Palm Springs-OC commute - just crazy or super crazy? (Riverside: house, buying)

[HBsteve]

I think I know the answer to this, but wonder if anyone would like to comment. I'm buying a place in Palm Springs to retire to in a few years, and plan to use it on weekends in the meantime. But I'm wondering if I could make it my full time residence now and commute to northern OC (Brea). My job has very flexible hours and I could probably work from home one or two days a week.

The distance between the potential home and work is 87 miles. I've done it in 1:15 on weekends in the carpool lane, but google maps shows it being more like 2 hours at peak traffic times. Two hours each way is a lot of driving.

I could drive to the Metrolink station in Riverside and take a train to Fullerton. It's 53 miles to the station. Trains take about 45 minutes. I could leave an old car at the Fullerton train station to get to the office (there is a 72 hour parking limit). I figure the entire journey would be close to 2 hours, maybe a little more with parking and waiting for the train. It's no shorter than driving, but it would be somewhat less stressful.

There is an RTC bus 220 from Casino Marongo to the Riverside Station, to make for an even shorter drive if I drove to Cabazon, but that bus takes an hour and a half - so the overall trip is just too long.

There is an Amtrak Thruway bus (route 39) from downtown PS to Fullerton, takes 2:20, which is long but convenient, however as far as I can tell it is only for passengers connecting to a train.

Of course there is the option of staying overnight in OC once or twice a week to cut down on the total commute. And that might be the way to go but it comes with some hassles and kind of defeats the purpose of moving out there.

Would welcome any advice especially if there are options I haven't thought of.

[LuvSouthOC]

Hey Steve. Well I am jealous you are getting a place in PS. Good for you!

Forgive my gasp when I heard you were considering commuting to Brea. Please stay alive and healthy long enough to enjoy that new place in PS. Please do not do it. People commute from "closer" Banning and it is the stuff of legends. Please no!

[Adamson865]

Advice? Don't do it. That's three to four hours a day out of your life. When I lived in PS, I met far too many people who had tried that sort of thing, and the average amount of time before they started hating themselves, their lives and their commutes was about two months.

[LuvSouthOC]

Hmmm, between crazy and super crazy, neither seems to fit. Steve didn't leave an option for "Absolutely Ape **** crazy".

[HBsteve]

Appreciate the replies. They're pretty much what I expected. I doubt I'll seriously consider this option. Have read articles about possible plans to improve train service to the Coachella Valley - probably better Amtrak service (currently 3 Amtrak trains/week do pass through Palm Springs, but at very unhelpful times) because it is just too far from LA/OC for Metrolink. But there are no concrete plans as yet.

[MamaRed]

They have been talking about improving train service to PS for years. I wouldn't make any plans around that happening. The 2 hour commute would be a good day. Go for the house now, enjoy the weekends in the sun, and make the move when you retire.

[Adamson865]

FYI, not that it helps anything at all - there's a Sunline bus that goes from Palm Desert to the Riverside Metrolink but (a) it doesn't go through PS so you'd have to drive to PD first, and (b) it takes over two hours.

[Gandalara]

Absolutely nuts
It would get so old so fast.

I could drive to the Metrolink station in Riverside and take a train to Fullerton. It's 53 miles to the station.

What happens when the traffic comes to a complete stop at the 60/215 interchange in Moreno Valley and then again in Riverside? Ya miss the train.

[HBsteve]

Yeah I was pretty sure this was a bad idea at the outset, now I am firmly convinced. Thanks to all.

[dober1]

I vote super crazy, don't do it.