in Pasadena, off the 210 at Altadena Drive. I mapped it out, and it's about 42 miles or so. I am a California native, so I know that the distance isn't the important thing, it all depends on traffic congestion.

On the way home, I think I'll be able to get off of the 605 before the 405 interchange, and take side streets. I know the commute is going to suck, but wondered if anyone has done it and how long it takes on a regular basis.

I'm figuring about an hour and 15 minutes, door to door. But, I'm going to test it out a few times to see how it goes.

[EscapeCalifornia]

That sounds about right. Maybe 90 minutes would be closer. You'd be going against traffic on the 605 but with it on the 210. The 605 still gets slow in the afternoon going south when you hit the numerous interchanges. You could get off on Katella coming home and avoid the 405 backup. I think that 210 is going to suck though. I've gone east on that think in the afternoon and its a parking lot.

[scorpionleather]

Back in 2000 I spent a few months commuting from Fullerton to Pasadena every day for a consulting project. I shifted my hours later in the day to avoid traffic. What I remember is that you can take some of those side streets just north of the 210 when you're heading home and it really helps to have a GPS like a Garmin Nuvi when you do this. Then I took the 57S which was fine after hours. But I wouldn't attempt this during "rush hour" - that would mean 3 hours on the road everyday.

[mustangjoey]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

That sounds about right. Maybe 90 minutes would be closer. You'd be going against traffic on the 605 but with it on the 210. The 605 still gets slow in the afternoon going south when you hit the numerous interchanges. You could get off on Katella coming home and avoid the 405 backup. I think that 210 is going to suck though. I've gone east on that think in the afternoon and its a parking lot.

I hear ya on the 210. Right now I go West on the 210, but used to live in Arcadia, and the 210 is NO FUN!

Oh, the sacrifices we make for family.

[ocexpo]

West Garden Grove (aka Garden Park) is a beautiful community. See West Garden Grove, California on Wikipedia for information. It has good schools, and lots of single family homes. It is also on the border of Seal Beach.