A quarter of a million long commutes disappeared during the pandemic in the Seattle area (Eastgate: how much)

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sea...-area/%3famp=1

“We all know about the rise of remote work during the pandemic. With more people working from home or some other distant location, a lot of commutes simply no longer exist — at least for the time being.

But which commutes converted to work-from-home, and which ones didn’t?

Some new data shows that not all commuters were affected equally in the Seattle metro area. The number of workers with longer commute times — those that took 20 minutes or more each way — plummeted. But the number of people with short commutes actually increased a little”.

[rjshae]

Getting rid of that daily commute can be a huge quality of life improvement. A 1 hour commute twice a day is like spending an extra day of work each week. Plus you get to deal with the road rage lunatics and breath in all that unhealthy exhaust.

[Hemlock140]

My commute was 35 minutes in the morning, 50 minutes or more in the afternoon. Since late February 2020 I have only gone in 3 times, most recently in mid-July. I found the morning to be much less traffic, but the afternoon on I90 seemed about the same as before, with congestion around Eastgate. All of my employees also drove to work, and live in Seattle (Ballard, Greenlake and Wallingford) and for them when they went in to the office it's been the same as usual, with heavy local traffic all day.

[Kayela]

Getting rid of that daily commute can be a huge quality of life improvement. A 1 hour commute twice a day is like spending an extra day of work each week. Plus you get to deal with the road rage lunatics and breath in all that unhealthy exhaust.

So true! I cannot believe how much I gained back in time and positive mental energy by not commuting. Turns out I do use that extra time to workout, and I do cook more at home when I'm not shelled from dealing with people and traffic. Mine was about 20 minutes in the morning, and 30-45 minutes in the afternoon, which is really not as bad as many, but I will happily take a paycut to never have to do that again. We've happily gone down to 1 car and it gets filled up maaybe 2x a month when we used to buy gas for 2 cars weekly.

[jabogitlu]

I commuted via light rail or bus. My commute has also disappeared so I got around an hour and a half back once you factor in waiting for the train/bus on both ends, walking, etc.

The benefits are huge. I no longer meal prep or eat out - saving a ton of money. I don't have to shower when I wake up so I can literally roll out of bed, make some coffee and get a start on my day. I'm home to receive packages and walk the dog, and keep him company. I get to listen to music all day. I do all my laundry during work hours, and I haven't bought "business casual" attire in almost two years now, which is a huge savings. I work so much better in a tee shirt and shorts than I do a terrible button-up and tie.

Ultimately, I get a lot more work done without distractions of the office.

My life has also become more social since I started WFH. I have more energy to see people after work and on the weekends, instead of spending hours recovering my energy.

My neighborhood is also a lot more active these days. A lot of folks are WFH and take breaks outside, walking around. I think WFH is a negative for downtown, but a positive for other neighborhoods. In the end I think this trend will stick and downtown will be forced to provide additional amenities like safe and pleasant parks and streets, more interesting small-scale retail, even more housing, etc.

[GraceKrispy]

I had an almost 2-hour one-way commute, 2-3 days a week prior to COVID. It moved to work from home during COVID and it was such a WONDERFUL thing. I've since been able to move closer to my job, so now my commute is less than 10 minutes.

WFH blurred my boundaries (which were already nebulous), so that was a big downfall. I also gained weight because of the more limited activity. In other ways, it was very positive- especially for family dynamics.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

I'm in a weird position where my brain hates the office but needs to "commute". I go nuts if I'm just at home all day. So I've been mostly working from cafes recently --- sitting outside, or inside in a corner with a mask. I think it's my inner hunter-gatherer, I need to head out each day and pursue my quarry.

Honestly, the pandemic has been a net gain for me personally, just because I'm currently working with a client in LA, and if COVID had never happened, I would've had to leave all my friends here and move down there. One of many reasons I'm trying to get a new job...