Commute from Alpine to El Centro-would you do it?? (San Diego: apartments, house)

[msmildred]

Hi Everyone:

We have lived in El Centro for 7 years and are finding it increasingly more difficult to live here now that our kids are getting older. My husband has an excellent, stable job in EC with good benefits and other pluses. However the weather, lack of quality healthcare, pollution, and few activities for the family is becoming so hard to handle.

We are considering a move to Alpine, with my husband commuting. It is unlikely he would attempt to get a job in San Diego for the reasons mentioned above--his job is a sweet gig for the type of work he does. The commute would be about 75 minutes with no traffic but with some sketchy mountain driving, but other than that it's an easy drive.

We don't care about being able to have a larger house in El Centro-that's not important to us. We want a vibrant, year-round outdoor life and great healthcare options and lots of stuff for the kids.

Does this plan sound crazy or somewhat doable? Would you do it, or suck it up and stay in the Valley? Husband may have a bit of flexibility in his schedule (longer workdays but a few weekdays off a month) and we may have him stay in El Centro 1 night a week. He also gets around 3.5 weeks off a year that he would mostly use as single days off to reduce number of weekly commuting days. We recognize the added car/fuel costs, we are fine with that too.

Input regarding this specific commute with knowledge about the challenges of living in the Valley would be extremely helpful, but all encouraged to jump in.

Thanks-Mildred

[oddstray]

Lots of people have commutes that long or longer in places like LA and Chicago. They don't include serious twisties, though. I'd say it's doable, but not very desirable.

By the time he gets home, will he be to worn out to enjoy that vibrant outdoor life or stuff with the kids?

[capoeira]

An 85 mile one way commute sounds horrible! I would just stay in El Centro and make the best of it while developing a long term plan to permanently move somewhere else. I might sign the kids up for Shorin -ryu karate - I heard that there is a good school in El Centro. I would use those 3+ weeks of vacation to escape El Centro in super hot July and travel with the kids.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Can he work online some of it? Would they be willing to pay for drive time to keep him?


As for me? NO WAY. Three hours a day commute is too much of my life. I do too much with my kids each day and that would kill that time.

[Pedro2000]

People like to dismiss commute times or travel or they don't really have any life outside of work so it doesn't matter. But the reality is, if you have a long commute or travel for work often, you will spend far more time at work and on the road then at home. Which means if you have kids, they won't see you. If your kids belong to sports, clubs, have after school activities you will probably miss more than you make. Your significant other will not see you as often. And to top it off, it becomes draining. Doing it now and again is one thing, doing it day after day, week after week and so on it'll just be plop onto the couch and go to bed. Especially if you have a draining job on top of the commute.

For you and the kids it might be wonderful in that you'll enjoy a different place, different environment and so on. You might miss him, but people make sacrifices for various reasons. On the other hand, he'd be spending close to 4 hours per day commuting back and forth. That's 20 hours a week just commuting. Add the 40+ hours a week of work and you start to see how he just won't be around often. So if you are all ok with that, go for it. If not, sacrifices will need to be made by all.

[armourereric]

Move to Boulevard, be my neighbor, just had a nice 2003 fixer 10 acre farm across the street sell for $150K, only 1.75 miles to the on ramp. I have been here for 5 years, love it.

[AZ2SD]

I've driven through El Centro many times than I care to remember, it's too hot in the summer, not a whole lot of outdoor activities to enjoy during the summer months, and if you have kids, that means doing fun things outdoors with them is somewhat limited. No offense to anyone living in EC, but it can be depressing living in a place like that...but hey to each their own.

As Pedro indicated, you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide which option is best for you as a family. Personally, I wouldn't do a daily commute of 150+ miles, but some do it for many reasons. I live in San Marcos and had the opportunity to work for Amazon in Irvine, but turned it down because I didn't want to live in Irvine or commute 75 miles each way on the notorious 5 freeway five-days-a-week. I turned the offer down because I already worked for an awesome company with great benefits and I love my job! If it was the opposite way round, it was a tantalizing offer I wouldn't have refused.

So to answer your question, if I were in your shoes, I would rather stick it out (albeit not ideal) and test the waters to see if I can find something comparable in a more desirable part of the county and make the move - no condition/situation is ever permanent. This way you're not under pressure or duress to find a job to support your lifestyle and/or meet your financial obligations plus your husband wouldn't have to worry about dreading a 150 mile commute everyday. Good luck!

[msmildred]

Thanks for your input, everyone. As I mentioned, he may have some flexibility with his job, but for the most part he would be making the trip about 4 days a week. Living in El Centro is incredibly difficult, and the heat and pollution is getting really hard to handle. However, I do understand how hard it would be over the long term to make that drive almost every day.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by msmildred

Thanks for your input, everyone. As I mentioned, he may have some flexibility with his job, but for the most part he would be making the trip about 4 days a week. Living in El Centro is incredibly difficult, and the heat and pollution is getting really hard to handle. However, I do understand how hard it would be over the long term to make that drive almost every day.

it's not only the stress and change in life, but it's also going to be a money issue. Even with a car that gets good gas, traveling that far at least 4 days a week is going to be expensive. Plus it's a long crappy drive, so your car is going to be destroyed.

I know a lot of people outside of San Diego who have long commutes. People up in the Bay Area, people in Seattle, people back east and so on. If their commute is over an hour each way, most of them have an extra junker car that gets replaced every year. I would imagine this is going to be your case because driving that much and that far 4 days a week, that's going to be a nightmare to keep your car working properly.

[Chelito23]

I know a few people who "live" in Alpine and SD and work in El Centro. But a better way to say it is they have homes/apartments in each place. They go "home" to Alpine on their days off and stay in an apartment in EC during the week. I think that is the most realistic situation if you find EC unliveable after 7 years. A daily ( or even 4x a week commute) is awful, the wind, mountain precipitation, accidents, mileage on the car...time taken away from being with family...just isn't worth it on a day to day basis. Since you have already been here 7 years and it's such a great job, why not stick it out? Or just look for another job. SD is always there for weekend trips as well.

Personally, I don't think it's right that people come to the impoverished Imperial Valley with sky high unemployment, take the few high paying jobs there are, and then don't want to even live or spend their income here. I am pretty sure you knew the IV's reputation and downsides before you moved here...I think it sounds like you all are ready for a change. But you can't have your cake and eat it too. Let someone local get a stab at that good paying job who will enjoy living here due to family roots. And you all can look for work in a place more to your liking.

Sorry if I am coming off as aggresive...but I have seen many people be hired for jobs here that are from SD or LA...they move here and hate it, they keep their families living wherever they are from and they commute "home" on weekends. Most of their income is spent out of the area, they aren't part of the community and one less local person has a good job. I would feel different if people were actually moving here and joining the community...but that doesn't happen since we are close enough to SD to have a borderline hellish commute. But the bottom line is, that commute and lifestyle is hard and gets old just as fast as living in EC.