What's your average commute? What's the maximum you would commute? (Arlington: home, luxury)

[NOVAEER]

I currently commute from Reston to western Loudoun County. It takes around 45 minutes. But it's not bothersome in the least since it's completely against the flow of traffic. This feels so much different than previous long commutes I've had heading in the opposite direction.

[vauser]

So, looks like I was not out of my mind and arrogant to refuse an offer that would have taken about 70+ minutes each way on an average. Glad to know that. A 45 minute each way means about an hour and a half everyday on the road (not time spent with family, not time spent in investment, not time spent in entertainment - barring radio, not time spent with friends), and I think that would be about 6% of a week (24*7 minus 7*7 if you factor in a 7 hour sleep time). Any more than that is, maybe, simply not worth it unless, of course, you are in between jobs or are temporarily unemployed, etc.

Looks like public transportation could alleviate the tediousness of the commutes but that's for folks who prefer to sit on a train or bus than drive. I prefer driving as I feel like I have some control over where I am going and when I am going, and not at the mercy of a pre-defined schedule, but that's just me.

Also, we are moving to a house with some backyard, so it would be lawn for the first time in my life. Perhaps, an extra 15-30 minutes of commute may be justified by the thought of rolling on the grass at the end of the day!?

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by vauser

Also, we are moving to a house with some backyard, so it would be lawn for the first time in my life. Perhaps, an extra 15-30 minutes of commute may be justified by the thought of rolling on the grass at the end of the day!?

Rolling in the grass?!?!? HA!! You're "extra" time will now be spent mowing, raking, weeding....mowing, raking, weeding...mowing, raking, weeding.

[vauser]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Rolling in the grass?!?!? HA!! You're "extra" time will now be spent mowing, raking, weeding....mowing, raking, weeding...mowing, raking, weeding.

And come to think of it, in the market for a mower. We would love to buy the one where we could sit and ride (mostly, for the to-be-teenager) but we don't have that much of a backyard. He was hoping he could mow all the lawn in the neighborhood!

[JD984]

It seems that the people who have responded to this question skew heavily towards suburbanites who also work in the suburbs. As a suburb-to-city commuter, I generally have a 45-minute commute in the AM and a 20-minute commute in the evening, and consider myself very fortunate. I used to have a commute to DC that often took 70 minutes, and on the other hand I don't really want to live any closer to DC than I do now. Lived in the "taxation without representation" zone long enough!

[scimitar12]

35 minutes each way depending when I leave. My limit is 45 minutes.

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by JEB77

It seems that the people who have responded to this question skew heavily towards suburbanites who also work in the suburbs.

The other half of our two-income household works in DC and has the awful commute. So my 20 minute commute is accompanied by Other Half's 45 minute commute. We had looked at other places to live, but extending my commute also extended Other Half's commute into the What?-Are-You-Insane?!? Zone.

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Rolling in the grass?!?!? HA!! You're "extra" time will now be spent mowing, raking, weeding....mowing, raking, weeding...mowing, raking, weeding.

. . . while being attacked by gnats and mosquitoes.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by JEB77

It seems that the people who have responded to this question skew heavily towards suburbanites who also work in the suburbs.

When DH worked in downtown, we lived in Arlington. He does much better at commuting without turning insane than I do, but even his limit is 30-40 minutes.

With a dog at home, we really can't be out of the house much more than 8 hours a day. We're lucky that we can stagger our times so that he doesn't leave until 8:30 and I am home by 4:30 most days. Longer commutes would make that nearly impossible without hiring a dog walker or paying for doggy day care.

[Carlingtonian]

I've done several different commutes in various parts of the DC region by car, by transit, and even by foot. The thing they have in common is that they all took about 45 minutes, and that's about the most I can tolerate. But then, I'm a very impatient person.

My current commute (Arlington near Ballston to Ft. Belvoir) is 35-40 minutes, and traffic is not bad for most of the way. (N. George Mason, if I go that way, gets irritating with all the left-turners and right-lane slowpokes as I approach the National Guard. And 7100 near Belvoir is slow but short.) The duration is OK, but there is invariably some stressful moment in traffic, and I spend a lot of money on gas. (I could buy a car that gets better mileage, but the savings wouldn't be worth it over keeping my ancient gas-guzzling [but payment-free] vehicle.)

Going into downtown DC (as I did for several years) was OK via Orange Line Metrorail but often frustrating--especially in 2009-2010 or so, when massive overcrowding and unexplained passenger offloading was rampant. I can hardly think of anything more despair-inducing than going through the turnstiles to come home and seeing a packed crowd of people on the platform, spilling up the escalator.

Taking the 3Y bus down Lee Highway to Farragut Square in DC was great. A lot of stops, but I always got a seat and liked being able to look out the window. The only time I hated it was when the bus would show up earlier than scheduled for my stop; I would sometimes see it pass up ahead before I could get there. This is the second-most despair-inducing transit moment!

Driving into DC with the wife on I-66 was OK, though she perceives my driving as to be something on the order of King's Dominion--e.g., if someone hits the brakes in front of me, and the lane next to them is open, guess where I'm going, without hitting the brakes myself? Anyway, that was an easy commute as far as time, distance, and traffic.

Driving to Rockville, MD (Twinbrook area) was OK--worse coming home than going out. I remember switching back/forth between driving and transit. Driving was usually cheaper, but it was such a constant state of aggression, and it got old. But then the train took forever and wasn't even cheaper, at least in 2005-'06.

And going WAY back, my easiest commute was actually walking from 6th and E NE to the National Press Building. A scenic, healthy, walk. I'd love to have that kind of commute again--which is why I would kill to work at DARPA.

I said at first that 45 minutes is probably my limit--but I think I could go longer if I didn't have any stressful driving to deal with--if it was all a reverse commute on the freeway.