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I'm a straphanger. I did the 25-mile driving commute a few years ago. It was awful. I hated my life. I got no exercise. I woke up, got in the car, gas/brake/gas/brake/gas/brake, worked, got in the car, gas/brake/gas/brake/gas/brake, went to sleep Today I walk 6 minutes to a train, ride the train for 17 minutes, and then walk 10 minutes to my office. That's 32 minutes of walking every day. It's nice to be out in the fresh air for awhile each day, even in bad weather. On the train I read the free newspapers, listen to my podcasts or music or watch a TV show. The trains are frequent and reliable. They can be a little crowded, but I'd rather stand in a corner on a crowded train than sit frustrated and motionless on a crowded expressway. And the $54/month unlimited PATH card is what I used to spend in gas every week. Oh, and my employer reimburses me for it!
DC has fairly reliable public transportation but cross the river into Virginia and it goes down the tubes. Right what might take 10 or 15 minutes can take an hour by bus. Also with my job not being near a metro stop it would take an hour to get to work while driving takes 35-40 minutes. A lot of companies in the DC area have 4 day work weeks which gives some traffic relief on Fridays sometimes I can get to work in 30. Take the two buses and a train that's required to get to work and it's still an hour. So I think it depends on the situation. For some public transportation is better but for folks like me it most definitely is not. Not to mention there's absolutely nothing but more apartment complexes within walking distance.
This is exactly why I do not care to live in Northern Virginia. To put it simply, America has built it's cities in the worse way possible and NOVA outside of Old Town Alexandria and Arlington County is the epitome of that. NOVA is a nightmare if you do not have a car. I do like the car however for the occassional joy ride or to get any goods like grocery shopping or whatever. But for anything else, I'm taking the train.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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I roller blade everywhere through the crowded streets.
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