
Super Commuters Explain Why Their Neighborhoods Are Worth It - uptown
https://www.trulia.com/blog/why-my-monster-commute-is-worth-it/
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AllegedAlec
Apparently I'm a supercommuter, with my 1 hours and 15 one-way trip to work. I
can tell you that no matter what these people say: it's not worth it. You
essentially turn an 8 hour work day (plus whatever lunch time you have) into a
10.5 hour work day.

Given 7.5 hours sleep and 3 hours to do stuff like waking up, cooking dinner
and other work around the house, it leaves you with a meagre 3 hours of spare
time each day, which is very little time to spend on hobbies and, if you have
them, loved ones.

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olliej
How much of it is choice though? I suspect the vast majority of super
commuting isn’t by choice - especially if you include people who want to have
any money left over after baseline expenses.

If you work in Mountain View for example there is nothing on the market less
than 1 million, so you would have to be at the high end of earners at _google_
to get a house there (I recall a person on twitter saying that they were
unable to afford Mountain View or Palo Alto even though both she and her
husband worked at google).

I commute for 3 hours a day, and that required a 200k down payment.

I can’t imagine someone making a even twice median wage getting much closer
than that, even renting.

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indemnity
How large a percentage of post tax income are people comfortable paying into
mortgage in the US?

1 million is a lot, but that’s the average house price in my area as well, and
we are certainly not getting SV level salaries here, so it seems quite
conservative that two Google employees can’t make payments on a $1 million
house.

I mean, 150k is what, roughly 8k a month take home? (Don’t know CA tax). Two
people making that can easily afford 7-8k a month on the mortgage.

Most people here are paying 50-60% of household income as mortgage payment.

Myself included, but that’s because wife no longer works. It was 30% when she
was still working, and I’m intentionally overpaying to derisk for the next
recession, as well as being on a shorter term (10 years).

Crazy though, interest rates just have to go to 7% and most I know will lose
their house.

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smt88
> _How large a percentage of post tax income are people comfortable paying
> into mortgage in the US?_

Isn't a substantial portion of a monthly mortgage payment deductible?

> _it seems quite conservative that two Google employees can’t make payments
> on a $1 million house._

With 20% down, that comes out to ~$5,000/mo in principal, interest, taxes, and
insurance. That's $30k/year/person, which is certainly a lot, but it's also
within reach of someone making ~$100k+.

I think the most unlikely part of that scenario is the $200k down payment.
Maybe people are borrowing more to get a huge mortgage, in which case I'm sure
you're right.

> _interest rates just have to go to 7% and most I know will lose their
> house._

Because they didn't get fixed rates? Or just hypothetically, they wouldn't be
able to afford their house today?

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indemnity
> Isn’t a substantial portion of a monthly mortgage payment deductible?

Wow, mortgage payment deductions on owner occupied properties exist in the US?

Makes sense why people talk about pre-tax income when calculating
affordability there then. Here nothing about a mortgage payment is tax
deductible for the property you live in, only the interest of a mortgage
payment on investment properties, and that rule is not long for this world.

> I think the most unlikely part of that scenario is the 200k down payment

The down payment requirement is steep, but here it is 20% which isn’t nothing,
and we saved that in three years on slightly above average incomes for the
area. Granted, living in house sharing arrangement so we could actually save.

> Because they didn’t get fixed rates?

We generally can’t fix mortgages for terms longer than 5 years here, so
interest rate risk exists until you have a decent amount of equity. Most
people fix for 2, because for the past decade rates have only been going down,
but I imagine that pendulum has swung and people are carefully watching what’s
happening in the US.

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segmondy
I'm miserable with one hour of daily commute. Miserable! Folks are doing 4 and
justifying it? Please, this is an attempt by Trulia to convince suckers that's
it's okay to buy a house even if it means spending 4 hours a day on the road.

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erinaceousjones
"How Pumping Loads More Fossil Fuels Into The Atmosphere For Four Hours A Day
In A Misguided Attempt At Finding A Solution To The Hyper-Inflated Urban
Housing Market Is Made Up By The Fact I Get To Listen To My Podcasts"

~~~
ricksanch88
I'm eager to read your alternative solution to the problem. I'm in a city
whose public transportation is a joke. It'd take me longer to get in, if it
didn't breakdown, than to drive my 1 hour to 1.15 hour commute.

Plus, for $360,000 I paid for my house, an acre of land, privacy, and piece of
mind for my family would get me, maybe , MAYBE, a townhouse in an area of the
city that is surrounded by sketchy neighborhoods.

It's not just about "getting to listen to podcasts", it's about getting more
for your money in most cases.

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teachrdan
I interpret the parent's comment that real solutions lie beyond individual
action.

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felipellrocha
What these people don't understand is that if urbanism was better adopted in
the US they would be able to get to their "leafy suburb" (as the article puts
it) without the neck breaking commute.

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lolsal
What makes you think they don't understand that? What is 'urbanism' anyway?

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stephengillie
> _Every Monday morning, Jamila Souffrant starts her work week with a two-hour
> drive, from Brooklyn, New York, to Morristown, New Jersey. When she pulls
> into her office, she doesn’t feel exhausted; she feels inspired and
> energized, thanks to a weekend spent strolling with her family through their
> secluded, leafy neighborhood._

This is like adding a mini-road trip to your daily routine.

A coworker at a previous job would commute from somewhere in Indiana to St
Louis, MO every day, and he enjoyed it greatly. I've had the misfortune of
commuting from Redmond to Tacoma daily - sometimes 2 hours to travel 45 miles
- and found it immensely frustrating. An important difference is freedom to
travel at highway speeds versus being stuck in stop-and-go traffic.

~~~
mlevental
also where the hell in Brooklyn is there more room than in Morristown???

~~~
anoncoward111
Right? Brooklyn is just a paradoxical mix of pavement and parking tickets.

I would rather live in Western NJ or Eastern Long Island. Anything metro NYC
is off limits for me-- it's not worth the higher salary and nightlife for my
personal needs

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brandoncordell
I guess I'm considered a "super commuter" now? It takes me, on average, 1hr15m
to get to work and 1hr40m to get home (due to traffic).

We bought a house in November and I just moved to this job. It was a "can't
turn down" type of position even though it wasn't super close. Where we live
we paid $200,000 for a 2,400sqft 4bed/3ba/2ga on a fenced 1/2 acre with a
pool.

If we sold the house and bought something for $200,000 where my job is, we'd
be looking at a 2bd/1ba condo at most. That's not going to fly with 3 kids and
2 dogs.

It's a shitty commute but I do it because it's an awesome job with amazing
benefits and I'd do anything to better my families lives. I distinctly
remember my dad driving 3 hours one-way to a job for about 1.5 years because
he couldn't find anything closer.

It's true I lose relaxation time. I just bought a new car that I really enjoy
driving (even in traffic) and I still can get things done that I would do in
my free time anyway, e.g. Listen to audiobooks, listen to podcasts, etc. Right
now I'm learning German on my commutes.

I may not stay content with the commute forever but for right now the pros
outweigh the cons.

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tonyedgecombe
_I 'd do anything to better my families lives_

Apart from spend time with them apparently.

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sneak
I stopped reading after the first case study was someone who wastes four hours
a day to go somewhere to do work that can easily be done from where they set
out. This is masochism, not reason.

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chrisseaton
This is an article clearly all about long commutes, and you stopped reading it
because it had a long commute in it?

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leanthonyrn
The story does not mention anything about families. If you have a child in
school, you better have family or friends who can support the acute local
needs of your child. How do you get back home when your child is ill or
something else occurs and you need to be available?

~~~
exegete
One spouse does the super commute and the other works closer to home/school or
maybe not at all. Otherwise you're having to hire sitters, caretakers, etc.

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lilbobbytables
Hmm. Don't see too many people in here that don't committee via car (it seems)
I did about 4 hours per day, total, as a mix of train, walking, and possibly a
quick subway ride.

The only part of the commute that was terrible was the subway. Otherwise,
you're getting fresh air walking or doing what you want on the train (reading,
side work, or browsing Reddit/hn), and enjoying a nice view out the window in
my case.

Obviously a shorter commute is better, but the logistics of the commute make a
tremendous difference. If I had half the commute but it was by car and dealing
with traffic then I'd probably be in a worse mental state.

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minipci1321
> she feels inspired and energized, thanks to a weekend spent strolling with
> her family through their secluded, leafy neighborhood.

Laughing sadly. Yes, it does that ... for, what, first 6 months? After that,
full saturday and half sunday goes into sleeping and recovering, and the
remaining half of sunday for apprehending the coming new week.

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1812Overture
I live in the core of a city and love it, but all the damn jobs I get offered
are an hour away in the suburbs.

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peteypao
So lucky to be working remote. Commute? From my bedroom to my office!

