I think the author of this article doesn't realize how the decision making process happens.
Husband: I'd like to be close to work, perhaps 30 minutes away.
Stay at home Wife: I want a big house so I can play Martha Stewart and show off to my female friends. If I don't get what I want, it's a sign you don't love me.
Incidentally, some long commutes aren't bad. If your commute has exercise, sun, a river view and lots of beautiful women, you don't mind an extra 20-30 minutes:
They never mentioned the issue of kids, either. For most of the folks I know who chose to live in the suburbs (including my parents), the decision factors were:
1.) They want their kids to be safe.
2.) They want their kids to go to a good school system, so they can get into a good college and make lots of money later in life.
3.) They want their kids to have a lawn to play in and grow up surrounded by greenery.
4.) They want their kids to make friends with other people like themselves.
I grew up in the suburbs, and am really glad I did. I wouldn't want to trade treehouses for sidewalks, touch football games on the lawn for skateboarding in the park, or my small exurban charter school with a graduating class of 32 for a large public high school with a graduating class of 2000. The good school system has paid off too - both my sister and I started at salaries that were roughly what my mom retired at.
I moved from city (Chicago) to suburbs 2 years ago, here was the breakdown:
1) safe - there's plenty of safety in the city if you can afford it. It's usually the tradeoff with space.
2) good schools - ditto
3) this was a downside of the suburbs - I'd much prefer a nearby park that I don't have to own, mow, etc. I ended up buying a new house with a very small (2800sf) lot, most of which is covered by our house
4) My kids are still small, but we've got the same variety of people here as in the city (basically traded white & black for white & hispanic)
The biggest issue that forced us to move was $/sqft. We could afford a one bedroom in a city neighborhood we were comfortable with but not a 2br. We moved and although my salary is much higher, we have another kid and we'd need a 3br soon.
Space, Commute, Safety, Schools. Pick 2 (or 3 if you're lucky). We traded Commute+Safe for Space+Safe (schools aren't spectacular where we moved but our kids aren't school age yet).
Living on the UWS and commuting to midtown via riverside park/west side highway doesn't count as a long commute. The only reason it's long is that you choose to bike it rather than take the subway.
Living in central Jersey (or hudson valley or greenwich) and commuting 2 hrs to midtown via car and NJT-- that's more the tradeoff the OP is talking about.
:-P
That said, another choice (may not be valid in some cities) is to split the difference-- live on the edge of cities where housing is more affordable, but commutes are still reasonable (e.g. South Brooklyn, Washington Heights).
Husband: I'd like to be close to work, perhaps 30 minutes away.
Stay at home Wife: I want a big house so I can play Martha Stewart and show off to my female friends. If I don't get what I want, it's a sign you don't love me.
Incidentally, some long commutes aren't bad. If your commute has exercise, sun, a river view and lots of beautiful women, you don't mind an extra 20-30 minutes:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_riverside_park/v...