hate the traffic? blame yourself! (Torrance, Santa Monica: transplants, for rent, condos)

[nightlysparrow]

I know a few people who like to commute. They do it on autopilot. They listen to recorded books, think, decompress. Sometimes it's their only solitude time.

[Spikett]

Some people have no desire to live in the areas they work in (me, for instance). I have a great job on the westside but it's too urban and congested for me, so I live in the suburbs near the Verdugos and it's worth every mile to me because I really love where I live (luckily, my hours are flexible).

[Mr.Bungle]

I didn't read all the comments. People who live in Palmdale are crazy in the first place. Because they live in Palmdale. I often hear of AV folks commuting crazy distances and I agree they're insane. But many folks all over commute. It is hard to move when switching jobs because it is so expensive out here. A lot of people pick where to live based on schools. Granted, Palmdale is not picked for the schools...

Also, when you're married or living with a S.O. you have to consider their gig, too. Not everyone can be single and live/work on the west side their entire lives.

I commute to the valley about 25 miles each way. Do I like it? No. But, it's worth it.

[woodsart]

How bad commuting sucks also depends on your schedule. I work a job that usually only requires I go on-site 3 times a week, 8 months a year. The rest of the time I work at home or doing field research. I'm not going to select where to live based on a commute I only have to do a fraction of the time, and hate where I'm living/spending most of my time because it's near work. I work in the Valley and live on the Eastside. It's almost always traffic free if I take the 210, and I rarely commute during rush hour anyway due to variable hours. That said, I wouldn't be wiling to commute more than about one hour one way via car or 1.5 hours one way via train.

Additionally, like others have said, you have to consider spouse and kids if you have a family. My spouse works in the Inland Empire (but again, only has to be on-site about 1-2 days a week). We have a lot of family/friends there (we both grew up there). So we split the difference. Living on the Eastside makes it easy and relatively painless to go either direction we need to go. Plus, it's affordable... which translates for middle class people to a 2-3 bedroom home that you can rent or buy (hardly a McMansion, but tough to raise kids in the studio apartment we could afford in, say, Santa Monica).

[jm1982]

A lot of people just can't afford it. I think many would choose to live closer to work if they could.
There might be some people that enjoy commuting , but I can't imagine it's the majority of people.
I used to work in Brentwood and commute from North Hollywood area , it was a lot of time driving each day.
I did it for a longtime though, so it did kind of become an 'autopilot' type thing.
Brentwood is super expensive, and the places close to it are all pretty expensive as well.
i couldnt have rented a 1 bedroom for the same price as my mortgage on a 3bedroom in the valley.
I might of bought a condo even if it was a one bedroom they had been affordable , but they weren't especially after HOA fees etc
I knew several people where I worked that lived in Palmdale and some that even lived in Fontana. Pretty crazy.
It seems to make more sense to commute if it's a higher paying job, but I think it's crazy when people are commuting far for a min wage type of job. They end up spending so much in gas and time and are already making so little.

[simbared]

Congratulations on your short commute, but why lecture other people in such a condescending way? Having no commute is the greatest thing you could possibly acquire? Geeze, how about having a great relationship with your significant other, or having a loving family to come home to every day?

If a short commute to work is at the top of your list of priorities in life, you may need to re-think your life.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011

more than half of my office lives 20+ miles from here.

I live 3 miles away and I go against traffic.

it takes me 7 mins to get here in the morning and 10-15 mins to get back to my apt in the afternoon.

i work in west LA and people come from palmdale, pasadena, santa clarita, etc.

i mean, ARE YOU SERIOUS?

NO AMOUNT OF BIG HOUSE FOR THE MONEY IS WORTH 1-2 HR COMMUTES. EVER.

having no commute is the greatest thing you could possibly acquire.

long commutes = bad health, loss of time, greater risk of car accidents, not enough sleep, stress and the list goes on.

what is wrong with you people? can't afford a house close to your work?

settle for something smaller. you dont need a McMansion.

what's the point of having a giant house if 60 hours of your week are at the office and commuting?

people make some pretty $hitty decisions and then they wonder why their lives suck.

i bet you most of the people who dont like LA probably have a long commute to work.

i dont even know what traffic is since i never deal with it. only sometimes on the weekends.

moral of the story: stop living so far from where u work. if everyone lived close to where they work, the traffic wouldnt be as terrible.

worst post ever

[SandyCo]

The worst commute I ever had was from Lancaster to Valencia (this was in 1989 before they added the carpool lanes to the 14). I remember getting up at 5:30 to be at work by 8:00. Then again, I also had a 3-year-old and a baby whom I had to get ready and drop off at the babysitter, so maybe I could have gotten up at 6:00 or 6:15 otherwise.

My commute now is pretty good, but only because I'm at work by 6:30 a.m.; I get up at 5:30, and I can get to work in Woodland Hills in fifteen minutes on the 101. Thirteen miles is a breeze at that hour! I leave work at 3:00, which means I deal with buses and school children, but somehow it's easier to deal with traffic at the end of the day when I'm going home.

Back in the 80s I had a reverse commute of thirty miles from Glendale to Valencia; that wasn't bad, but it sure racked up the miles on my car!

I wouldn't commute far now unless I absolutely had to, and I definitely wouldn't live in Palmdale or Lancaster again unless I absolutely had to!

I couldn't afford to buy a house anywhere within commuting distance in southern California, so that's a moot point. There are lots of areas I wouldn't want to live in. I'd never recommend that my son move to Compton; that's where Ralphs' central operations are located. Of course, he could move closer if he got a job there, like possibly Torrance. Lots of cities with jobs are either unsafe or just plain unattractive. Move to the City of Industry? No thanks!

OP, your original post does make a lot of assumptions, many of which wouldn't pan out if you actually talked to people who choose to commute for various reasons. You might want to tone it down a bit, as no one likes being talked down to - even if they agree with you.

[Mr_Geek]

OP, unless you walk to work, you are also part of the problem.

Get over yourself.

[StreetLegal]

Originally Posted by mr_geek

op, unless you walk to work, you are also part of the problem.

Get over yourself.

+1