Calfornia Cities among nation's worst for commute times (San Francisco, Sacramento: homes, construction)

[18Montclair]

40 Minutes+ Mean Travel Time to Work, 2008
Fort Washington, MD 45.2
Linton Hall, VA 44.0
Los Banos, CA 43.1
Bainbridge Island, WA 42.9
Brentwood, CA 42.5
Lake Elsinore, CA 41.8
Tracy, CA 41.8
Poinciana, FL 41.2
Plainfield Village, IL 40.9
Dale, VA
Adelanto, CA 40.5
Palmdale, CA 40.5
Greater Upper Marlboro, MD 40.2
Wildomar, CA 40.1
Oxon Hill-Glassmanor, MD 40.0
St Charles, MD 40.0

American Factfinder Community Survey, US Census Bureau

[18Montclair]

California Cities by percentage of commuters who Work outside of their county of residence, 2008
El Dorado Hills 69.7%
West Sacramento 66.3
Chino Hills 65.5
El Cerrito 64.8
Daly City 60.4
Richmond 59.5
San Ramon 56.3
Hercules 55.1
Tracy 54.6
Vallejo 54.6
East Palo Alto 54.4
Menlo Park 53.5
Benicia 52.0
Montclair 51.2
Chino 50.2
San Pablo 49.7
Yuba City 49.6
Corona 47.5
Seal Beach 46.4
Mira Loma 45.8
Fremont 45.6
Roseville 45.5
Lafayette 45.4
Danville 45.2
Pacifica 44.8
Los Banos 44.1
Norco 43.8
Hollister 43.4
Granite Bay 43.1
South San Francisco 43.0
Suisun City 42.1
Beaumont 41.3
San Bruno 41.2
Millbrae 41.1

[Clarks]

You can't really say this has a bad city commute

Los Banos, CA 43.1

It takes ten minutes max to get out of town, then the driver is in the country, but to where? Hollister? Stockton? Does anyone leave Los Banos? Is any one in Los Banos?

For you non Spanish speakers, Los Banos means The Baths, hard to say why, or, The Toilets, easier.

[sunshine7793]

While I enjoy the climate living within 10 miles of the coast there is a downside. I feel trapped. Whenever I want to go to the desert for recreation or to Vegas or wherever I've got to deal with getting out of town first. And that means a terrible drive throught Riverside and San Bernadino counties in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It's almost unthinkable on a Friday afternoon.

The problem is that California has fallen way behind on building more freeway lanes. While population has multiplied several times over the freeway lanes have not kept up. So it's a brute getting anywhere. In central OC there is a window from 10am to 2pm where you can get around. Try it outside that window and you are in for awful traffic. The other option is to wait until after 6:30pm.

But I don't see it improving. The politicians in California seem to hate cars so they are not going to make driving any easier.

[esmith143]

It's 43.1 minutes mean travel time, and 44.1% of residents commute out of the county. Could be the average between people driving 10 min to farms just outside city limits and people driving 1.5 hours to SFBA.

[FresnoFacts]

Those numbers simply prove that housing prices pushed many people out to live in places like Los Banos and then drive to jobs in the Bay Area.

5am in Los Banos is the start of the commute to the Silicon Valley. The gas stations open early and the headlights start over Pacheco Pass.

The same problem exists in too many areas.

A member of one of Santa Barbara's old familes was quoted a few years ago about housing prices there:
""I don't see a problem so far," said J.J. Hollister III. "The people who make things go here want to keep the Santa Barbara style of life, and that has to do with lovely homes and open space. That may be hurtful for the people who have to drive two hours to clean the homes in Montecito, but that doesn't really trouble the people who live there." "
Coastal Housing Partnership | In the News

At some point we need to recognize that jobs and housing priced for the workforce income level need to be located reasonably close together. Our economic future is bleak if we don't recognize the impacts (economic, social, etc) of longer and longer commutes.

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Originally Posted by sunshine7793

But I don't see it improving. The politicians in California seem to hate cars so they are not going to make driving any easier.

I agree that the freeway system is overcapacity in many areas, but it's not as if nothing is being done anywhere.

http://california.construction.com/p...p25hwylist.pdf

[sunshine7793]

Your list means nothing. The fact is that Caifornia ranks last among the 50 states in transportation spending per-capita. That's last place. In a few years we will have 40 million people using a highway system designed for 20 million people.

Sacramento politicans hate the automobile. They see it as something that destroys the planet. For decades they have been trying to get us out of our cars by not building roads.

ROAD CRISIS GROWS, SAYS AUTO CLUB UNDERFUNDED, CROWDED, FREEWAYS NEED MAJOR HELP. - Free Online Library

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by sunshine7793

Your list means nothing.

Um, no need to be rude.

The fact is that Caifornia ranks last among the 50 states in transportation spending per-capita.

We already have enough roadways, our future focus should be on light rails, subways, trains and fuel efficient buses.

Sacramento politicans hate the automobile. They see it as something that destroys the planet.

One need only measure the air quality in much of California to see the damage the automobile has done.

For decades they have been trying to get us out of our cars by not building roads.

Yet many of us are too stubborn to listen. Widening freeways has never proven to alleviate traffic for a long time-its only a very temporary fix.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by sunshine7793

The problem is that California has fallen way behind on building more freeway lanes. While population has multiplied several times over the freeway lanes have not kept up. So it's a brute getting anywhere. In central OC there is a window from 10am to 2pm where you can get around. Try it outside that window and you are in for awful traffic. The other option is to wait until after 6:30pm.

When do we admit we've reached a saturation point with freeways!!!!! All freeways do is encourage people to live further and further away from where they work. They don't really help. We need other viable modes of transit besides freeways and driving.

Originally Posted by sunshine7793

But I don't see it improving. The politicians in California seem to hate cars so they are not going to make driving any easier.

It won't improve as long as people assume the only way to fix our transit problems is more freeway lanes. Of course, building train lines, etc. is difficult and expensive now that we have built a "freeway only" type infrastructure. But we must try.