Why Americans Live So Far Away From Everything

[@CityNerd]

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[@jerredhamann5646]

Is this surprising America is urbanism car free city living for the rich

[@Hogtownboy1]

Please do a deep dive on the connection of housing unaffordablity and number to f senior living SFD without mortgages. Here in Toronto it has lead to huge problem as the number of homes purchased in 50 60 and early 70s are filled with 70-90 year pld in 3 and 4 bedroom homes

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

​@@jerredhamann5646Soviet microdistrict vs USA suburb

[@BoBandits]

Another sponsor segment means this is a permanent occupation?

[@eazydee5757]

Also do a video about the urbanism of those “ski villages” that are located on ski resorts, as I have been requesting for a while now!

[@cllax14]

There’s a nurse I used to work with that lived in Idaho and flew to work. She’d schedule herself a bunch of days in a row and would stay at a friend’s or family’s house and then fly back home. Her commute was like 1500 miles. I’ve had patients that own property in cheaper adjacent states that fly to CA to work too. I find it insane that people actually do this.

[@barryrobbins7694]

Yep, I know of a surgeon that lives in Hawaii and commutes to Northern California. They can do it due to their high salary, but it is terrible for the environment.

[@christopherrice2098]

No thanks

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

@@barryrobbins7694 SF to Honolulu is almost a 6 hour flight, I would think that would be a huge waste of time, not to mention the wasted resources and the pollution. Even if he only does it once a week, that's 12 hours out of his week every week. No thanks. Find a job in Hawaii if you want to live there, even if its a lot less money. 12 hours a week, 48 hours a month, on airlines, add all the time getting to the airport and getting through that aggravation? Not for me, but then, I work from home and my commute is about 20 seconds once I grab a coffee.

[@barryrobbins7694]

@@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus Yes, such a commute is bad for all sorts of reasons.

[@mrharvest]

One guy I knew worked in Singapore and Hong Kong, 10 days at each at a stretch. Of course he was earning enough that he had a flat in both cities.

[@happycommuter3523]

Can’t believe nobody has mentioned the elephant in the room: people’s jobs don’t pay enough money to allow them to afford to live closer to where they work, even assuming housing was available.

[@calvenknox8552]

Exactly! It's the biggest factor in all of this. Apartment, house, duplex or otherwise, car dependent or not, if I can't afford to live in the same area as my job then I have no choice but to super commute or settle for less. "Less" could even be "everything is unaffordable" amounts instead of just wanting more.

[@zackmandarino1021]

@@calvenknox8552 its not just that, alot of people dont want an apartment they would rather have a 2k square foot house 45 min from work than live in the city. i personally totally get that city life aint for everybody most people enjoy it when they are young in their twenties but it gets old fast by late twenties they are looking outside the city limits as they want to start a family etc. so i would agree apartments are to expensive but disagree with that being a major point to people not living in cities and commuting. like by me its 1600 dollars 40 minutes outside a major city over 2 million people and similar price in the city if you look but i would rather commute than live in the city because i live next to a nice river were i can fish good nature trails that are not ingulfed in city infrastructure. sure i can fish in the city as well but its not the same with all the noise. also there is amazing downtown areas in these suburbs when you want to go out with fine dining and all. so why pay the sky high taxes to live in the city 10% sales etc when suburbs is better all around. people always try to paint it as people cant afford to live in the city but reality is alot of people can and choose not to because its not their vibe or raising a family and that is ok. i even have a friend who make 6 figures could easily live where he works but instead lives an hour and half away from were he works because it way more peaceful got a duplex for 200k and enjoying life in a small 10k person city outside the metropolitan area. i know it can be hard to grasp that alot of people dont enjoy city life and want no part of it. lived in a major metro city my self in a different state for over 5 years and it was fun at first but got more annoying as time went on till i finally moved back to suburbs i came from and most of my friends have done similar things over time as well. live in city and grow out of it after a few years.

[@truckercowboyed2638]

I mean changing jobs is still a thing, I don't understand this attitude of settling for a poorly paying job ..

[@calvenknox8552]

@@truckercowboyed2638 If you're asking me, it's just what the original comment said. If you live in an area that doesn't have a high paying job, and you want one, you have to go elsewhere to get it, Either moving or commuting. But often times moving to the area with that job is not financially feasible. The opposite is true as well. Getting a lower paying job in the area you live in could bankrupt you due to overall high costs. Or, someone just doesn't want to settle for the job even if it is feasible, and they just feel like the extra money made is worth it. Or where they live is great, any number of reasons.

[@jaad9848]

Also because our system if you do build nice public transportation housing that housing has a premium and desireability so it will be bought and owned by investor class / upper income folks and be put up on AirBnB or be used as a weekday home to be near work.

[@user-jk2zm7uq5s]

The real problem with a "supercommute" is that you need time to sleep. You need downtime. You need time to go to the grocery store. You need time to eat. You need time for chores around the house. Those are all things which you AREN'T getting when the commute eats up too much of your time. Have I mentioned sleep already?

[@stevez5134]

i couldn't even handle 15 minute commute which is 25 min by the time you get in and out of my place and the office, time two that's 50 minutes pretty much an hour if you need a five minute prep period on each end. if you are going somewhere everyday that's more than 15 minutes away, it's not a good idea...

[@mdhazeldine]

That's one reason why trains are great. You can sleep, eat and read or do emails.

[@thewittyusername]

​@@mdhazeldineunless you are starting that one hour train commute at the start of office hours then that "opportunity to work" is free labour you are giving away. That hour of your life to exist as a person with yourself, your loved ones, etc is worth far more than a few more work emails.

[@chefnyc]

I had always asked myself the same question for the last 15 years. People who live in the suburbs get more space for their bucks. However they spend 3 hour commuting everyday and go to their 4000 sqft home only to sleep. How is it any better than finding a small appt in NYC with enough space to fit a bed? You can spend those 3 hours working or at bars with happy hours and go home to sleep…

[@person-yu8cu]

Those are all years of our lives that the ruling class owes us back.

[@SupermanHopkins]

Years ago (pre-pandemic), I turned down a job in California that offered to pay me $12,000 more because that pay increase wouldn't have *remotely* been enough to offset the stark increase in rent. The folks at the job even had a spreadsheet of places I could work to earn supplemental income. 😐🤦🏿‍♂️

[@picklerix6162]

Yeah, I got a lot of calls from some great California companies but I always told them that the cost of living was way too high. I talked to some of the hiring managers and I could tell that they were frustrated. I was lucky to find a remote job where I have to fly into the main office once or twice a year.

[@2736492821]

the luxury of livng in Europe

[@InternetUser._]

I grew up in SF and tech transplant workers were routinely paying 3,500-4K a month for tiny 700 Sq/f studios and lofts in the downtown area. Even if you’re making 200k, that’s 30%+ of your net income… to rent a tiny little studio in a terrible area (downtown SF is absolutely wild , crime and drug use, $500 a month for a parking garage spot, or your car WILL get broken into). Now the majority of those apartments are vacant. Nobody wants them, why would they, when they can work remote somewhere with 1/2 the COL.

[@kjhuang]

​@@InternetUser._Many people making below $40K would cry tears of joy from paying only 30 percent of their income in rent.

[@averyshaw2142]

@@2736492821 I mean, in a lot of European regions the entire housing market for the entire region is unaffordable, not just the area close to the major urban center. Housing worldwide is simply becoming something only the super wealthy can afford

[@mcbrian]

I used to be a Boston super-commuter. I took a job making what I assumed to be enough to survive in the city; it wasn't even close to enough for me to support my financial goals, and I'd have to live with strangers in a small apartment. So I stayed outside of the city and commuted a few days each week. I didn't know there was a name for this until today. Eventually, my company wanted me in the office more, and with my commute reaching nearly 3 hours across multiple transit modes, it became unbearable. The final nail in the coffin was breaking up with my girlfriend who lived in the city. Every trip felt more worthless over time. Super commuting is a miserable shell of a life. My mental, physical and financial health suffered so much in that year. Find a job close to you. Use public transit if you can. Relocate if you want. Find something you can do from home. Don't waste your life on the road to a job that likely doesn't recognize your true worth.

[@logicmyth]

uh, what city did you say you commuted to @mcbrian?

[@perfectallycromulent]

Boston supercommuters now are just doing the same type of trip people have been doing from the middle of Long Island to Manhattan for decades, but that's not counted as supercommunting because you can get 120 miles from Manhattan on LI and you're still in the NYC metro area.

[@ecurewitz]

There are commuter rails which make it a lot easier to

[@crishnaholmes7730]

Did you ever think about trying roommates

[@GroceryBagAngler]

So sorry. I live in New Bedford and work 10 minutes away in the city. I don't envy anyone commuting to work, especially in the Boston area. The traffic is atrocious.

[@brothertaddeus]

I've never felt happier to live within walking distance of my office than after watching this video.

[@idriveastationwagon1534]

When I was in my late teens/early 20s I thought I wanted to live in the big city. I’m in a medium sized city now (Winston-Salem NC) and I don’t regret it. I don’t have to take the freeway to my job at all, for I’m only 2.5 miles from it.

[@svr5423]

I did that once and I hated it - for other reason. You also get a whole lot of different discussions. E.g. our office was shit, so I asked if I could do my actual work from home and just walk over to every meeting. "No that isn't possible". So I did a lot less work and just played table soccer or hung out with the smokers because every time I returned to my desk I got interrupted. Best solution is to work from home permanently or at least 4 days a week. Thanks, Covid.

[@paolaanimator]

@@svr5423 Sorry that happened. I noticed only a few people at my job were granted the option to work hybrid or remote. But I have to come in the office everyday, it sucked. I would be more happier if I can work hybrid, then I can at least get a break from commute for a few days. I'd like to work remote permanently if I can but many offices are really forcing hybrid or 100% in person.

[@mavadoroaster]

Good for you you represent every single american. If it's good enough for you it's good enough for all of us

[@chyrchhella7804]

I know dudes that live ~10 minutes walk from their office and they still drive to work 🙃

[@MrEmptyKay]

Thank you for coming right out of the gate and acknowledging that transportation and housing are inextricably linked. California's proposed climate action plan goes hard on decarbonizing transportation systems, but never once mentions housing or density (lack thereof) and it's impact on transportation patterns.

[@TransportGeekery]

So frustrating. This has been known for perhaps centuries!

[@coke8077]

I really don’t understand it. The more dense the area, the more people in the area and the more homes can be built which means more profits for pretty every company involved. This is what makes me think its a government issue not an economic one.

[@mrvwbug4423]

That's because the courts have dictated that governments have a legal obligation to protect property values, so things like banning single family zoning go nowhere

[@tony_5156]

Typical green hippie ramblings All at the expense of the dwindling middle class and poor, that’s why I heavily dislike them.

[@oluwaseyijohnson3162]

@@coke8077 it is entirely a government issue

[@Madaboutmada]

My dad was a super commuter long before it was even a thing in the 190s. We lived in Malibu, also before that was a thing, and he worked in San Clemente. His commuting actually enabled him to accrue so many miles that the odometer flipped over to zero, four years in. While he was able to sell his car for much more money than it was worth, the amount of alcohol he consumed every day after commuting was terrible. The social impacts of super commuting would be interesting and undoubtedly sad research.

[@brandonbrown2652]

That's a wicked drive .. sorry to hear about your dad . Mine was similar .

[@FirebirdCamaro1220]

Malibu to South OC, in rush hour, that's like 4 hrs each way!

[@brandonbrown2652]

@@FirebirdCamaro1220 right ! I remember when a small plane crashed on I think it was the 405 ..and there was traffic everywhere. I took side roads from Irvine to Hollywood . Took about 5 hours

[@IJustNukedMcDonalds]

in the 190s? what did he work in rome but live in gaul?

[@mjc0961]

Damn, the 190s, your dad is _old_ 😛

[@ztl2505]

Slightly more people commuting into Chicago from St Louis vs Milwaukee might be the most bizarre thing I’ve learned from this

[@TheMiddlest]

I think he was right, people that would do it from Milwaukee can afford to live in Chicago since it's so affordable. But I think from St Louis has to be some sort of job related thing, if that makes sense.

[@stevengordon3271]

@@TheMiddlest I know of lots of people who commute to ChicagoLand from near the Wisconsin border (both sides). I bet many have other family members who commute to Madison, Milwaukee, or other areas of Wisconsin.

[@TheMiddlest]

​@@stevengordon3271 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_metropolitan_area Those people techinically live in the Chicago statistical area :/

[@stevengordon3271]

@@TheMiddlest Then some of their spouses and live-in children may be among those commuting from the Chicago Statistical Area to Milwaukee (or Madison).

[@ChristopherKhorey]

And yet South Bend, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids don't have enough supercommuters to mention?

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

Remember: there are no lobbies campaigning for better public transportation (or when they do exist, they fight amongst themselves, e.g. bus v/s light rail) but there are very powerful lobbies for the automotive industry.

[@Michael-sb8jf]

lets not forget the Elon Musk pushing his BS hyper loop to undercut California high speed rail

[@ethansprague2005]

We need to change that now, shit I'll be the leader of one if no one else is going to take action. I don't have much power or money at all but I am willing to do it

[@brisbreathing]

@@ethansprague2005I’m right there with you

[@hotmess9640]

@@ethansprague2005then do it

[@mrosskne]

cry about it

[@bryanCJC2105]

I had a coworker in West LA who commuted every day from Bakersfield, 100 miles away. That's twice as far as the Stockton San Jose commute! It took 2-3 hours depending on traffic and weather over the Grapevine. I met a man who works for Apple in Cupertino but lives in Paso Robles, over 150 miles away. That didn't even make any sense to me until he told me he bought an RV drives up to Cupertino Sunday night and lives in the RV until he drives back to Paso Robles Friday afternoon! He said it was cheaper than buying a house in San Jose. Sure enough, there are loads of RV lining some of the main streets of San Jose at night.

[@MrTaxiRob]

and the residents are trying their damnedest to ban RV parking in every city in California

[@ffnovice7]

My roommate from deployment is a van dweller, which I'm personally feeling is a huge money pit, but is only justified if living in nature is your job, or living on the street is more economic. Also he was usmc so living in a fiberglass shell isn't so bad

[@andrewn7365]

So that co-worker with the 2-3 hour commute, what were they like as a person? I can only imagine the psychological toll a commute like that would take on me if I did something like that.

[@bryanCJC2105]

@@andrewn7365 I didn't notice anything different about her. Considering that the commute from West Los Angeles to Irvine could take 2+ hours with heavy traffic or rain, her commute while longer, may have been less stressful than some others.

[@Skyriderx10]

This is very common in the airline industry, where Flight attendant pay is barely enough to cover rent and cost of living in the city they are based out of, so a good chunk of FA's would pool money together for a "crash pad" close to the airport. I've seen 2-6 to a room, where they would just sleep when they are back in their "home airport". It was usually between 250-400 bucks a month per person and if their schedules aligned, half of the people aren't working and stayed at their actual homes while one or two got sent to another city and spending the night at a hotel paid for by the company. When they're not on the schedule for the rest of the week, they fly back on standby to their actual homes

[@lauramoore8823]

Yes, this has been a thing in air travel for maybe forever. A while ago I was considering a career change to be a pilot and did a lot of research on if I could conceivably commute from my current home. I would've needed to guarantee a western home base, but it would've been doable. There's a pilot (My Layover Life) on yt who commutes from MSP to EWR for trips. Much more reasonable on a job that is like 3-4 days on (and you wouldn't be at home anyway), 4-5 days off.

[@Fan652w]

Speaking as a British based observer, there is a lot of super commuting in Europe. But it is almost entirely by public transport. The advent of high-speed rail between cities encourages super commuting. Perhaps the beat known example is between Paris and Lille. 142 miles (227 kms.) but just 65 minutes by TGV. Another good example is between Cologne and F.rankfurt. 180 kms. (112 miles) in just under an hour by ICE In Britain, one reason for super commutes is where the husband works in (say) London but the wife works in (say) Birmingham. Again that is about 112 miles, and the fastest trains currently take 76 minutes. HS2, currently under construction,, will, if it ever opens, reduce the time to well under an hour.

[@jumbolarge108]

I love how many maps were in this video!

[@Sentient_Blob]

Super communiting is also much less taxing on trains because you can actually do work, rather than driving which demands attention

[@dickiewongtk]

Wow! 180 km within an hour, so the train must be traveling 200> km/hr consistently!

[@crishnaholmes7730]

How much does transportation there costs

[@nos9784]

@@dickiewongtkis this the first time you have heard about the TGV? 😊 Yeah, high speed rail is very nice. It's expensive, though, too. In germany, you can get a 1- year all inclusive ticket (bahncard 100) for 4550€. you can use all public transit with that. A single ride of 300km is typically 25€ (if you book it 6 weeks in advance), ~60 euro if you didnt, or even more if the train is in high demand. Also, we recently got the "49€ ticket" which lets you take all slow transport for 49/month. It takes 2-3 times as long as high speed rail, and if something goes wrong, you are often not entitled to simply take the next best train.( so there is still incentive to get the higher priced tickets.)

[@wandervoltz]

Chicago has a very robust transit system, so it makes it much easier to commute into the city by train from any direction. You have El/CTA trains to travel within the city limits (and a great bus system), you have the Metra for the suburbs (and a great bus system), and you have Amtrak to cross state lines. Every major city should offer these types of options. EVERY city. I don't commute into the city, but I live in the "downtown" area of a suburb just north of Chicago proper called Mount Prospect, and it's lovely to be able to hop the UP-Northwest Metra for a 35-45 minute ride into the city for excursions. 👍🏽

[@chrisseidl8294]

As a former Metra commuter of 20 years (a bit further out in Palatine), I completely agree with this. Now, I work from home and live in southern Wisconsin and enjoying life here as a get older.

[@josep9599]

I did this commute too for many years but then I moved to Phoenix

[@SofiaFreja]

It's not just housing. Many people choose to super commute so they can put their kids in Public school in a more desirable city/district, rather than paying for private school in the city where they work. In the Sacramento to Oakland/SanFrancisco example, putting kids in a public school in Sacramento can save $20K or more per year, vs living in Oakland and using a private school.

[@MrSGL21]

cause you sure as hell do not want to send your kids to public school in Oakland.

[@jessicah3782]

And sac schools aren't that great but deffy better than SF/Oak. Wow.

[@CityNerd]

I don't think I've talked about schools AT ALL on my channel. Really kind of a third rail

[@rubyfoxall1656]

@@jessicah3782 there are a lot of lines of comparison, and i'd be curious which ones parents are considering most. i graduated from oakland public schools so not sure what sac looks like in comparison, though oakland sets the bar pretty low...

[@makeart5070]

That definitely factors in to the Sarasota - Tampa commute mentioned in the video.

[@kaekae4010]

What seems strange to me is seeing everything full of small houses with gardens and then practically everything surrounded and screwed with 8-lane roads where the traffic is also dangerous and slow. No matter how beautiful your garden is, you will end up very early in the morning entering the gray box and having to waste hours every day in the funnel to get to work. Guaranteed depression, at least for me. I think it's some kind of green hell.

[@scrambler69-xk3kv]

To us a garden is an area where you plant vegetables and flowers. Everything else around your house is a yard, which is the property. The green surface of that property is the lawn.

[@mr.b3168]

I drove 100 miles from Santa Rosa, California to Sacramento. It was horrific. I moved to California and that was the only job I could get at the time. 12hr overnight shifts. So thankfully it was only 3 days a week. Although driving back in the mornings sucked. A year later, got a job in San Francisco 50 miles away. But now had to pay tolls to cross the golden gate. A year after that, 40 miles in San Rafael. Finally I work 2-3miles 10 minutes away. I feel blessed. And previously I grew up in Chicago, with jobs 10 minutes away. So this was such a big change.

[@mk-oc7mt]

Why did you live so far away? I would have been cheaper to live in sac than those places.

[@erynpimentel915]

Holy cow that’s a horrible commute, so many bottlenecks and potential for traffic nightmares. I’m glad you survived that time in your life!

[@mr.b3168]

@mk-oc7mt because then me and my girl would be paying rent individually which i felt was a waste of money. It was never meant to be permanent. Just a job to have income when i first moved to california.

[@r.d.9399]

The best thing I ever did was move right next to my job.

[@mr.b3168]

@@r.d.9399 thats me now. 10 min bike ride

[@BillKing3456]

I used to "super bike commute" 25 miles/2 hours each way each day from White Plains in Westchester County to Lincoln Center in Manhattan. It was easy to keep track of the miles per year - 3,000 one year, 4,000 another. I once met a nurse who was doing the opposite commute from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Woodlawn in the Bronx - we'd wave each day as we passed each other going in opposite directions. We super bike commuters are also out there.

[@thetrainmon]

The "New York Times" did an article probably about a decade ago that I distinctly remember covered covered "super-bike-commuters" from Westchester County into the City. Your story sounds like one of the ones they profiled.

[@BenEricson]

Amazing. That's a lot of miles. I do a 35 minute ferry ride into Seattle + Hour Bike ride. (15 miles each way with hills. 2-3 days a week.) I know someone who does the same commute on an e-bike and they can do the biking portion in 45 minutes. Bike commuting is amazing. Never thought I would be someone who would do that. Not sure what happened! lucky to live in an area where this is possible. It is so much better than the car or bus.

[@BillKing3456]

I changed projects I was working on to Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and so would sometimes do White Plains to Brooklyn (38 miles each way) a couple of days per week which included the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridge. Later, while still working in Brooklyn, I moved to NJ. So I’d continue biking - either from Fort Lee, going across the George Washington Bridge where I’d see more bicyclists (mostly recreational though) or take the bus into Midtown and catch a citibike from there or take the train to Hoboken, then PATH or ferry under/across the Hudson, then citibike from there. I loved citibike. Now I work in Newark - no citibike. But I take a train & light rail. The only time I’ve driven to work, all the way to Brooklyn, when I had the Lincoln Tunnel to myself, was during the first few months of the pandemic.

[@Mitchell-me7bp]

This is insane! I'm young and fit and doing 20 miles rt in Seattle burns me out after a few days and I usually end up having to drive some...if only Link operated 24 hrs a day. Sigh. But 50 miles a day all week? That's so impressive. Good on you.

[@BillKing3456]

@@Mitchell-me7bp Ha! I built up to 5 days a week cuz at first I was worried about being able to do one round trip a week. I did one rt a week, then I thought let’s see if I can do two, then 3 … the ultimately 5 days a week. The Hudson River Bike Path really helped, I told the Deputy Mayor of NYC (under Michael Bloomberg) who was instrumental in developing it. The ride was broken up into 4 parts - Westchester, the northern Bronx, Northern Manhattan (“upstate Manhattan”) and the bike path down the river. I think that helped mentally which after a while is the only part holding a person back - the physical part just becomes automatic.

[@codymontgomery5746]

In Los Angeles, not only do people commute from the Inland Empire but people also commute from Bakersfield, about 110 miles north of Los Angeles, to downtown LA and Santa Monica area.

[@wesleychaffin4029]

Getting these folks off the road is one of the under-appreciated benefits of California HSR imo

[@justin10054]

I don't even understand the economics of that commute. I know it's cheap to live in Bakersfield, but gas in southern California isn't. You'd have to fill your gas tank at least 2-3 times per week, and that's assuming you don't drive anywhere on weekends. I'd like to know what a person's circumstances would be for that commute to make sense.

[@garrettknapp-frey7712]

@@wesleychaffin4029 Assuming (hopefully) they can actually finish that stretch in the next 10 years.

[@garrettknapp-frey7712]

@@justin10054 When I started super commuting (EUG/PDX), I just slept in my car during the work week. Lots of people who sleep in their vehicles are actually super commuters. I personally commute because I can't afford to live where I work, and I can't get a job that pays enough where I live with my skill sets.

[@MrBirdnose]

@@wesleychaffin4029 I'm not sure it will help. A lot of people who move to Bakersfield do so to get away from the kind of people they think ride public transit.

[@sophiahardin357]

I noticed this happens a lot in rural bedroom communities--growing up driving an hour or longer to get to work was fairly common for people in town, especially after the bosses cut the jobs in town. My conspiracy theory is that commuting and the content people consume while commuting has a significant effect on radicalization

[@ffnovice7]

The worse the commute, the more radical the politics Add-on: I'm coming at this from a city boy living in country folks' world perspective: I'm baffled at multiple people I know that take pride in multi hour driving commutes, mostly in rural, middle America, flyover areas. I guess now that I'm writing about it, they must be exceptions, and the rest of us are begrudging in acceptance of paltry commuting options. It's either go into big cities and live under those policies (anti 2A, overall unfriendliness, higher rent, taxes, expenses, traffic, pollution, crime, and density of population and living space), or trade space for money by living the longer commute away.

[@timwalks]

The Stockton to Bay Area thing really spoke to me. When I worked in Fremont for a manufacturing company, all the engineers lived in Bay Area. But, many of the technicians and associates commuted all the way from Stockton. In fact we had a dedicated company bus that picked them up in the morning and took them back home in the evening.

[@saynotop2w]

Oh yeah the good ol' Home Depot Parking Lot pickup vans. i know all about that.

[@gteixeira]

Tesla lol

[@HeadStronger-HS]

I did the commute from Manteca for 10 years. I burned out and moved away. Now I commute downstairs to my office. 😂

[@agentsolo9228]

I knew people who would commute from Tijuana to LA everyday for work. They saved a ton in housing but that is soul crushing.

[@ninabeena83]

When I was in junior high and we lived in San Diego, my mom took a job with a 60ish miles commute each way. Super inconvenient because it meant I had to get dropped off at school like 2 hours early (we lived out of district and I wasn’t on the school bus line) and then had to take the public bus/trolley back home which took forever of course but I still beat her home every day. I vowed to never work more than a 20min ish drive (preferably less than 10) from my house then and have pretty much stuck to it with a couple of unfortunate exceptions. And for this reason I loathe the very idea of suburbia. But hey, at least I’m accustomed to taking public transpo lol, which is something that actually shocks a lot of adults I know when I suggest it over driving to say, a sporting event, where the traffic is gonna be a nightmare. If the walk and public transportation scores aren’t over like 70 for me, I don’t wanna live there.

[@GirtonOramsay]

I'm struggling through as a new resident in east county suburbs along the green line. But yes, I feel this so hard after living on the quintessential main street with a walk score of 90+ in a college town. I hated taking a 90 min bus commute when I worked dead end jobs in Orlando.

[@c_rob1]

Absolutely Nina! I grew up the opposite way in a small town, and lived in the downtown area where I could walk to almost everything. Even to middle school. I've basically been trying to recreate that ever since lol. My work commute is 30-40 mins 😒

[@thewittyusername]

I find it funny how people will spend half an hour driving to an event and fifteen minutes trying to find parking but scoff at the idea of just riding the bus. Not dealing with parking alone makes it a no brainer.

[@crishnaholmes7730]

How is the transportation service in San Diego now

[@andreworam2844]

It doesn’t sound like suburbia was your problem at all, just a long commute. I live in suburbs and work 15 minutes away in my city’s downtown.

[@eksbocks9438]

It's such a strange phenomenon. People have to stay close to these Metropolitan areas. Because that's where the Salary jobs are at. If they move to an area with a Lower Cost of living: There's a higher chance that they won't get anything with adequate pay. Usually it's just factories or minimum wage positions.

[@user-pi7sj4wm8p]

11:50 I'd really love a video on how SoCal is so polycentric. I come from there and the amount of movement that happens between the various downtowns and centers is insane, and how those trips weren't always done by car!

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

My daily commutes in Germany in the past elementary school: 0.6 miles walking high school: 0.6 miles walking / biking high school during my year abroad in Norway: 0.7 miles of walking university of applied sciene: 2.9 miles biking trade school: 1.5 hrs by bus, high-speed train and subway internships (different locations): 36 minutes by bus / 41 minutes by bus / 1hr 15 min by bus or bus and train probationary year: 1.7 miles driving work: used to be 0.2 miles walking + 12 miles of driving work now: 0.6 miles walking

[@TruthMcBane]

Tijuana - San Diego might be an interesting example of an international commute. Not sure how common it actually is, but many here in San Diego idly contemplate the cheaper rents just across the border.

[@docvideo93]

Living near El Paso, I would love to see an analysis of international commutes even though the US has land borders with only two countries.

[@stevez5134]

going to mexico is no problem, it's the going into the USA that makes this a terrible idea, unless you can walk and your home and office are right there

[@catherinepeng5028]

I go to school in san diego and have met many students who make this commute as well!

[@JK.Montague]

I did this for a while in 2015-2016. I became familiar with the TJ area from doing medical missions frequently, and discovered Playas was actually an okay neighborhood, and got a big brand new apartment overlooking the ocean for $300/mo. With my SENTRI pass, commute to my hospital job was 45-60 minutes. After about a year though, I got tired of that, and frequently things would happen like MX police would block a road essential to getting to the SENTRI line, and the roads around the border are a labyrinth, so if I got thrown off my usual route, I was fucked. Also, a couple times I’d get randomly sent to secondary inspection as well. It just became too much and I moved back.

[@MrTaxiRob]

I worked with guys in LA who commuted from TJ or Rosarita DAILY. They carpooled and took turns driving so others could sleep in the van, but the round trip total was almost as long as their work day. F that.

[@illhaveawtrplz]

When I was in my teacher education program during my undergraduate degree I had to commute 45-60 minutes to my student teaching placement. It was the furthest/longest commute I ever had up until that point. That experience catalyzed my desire to never live more than 30 minutes from my place of employment ever again. Between the brutal schedule of 12+ hour days with two hours of commuting bookending it, I nearly crashed my car due to exhaustion more times than I could count. Never again.

[@ffnovice7]

I feel you. Barstow to NTCFI is just shy of an hour each way. This is including the checkpoint and on-base driving conditions. I think the only way to bear with this super commuting (almost sounds like supercomputing) is to hunt the good stuff, like podcasts and music, and the few great views that come with a 10 mile valley stretch. Coffee always helps. But the real answer is to take on a second job full-time: job hunting. I used anger to fuel myself to wake up early and spend at least an hour a day just applying and gussying up my resume. Took 12 months to escape

[@sjasonwang7384]

I didn't have a super commute necessarily, but I got stuck in an ecologically horrific 63 mile each way commute in Ohio due to a noncompete from my previous job. It sucked. Now I bike 3 miles each way to work

[@mrvwbug4423]

Getting an attorney to fight the noncompete had your prior employer tried to enforce it (they're usually not enforceable) might have saved a lot of money in the long run

[@TD05SSLegacy]

I agree. Noncompetes do not hold up and are illegal in some States. Please look into it.

[@omarrolle3842]

Bro 63 miles each way is a super commute

[@mikeydude750]

California has a lot of problems but one great success is that noncompete agreements are entirely illegal in this state.

[@2736492821]

much healthier lifestyle with the biking too!

[@andrewmahn2945]

I live in denver and my coworker flies in from Seattle every Monday morning and flies out every Thursday night. He pays two rents and spends all that time/money traveling. It blows my mind

[@reckonerwheel5336]

We need to stop normalizing that spending over 1 hour or more of your day in transit is acceptable. I think the majority of people who do it are depressed, or don't totally realize how depressed they are. Because I was broke at the time, for a while I lived car-free in a cheap rental outside of the city I was working in -- public transit was sparse so it was a 10-minute walk combined with a 45-minute bus ride to get to work... then a 20-minute wait for the actual working hours to start after I reached my office. About the same time going home. I don't mind riding the bus, I love reading so that was my time to do it, but I was still becoming miserable by spending 2.5 hours a day being very limited in what I could do. I rarely ever cooked for myself, rarely worked out, because I wanted some actual free time for myself.

[@tony_5156]

Everyone hates it yet the damn second you mention a real solution like public transportation Americans freak out, SMH

[@MrBirdnose]

@@tony_5156 Public transit helps in the sense that you don't have to drive, but it's usually slower so you're trading off time (probably sleep time.) My commute in Seattle was 1.5 hours each way by car and more like two hours by bus. And often the bus was standing room only so I didn't even get to nap or read.

[@HardstylePete]

@@tony_5156 The lack of housing density and minimum parking requirements are also major factors.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

@@HardstylePete The biggest problems in that country are urban sprawl, neighbourhood zoning, school districts. Those 3 things are destroying their society.

[@reckonerwheel5336]

@@tony_5156 Yep! I'm in Canada, and the Canadians freak out too.

[@be236]

I'm in Seattle-area. I used to have a one-bus (45 min commute) ride to downtown to work. Then I moved further out, now about 50 miles away from downtown and I have to take three buses. Total commute time is about 2.5 hrs now (includes actual bus ride time + connection/wait times between buses).. so in a day, I spend about five hours "commuting." Not much for any other activity with my free time.

[@TaxYourLane]

Coming to Tampa/St Pete in January is probably the simultaneous best and worst decision. The weather is phenomenal if you own even just a light hoodie, but on the flip side there is terrible traffic thanks in part due to complete lack of public transit that reaches anywhere beyond the downtown areas and our annual influx of snow birds. As an urban planner in the Tampa metro region it kills me to see the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA) collapse. If you want something outside of the usual "Come see how bad our infrastructure is" I'd highly recommend looking into the developments known as Connected City and Villages of Pasadena Hills in the northern portion of the area along I75. There's been a huge fight recently over development of what is essentially greenfield development turning homesteads and farmlands into a major hub for businesses, vertical mixed-use developments, and traditional housing. There was even supposed to be a light rail system that has since been downgraded to the commissioners saying that "Maybe we'll put in BRT where the rail was supposed to go." Call me pessimistic but it looks like it's just going to be a 6-lane stroad cutting through the downtown area of a brand new city that was supposed to be walkable.

[@Imminentslug]

I hadn’t heard of the connected city, that’s so interesting! It’s so sad to have such beautiful weather and landscape but the ugliest roads imaginable turning it into an eyesore. Also as a native tampan struggling to get into an urban planning career, I would greatly appreciate any advice you have!

[@Josh-yr7gd]

I live in Cleveland, Ohio and work in Akron which is a 45 minute commute. That doesn't seem so horrible after watching this video. My rent is going up, but it's still comparatively lower than other places in the surrounding areas. I really can't move closer to work due to family obligations, so I'll be staying put for now.

[@ffnovice7]

I wish you the best in incremental improvements

[@Josh-yr7gd]

@@ffnovice7 Thank you.

[@schmangusschmangus8628]

If you want to see how urbanism is done right and beautifully as well, please come to Laureles Medellin Colombia.

[@schmangusschmangus8628]

They have a great Metro, bus lines, hundreds of taxis, yet still have sufficient parking that is well disguised, at their beautifully designed Condominiums. It is more than a 15-minute City typically you only have a 5 or 10 minute walk to get to little neighborhood markets

[@rubyfoxall1656]

former victim of an SF/Oakland -> San Jose super commute here (2hr30 on transit, 1hr15 driving) - the amount of people i met doing the same horrible commute never failed to astound me. i think we'll all be excited when BART finally goes to downtown san jose; stopping at berryessa adds a LOT of time since DTSJ is way better connected to other forms of transit and the bus transfer was never well-timed. even then, my relatively extreme bay area commute was still about on par with an average (or even good) LA commute.

[@runswithraptors]

I've lived in Santa Cruz County California and Larimer County Colorado which both had large numbers of people that lived in the county and commuted to larger markets, San Francisco and Denver respectively. It blew my mind that 120 miles/day was reality for some people. How anyone can seriously have discussions about sustainability as it relates to this economy is lunacy when millions of people are forced to waste so much time and resources simply commuting to keep someone else rich 🤷‍♂️

[@johanna7254]

I live in SC County and yeah it’s insane… it takes over an hour just to get from south to north county. Can’t imagine going over hwy 17 every day too 😬

[@CityNerd]

It's amazing to think how much of people's lives is simply erased by stuff like this. I don't even just mean economic productivity, which is a whole thing in itself, but just people's ability to live happy, fulfilling lives

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

a complete systemic overhaul is needed. the sheer amount of emissions solely from commuting are ridiculous. hours upon hours of wasted and lost time that people can never get back because of deliberately terrible city design

[@TheMW2informer]

No one if forced and people have a right to choose where to live right? So why can’t they also choose where to work? as someone who drives roughly 100 miles a day, I think I should remote start my car right now just outta spite 😂😂

[@Praisethesunson]

My college roommate is now a professor at UCLA Berkeley. She lives in Irvine and commutes in via shuttle bus. She reports to work at 8am. The shuttle picks her up at 3am to get to the school on time. America does not have a system designed to efficiently move people. It has a system to move cars around.

[@wandervoltz]

Omg......

[@hunterchaputa9827]

First of all, there's no such thing as UCLA Berkeley. UCLA is the University of California Los Angeles. How you have a roommate that is a professor in the UC system and you aren't aware of that is beyond me. Why they would commute from one of the most expensive cities in the state to a city that is on par cost wise is even further beyond me. Irvine is 420 miles from Irvine. You're saying the bus is travelling at a constant speed of 84 mph for 5 hours straight, as a commuter bus, to Berkeley. Why are you are lying so egregiously?

[@Praisethesunson]

@@hunterchaputa9827 It's UCLA. It's in LA. I'll find out what the B stands for if it doesn't stand for Berkeley. Everything else is still true.

[@hunterchaputa9827]

​@@Praisethesunson And now you're trying to tell me it takes 5 hours to commute from Irvine to LA at 3AM. I'm from Los Angeles, what is even going on here? Why are you lying about your roommates commute time?

[@Praisethesunson]

@@hunterchaputa9827 I'm not. I'll get you more details if you want. But that is reality.

[@yardhog]

What amazed me was the commute from Reno NV to SF Bay Area in the tech industry. I met a couple who had done the commute for nearly 20 yrs. Seems they owned a motor home and parked it in San Francisco, flew once a week to work and returned on Friday evening. Stress eventually killed that commute.

[@vaszi101]

Personally I’d prefer to just pay the sf rents lol

[@theempirestrikesback]

Yay weekends in reno

[@joseph_hewes]

For about 10 years starting in the late 90s my mom lived in a socal superb and flew to the Bay Area to work 2 to 3 days a week. Sometimes doing a same day up and down the state. She would work from home on the other weekdays. As a contractor that big corporate client reimbursed travel costs, hotel costs, and per diem, on top of compensation. The effect of this was a subsidy to continue to super commute. Lower cost of living in so cal and all expenses compensated. Meant you were significantly incentivized to do this. Since this was contract work all subsidies were tax deductible, but fringe benefits like racking up insane numbers of airline miles were tax free. She would regularly see the same people on the plane making the same commute every week.

[@TheMiddlest]

I wish you'd shared some footage of the rush hour commute into and out of LA to the inland empire. It's something people in other cities wouldn't even imagine. Like 100 miles of 3+ lanes bumper to bumper. It's wild half a million people do that commute

[@riley_oneill]

I am from Riverside and have known tons of people who either did that commute or the commute into Orange County. Its absolutely crushing and now as the IE has gotten very expensive and is no longer affordable by local wages for most people, its causing huge problems here. I knew someone who was spending a minimum of 10 hours per week commuting. Probably more like 12-15 on most weeks. When COVID they were put at WFH and he figured he saved $10,000 per year in car expenses and about 600 hours per year of his time that was previously spent commuting. It felt like they got a huge raise as there was far more money left over and far less work to do to make it. We get this really toxic governing culture in the Inland Empire where we basically outsource a substantial amount of our well paying jobs, so the economic development to bring employment here is greatly lacking. Riverside, for a city of 310,000 people has very few major employers that are not government agencies. Something like more people work for the County of Riverside than the top 20 private sector employers combined. There has just been very little effort here to make an ecosystem that private investors would want to make long term investments in, and as a result, we don't have it. We built communities without the economic development to sustain them and rely on commuter opportunities. I have always figured that when if the housing crises was 100% solved in LA/OC that it would kill our real estate market and bring on a horrible local recession, and in all honesty, I hope it happens, its a needed medicine.

[@Geotpf]

I live in Riverside and the only way I would do that commute is if the Metrolink commuter rail would work for me. If your office actually is in downtown Los Angeles, the rail coverage from Union Station to your final destination is actually excellent, as the combination of the B/D line heavy rail and the A line light rail in the government and financial areas of downtown is as good as any city in the country, and in downtown all of it is fast grade separated subway (well, Pico Station is above ground but just after the tunnel ends). But Los Angeles is quite spread out and lots of job locations won't really work with Metrolink, especially outside downtown LA. There is a dedicated Inland Empire to Orange County line, but unless your workplace is right at a Metrolink station your last mile will be via bus, so too far away and that alone could make it too long.

[@riley_oneill]

@@Geotpf Going from home to the Metrolink station can also take a very long time. Taking the RTA it can easily take an hour.

[@Dj.D25]

@@GeotpfI live in Riverside too and go to Los Angeles every so often by the Metrolink train to do street photography, since I rather take a train than drive. What's odd to me is I've noticed the parking lots at the Metrolink stations, especially the downtown station and the stations near my home aren't filled up, when I go and when I come back. The trains also are not crowded. Maybe they are earlier in the morning? I would think more people who live in the Riverside area that need to work near or in Los Angeles would take the train to not worry about traffic and stress which Socal is infamous for. The Los Angeles Metro trains and busses appear to cover enough ground to get to where you need to.

[@LaurenLaass]

@@Dj.D25I lived in Rancho Cucamonga and dated someone in Culver City. It was a 1.5 hour drive to him, or a 3+ hour commute via Metrolink then bus. LA’s public transit is awful.

[@dudeonbike800]

Example: Fast food worker in Palo Alto being interviewed by NPR. Housing costs through the roof, so the worker moves to Tracy. He now drives to and from Tracy to PA every work day for a FAST FOOD JOB! Absurd. Our "free market" approach to the economy is not only destructive to the Americans struggling to survive, it's HORRIBLE for the environment and everyone's health. This continues, thanks to big money. From gun crime and health care to horrible transportation choices and the 150 MILLION Americans struggling in the economy, it's a disaster. Only comprehensive campaign finance reform would fix it. Public elections, outlaw lobbying and fundraising, and punish lobbyists as traitors. Restore representative democracy!

[@chadshockley5364]

Former Worcester -> Boston commuter checking in! It was absolutely soul crushing. On holiday weekends it could take 3 hours to drive the 46 miles home. Every highway in the area is clogged every day, and the Framingham/Worcester line of the MBTA's commuter rail was expensive and unreliable. There was really no good option for me. My wife and I had to buy our house in the Worcester area to balance a good school system (not Worcester's itself) with a mortgage that we could actually afford. We prioritized our children's' education over our commute time.

[@3of11]

Ah yes the “big city has shit schools” trope. Maybe the rail would have been worth it when you figure a 90 mile round trip commute costs $30-$50 a day in total car costs? How much was the rail? And unreliable? Is the rail there really less reliable than by car: not knowing if a nominally 45-60 minute commute will bloom to 3 hours by car? Yikes that’s some bad rail!

[@obligatorysignin]

The Zone 8 MBTA pass for Worcester is $388/mo. So it ain't cheap. OP is spot on w their comments re: reliability. When that route was reestablished, they egregiously underestimated demand. If your destination requires subway or bus connections, then your commute adds a lot of variability and extra time, often exacerbated by weather. The drive may suck, but it can often get you there more consistently and faster. Though once the first flake of snow hits the ground and everyone forgets how to drive again and the T probably breaks, there's not really a good option either way.

[@happycommuter3523]

And the Worcester rail line is one of the most notoriously unreliable on the MBTA, something like only 50 percent of their trains are on time on any given day. Then when you get into the city, you have to get on the subway, which has had all kinds of speed restrictions, cars taken out of service, and rail problems. Commuting from Worcester to Boston by train is unbelievably time consuming.

[@Jacksparrow4986]

Curios you didn't mention hybrid work. In case you only have to be in the office 2 days a week your time and money spent on supercommuting halves, making it a much more attractive option. Nice vid!

[@zivkovicable]

When I lived in Japan my hundred mile commute took 55 minutes door to door in comfort, and i could enjoy a beer and quality food on the journey home. . The US really needs a high speed rail network. Taking commuters off the roads is good for the remaining drivers making essential journeys too.

[@Fan652w]

In Europe, high speed rail now means that some commutes of around one hundred miles can be done in about an hour.

[@Demopans5990]

@Fan652w And the trains come with free Internet

[@Fan652w]

@@Demopans5990 Very true! And people can work on trains, which they cannot do while driving.

[@charlienyc1]

​@@Fan652wOr should not, but do anyway, at least in the States. If I had a dollar for every driver I saw with their phone leaning up against the steering wheel... Why look up to see the pedestrians, bicyclists or other drivers, anyway?

[@JimmiG84]

I think suburban medium distance rail with more frequent stops would make a bigger difference. Most commuters are not super commuters, most trips are shorter.

[@LUISGARCIA-wn4hj]

A bit unrelated but this show called It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia really highlighted the super community phenomenon. With that one episode where Dennis Reynolds ends up moving to the suburbs of Philadelphia just to drive 1hr + everyday for work 😅😂

[@gcvrsa]

I'm glad you started with supercommuting from Philadelphia to NYC, because that is obviously the primary case for this phenomenon. People have been doing this for decades, because for upper-income white collar jobs, the cost benefits of supercommuting via the Amtrak Northeast Corridor are substantial, even if you ride the Metroliner, instead of the Northeast Regional (or god forbid, the SEPTA/NJ Transit route connecting at Trenton), particularly if you live in downtown Philadelphia and work in Manhattan, which minimizes the travel time at either end, to and from 30th Street Station and to and from Penn Station, via SEPTA Regional Rail and the NYC Subway.

[@kristofsportingdogs3549]

And here I am in Europe, a 4 minute drive to/from work. It used to be a 20min drive, but I specially moved to a different home to be really close to work. That was actually the only reason I moved 😂. Now I even go back home during my lunch time to be with my dogs and let them out 😊. But just count all the hours I saved on a yearly basis with my colleague, he drives 45minuts to work and in the evening back, so he looses 80 minutes each day for his work, compared to me…. But his girlfriend has a business where they live, so he isn’t as free to move closer.

[@laurie7689]

And that's the rub . . . one partner gets a shorter commute and the other has to sacrifice. Sometimes both partners will pick a place in between their workplaces and move there, so that they both have equal commute. Of course, if a partner changes jobs or if the jobsite was moved, then they'd have to revisit their decision to either stay or relocate again. It is easier for a single person to choose a location to commute from than it is for a couple. Wait until they have kids and the kids go to school.

[@stevengordon3271]

Some "super-commuting" is driven by spouses who both cannot find their best career opportunity in the same metro. Of course, this is not a new problem.

[@Fan652w]

This is certainly true in the UK, where I live.

[@lincolnabraham4695]

Usually caused by job sprawl which Reece discussed in his recent video on RMTransit

[@Fan652w]

@@lincolnabraham4695 I agree.

[@gpettigrewgmailcom]

It can also be caused by people who are competing for the same jobs. My wife and I are both mathematicians. We get each other in a way few people do. But we've both worked in dats collection/analysis and textbook publishing, and there are only so many of those jobs to go around.

[@mstmompj]

Yup. My spouse commutes seven miles each way and I commute 50. We both work in higher education, so "just get a job closer to home" is not really feasible. Luckily, I only have to go in to campus a couple days a week.

[@mystica-subs]

"why do we live so far away" - because we can't fucking afford anything closer. fuck this entire country's economy and housing bullshit

[@Skip6235]

I live in Vancouver and I only go into the office one day a week. I’ve considered becoming a super-commuter, but honestly housing prices aren’t all that much lower over the mountains or on The Island, so it doesn’t really make it worth it.

[@yaygya]

The only place in Canada where there is a point to supercommuting is southern Ontario, thanks to GO Transit. Every other metropolitan area either doesn't have the kinds of places with cheaper housing to supercommute from (Metro Vancouver) or is affordable that it isn't really worth it (everywhere else). As for a less serious answer, you aren't trying hard enough. I'm sure you can make the Edmonton-Vancouver megacommute grind!

[@tarolope]

My mom used to wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning to catch a 5 o'clock train at the Metrolink station from San Bernardino to Los Angeles 5 days a week. And take the same 2 hour trip back. It sucked.

[@norlockv]

As a former supercommuter (2013-2016) from MKE to CHI it was a workable 85 miles each way. The traffic on my run was far lighter that within Chicago metro. Part of what drives the stats is the Chicago CBSA is huge. It extends from Lafayette,IN to Kenosha, WI. And yes, for the money I made I could have bought home in a nicer area of Chicago, which I eventually did.

[@nickgooderham2389]

My office is 9 minutes from my house. I often go home for lunch. I can't imagine life commuting several hours a day.

[@megaboz42]

I think there's more to the "why" than just housing prices where you live vs where your work. In some cases, households where two spouses both work it is not possible/feasible/easy for both spouses to have jobs near where they live. Economic disruptions can result in having to take a job that is farther away than a previous job. Considerations about existing social and family support networks come into play when considering whether its better to move or stay where you are and endure a longer commute.

[@Fan652w]

Your remarks are applicable thoughout the developed world.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

@@Fan652w Not really. Most developed world is *NOT* a crazy car-centric madness society like USA has become.

[@starventure]

The real driver is not family life or money or kind of job. The big one is "Who do you want as a neighbor?" Ask most non minority people that, and they will say they want a neighbor like themselves. Nothing wrong with that on the surface, but if the cities are empty of people you want to be around and the suburbs or even suburbs of other cities have what you want, you end up with commuting or super-commuting. You ask why? Ask the cities leadership.

[@DoubleAIV]

Who the hell is "super commuting" from Dallas to any of the other 3 cities? Thats not feasible, its way to far. I live in houston, never heard of anyone working in dallas but living here. It wouldnt make sense considering how affordable dallas is, not to mention Ft worth, Arlington, etc being right there.

[@warw]

Saint Pete resident here. Lots of issues/interesting topics here. I can flesh them out more in an email if you'd prefer. Upzoning to NTM-1(quadruplexes) held back by a few city officials, Massive Rays Stadium Subsidy Sunrunner BRT Proposed 'TOD' along the BRT line that is only on properties abutting the line. Historical trolley lines and the development that is still strong in those locations because of it. I-175/I-375 interstate spur removal pipe dream. We seem to only be developing west on central Avenue from downtown flanked north and south by the BRT, but we are refusing to allow for anything other than single family housing North and south of central, so we get a line city of our own lmao

[@jonc4403]

Eh, Florida really shouldn't allow anything but single family housing to be built at this point. It'll be less of a loss when it's all underwater in a few decades.

[@MrBirdnose]

I feel like this is a problem inherent to making people all gather in offices every day. Companies will want to build offices in dense urban centers, which are too expensive for most people to live in.

[@1984therocker]

The manager of the grocery store in my hometown drove from a town in Indiana to Illinois to get to work at 7am and it was a 3 hour drive. He said he loved it.

[@jazzcatjohn]

Must have a chaotic home life.

[@TheDwightMamba]

That man hated his family.

[@zachlafond2652]

he was running from something.

[@starventure]

@@zachlafond2652 Blacks, most likely. If he is living in the country, when he gets home he has zero chance of encountering them. That is more than enough motivation for most to do it and when he says he loves it, he most likely means "I get peace and quiet at home".

[@Bobrogers99]

My neighbor here in NH used to commute daily close to 2 hours or more each way to the Boston area because union pay rates were much higher there. NH has no passenger rail, and to get to a bus to Boston is a 45 minute drive. By the time he reached 50 he changed jobs to one that pays less but cuts his commute in half. Sometimes time is worth more than money.

[@DennyJr22]

The convoy of cars with NH license plates going to MA every morning is crazy. Never really understood it, housing is a bit cheaper sure but you're still paying income tax and property taxes are higher, plus the commuting costs and headaches. If you like the MA wages just live there, the property price difference between southern NH and some MA suburbs since COVID isn't that big anymore.

[@KingJester19]

When you’re in Tampa, you could explore the different areas that have a lot of different culture differences between them or you can talk about how the commute between Tampa and Saint Pete can be so daunting. Love the videos ❤

[@schmangusschmangus8628]

An electric bike is faster than the typical public transit commute

[@deepsouthheat]

Ooo yeah the terror that is Howard frankland or how ulmerton/Walsingham has been under construction since the late 90s

[@logicmyth]

swampopolis!!!

[@roxycocksey]

I just made this exact commute a few hrs ago! Lol. Can confirm that bridge was a nightmare this morning.

[@neox9369]

You’re in America, what real culture lol

[@mrvwbug4423]

The Boston>Providence super commute is actually an interesting case where the super commute may be faster than a commute in the metro area. It takes the NE Regional 31 minutes to go between Providence and Boston and 28 minutes for the Acela (there's about 10mi of 150mph track in that corridor, most of the rest is 125-130mph track). If you live or work relatively close to the stations then it could actually be a very viable commute. Of course if you live somewhere in the corridor between the two MBTA commuter rail can get you to either city reasonably quickly.

[@thexalon]

When I've gone to events in downtown Boston, I've stayed with family in Providence, because the commuter rail was cheap enough, fast enough, and reliable enough that I could easily go between them by foot/rail.

[@karlInSanDiego]

This topic hits home. I took my current job as a work from home position in March of 2020 and started in April of 2020 as COVID work from home became a norm. I've covered all of San Diego County, which means no one place of living would fix this issue. Now four years later my job will soon require me to commute 3 hours a day to the office, despite the fact that I performed all my work duties from home better. My time needs to be flexible as an organizer, a Climate organizer, because every day has different meeting schedules including early morning or evening. Even though I live 45 miles from the new office, it's still a 3 hour daily commute because of traffic which should be part of the supercommuter definition. Commuting by bus and rail would require 1 hour of walking and 3 hours of seat time including 1 bus and 3 trains EACH way, so that's a non-starter. This job as a Climate Organizer will soon be impossible for me to keep, because management decided it's important for my desk job to be in their office instead of my home. In Climate advocacy, we focus on reducing unnecessary driving, advocating for improving electrified transit options and frequency, and ways to improve active transportation adoption. Those who don't actually understand transportation Climate impact, believe EV cars driving the same way they always have done, is the solution. That's not sustainable transportation. It's an incremental bridge option that will fail us all. Organizing online benefits our workers, massively reduces emissions impact, reduces traffic for people who need to work at their service or other jobs, and improves quality of life for our volunteers, our staff, and the elected officials and city staff who can avoid all that wasted effort of driving hours to meet. When I have 2 or more back to back meetings, online, I can participate in them all. When they are in person, I can choose one to attend. The ability for us to work remotely was proven under COVID. It's time for us to push back on employers who insist on office workers wasting resources and time on having central offices.

[@philipshattuck4250]

It sounds like your management is not very invested in the cause making you commute like that… are you sure they really get it?

[@jeffc1347]

The reality is they don't give AF if you quit and may be trying to purposely get people to quit to cut costs. Welcome to real life.

[@AndreVictorGoncalves]

You could buy a motorcycle. That would improve a lot your commute time.

[@morewi]

You don't actually work better from home you only think so.

[@morewi]

@luke5100 I know it from decades of work experience. It's also hypocritical of someone working to fight climate change to be working from home in the suburbs and not in the city

[@miketoronto8308]

Addressing the bit at 7:06 As an Orlando resident, I must say we are utterly ashamed and disappointed in our car-centric-hellscape that we were not selected for CityNerd's January travels, instead succeeding the honor to our archrival Tampa(we fight over everything Miami doesn't get). We will be back again in 2025 with hopefully the #1 spot.

[@user-ty2uz4gb7v]

The Great depression was caused by the federal government's failure to maintain the money supply at adequate level. The homeless crisis and the housing crisis are caused by governments at all levels failing to allow and incentivize the housing supply to increase. Until we acknowledge this as a society, all these crises will continue.

[@ratherlazy]

As an outer SF bay resident (not commuting into the bay) the amount of people I see commuting into the bay area from areas like Stockton or Modesto is insane. It's way more than what you've shown and way longer than what you've shown as well. If I have to go 20 miles into the bay even midday (after commuting hours) it's an hour + drive.

[@user27278]

Stockton and Modesto is where all us poors live

[@justingerald]

My mom does Philly to NYC but she's highly paid (she runs a nonprofit) and only has to do it a couple times a week. Whereas I had a colleague who took a two hour bus ride from NE PA to downtown Manhattan (this was like 2018) and she was like, "it's fine I just sleep" and it sounded terrible. She eventually quit to play music in her own band which couldn't have made her as much money but I bet the commute was part of it. You know me well enough to know I'm staying in the NYC metro so supercommuters won't ever include me. EDIT: And my mom just stays over here, because she's got, you know, adult kids and doesn't need to go home to us (both of us live here in NYC actually).

[@mysteryman7877]

I know someone who used to supercommute from Phoenix to Nogales. It’s genuinely baffling how far people will commute for work

[@4everdee33]

I used to commute between Philadelphia (technically Delaware County) and Newark, NJ (15 miles from NYC), used to take a 10 minute walk to the high speed rail, switch to the EL [subway] at 69th street, then switch to Septa's regional rail downtown, then take that up to Trenton, there I got on NJ Transit's Northeast line to Newark. Used to take me 2 hours if I timed it out right. If I miss ONE connection on the way home in the evening, it could take me over 3 hours to get home.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

US has no high speed rail.

[@4everdee33]

@@BlackHoleSpain the line between norristown and west philly is called the high speed line - it’s just the name of it. But America do have high speed rail, Acela between DC and Boston is high speed. Not as fast as a bullet train but it reaches up to 150 mph on some stretches.

[@lynncai587]

My Aunt in China had been a supercommuter long before it was a thing. She splits her time between two cities. Her main residence is in Qingdao, while she works in Jinan, which is a 1 hour bullet train ride away. She spends her weekdays in Jinan and her weekends in Qingdao.

[@wesleychaffin4029]

Driving to an internship on the peninsula from San Jose in the SF Bay Area is quite literally what radicalized me on urbanism

[@wesleychaffin4029]

Even though I live in SoCal now I prioritize everything in my life around having a commute where I can bike or take transit- even to the detriment of better urbanism near my actual living space

[@user-ut4zw6so6o]

I am radicalized on remote work and living as far from cities as possibly. Considering that within a decade AI will have replaced a very significant number of jobs, reducing the need for commuting to any job by a lot (replaced workers then placed on low income universal benefit), this entire idea seems more about containing and controlling populations of people rather than making life better. I have lived half my life in congested Southern California and another third in New York City. I much prefer living closer to nature and away from all the problems of a dense population.

[@Alex-od7nl]

super commuting is an extreme by-product of the so-called "American Dream". In order to have that big house in the exurbs and the lifestyle that entails (along with all the debt), you must sacrifice several hours a day of your life sitting in traffic.

[@clayton97330]

Looking at European supercomputers would be interesting. I have a friend that lives in Brussels and works in Paris. I knew plenty of people in Europe who did 90+ minutes each way for their jobs. The disparity between city and countryside (at least where I was) was more exaggerated than in the US.

[@97nelsn]

Some people use flights to commute between cities in Europe in some cases. I remember one of the concerns of Brexit was the people that lived in the EU but commuted to London by air but due to the UK leaving the EU, border controls would be put in place due to the UK no longer being in the Schengen Area.

[@clayton97330]

@@97nelsn UK was never in the Schengen Zone, but Ireland is..

[@LucarioBoricua]

Or in East Asia, definitely a phenomenon in South Korea (Seoul's metro area catchment has more or less engulfed most of the country) or Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka attract commuters from very far away), in both cases empowered by high-speed rail and superb rail transit everywhere!

[@BlackHoleSpain]

I don't know about the salaries in Paris, but here in Spain an engineer, a doctor or a teacher makes about 2500€/month. Not worth commuting from far away cities.

[@sdstacey46]

Back in The Before Times (Spring 2007), I was in my last semester of college. I had received an internship in local government (Houston) via my university. All I had left were electives so I picked online classes for those. Two weeks before school started, my stepmom needed someone to live in her house in San Antonio for a few months. So for the entire semester I lived in San Antonio and commuted one day a week back to Houston for my internship. In the long run, it paid off: the office I was interning in actually offered me a FT position there, and I won an award from my university for dedication to my project thanks to my super commute. But God help me, I will never do that again. A 10-hour traffic (thanks, Houston traffic) on top of an 8-hour workday? I can't handle that long-term. So when I see people that do that sort of thing, I'm simultaneously awed and sad for them.

[@grahambentley3964]

We had to live in Ontario when I was a kid, as we couldn't afford housing closer to my dad's job (West LA). He made that commute for 7 years, and it nearly killed him.

[@gumerzambrano]

That's insane! So far away

[@twostop6895]

@@gumerzambrano Ontario is in California, look it up, it's right on the western edge of the mountain pass from the east

[@Geotpf]

​@@twostop6895It has a large international airport too. "I didn't want to fly to Ontario, CA; I wanted to fly to Ontario, CA!!!"

[@christianlendo7787]

​@@gumerzambranoOntario is a small city in California..

[@cyclicmusings2661]

Always nice to hear you talk about Florida and particularly my hometown of Orlando. Our mass transit is largely a disappointment but slowly improving. Looking forward to that Brightline Connection to Tampa but it's not going to be particularly useful to conmuters unless our local commuter train (Sunrail) finally builds that extension to the airport they've been promising for years but haven't built it despite being proposed on existing rail lines. Also they need to increase frequency - some trains in midday can be an hour or two apart! Right now only rush hours get 30 minute frequency but I'd like to see them bring it down to at least 20 minutes and run 3 trains an hour if running 4 trains an hour is too much for them.

[@NicksDynasty]

I fly from Columbus to Detroit every Sunday and fly back on Tuesday. * Flight Attendant based in DTW (We make the same no matter where we live)

[@etbadaboum]

In France TGV lines allowed for many people to live outside Paris metro area and commuting, reinforced by post-post-pandemic work shift where many companies allow for employees to stay at home for a few days but not all, I don't have numbers though. Another great win for trains.

[@gogogogia]

Richmond VA to DC is also a commute I hear happening more and more. Way cheaper to live in RVA vs the NOVA suburbs

[@Indigolily80]

Some people can even take the VRE or Amtrack instead of driving. My mom commuted to DC from Newport News.

[@gogogogia]

@@Indigolily80 ah didn’t know the VRE went past Fredericksburg… would have made my trips from VCU back to Nova easier !

[@rosemarywilliams9969]

I'm an assistant and I commute 6 hours to work. I could not find work in different states and city so I go to the only place that will employ me. Can't wait to be done with this life! World is a lie😢

[@josherrino]

Another commute to look at is the California high desert. 200 mile round trips are the norm for workers here that are looking to sustain their way of life. Many of us travel to the inland empire and even as far west as Santa Monica

[@dudoklasovity2093]

for us Europeans, if work is more than 15 mins away, we stay at home😂

[@ckEagle165]

I'm an American, who is very soon about to be a European. My wife is from Greece, so we're moving there. Your comment sums up part of the reason for our move

[@mikko.g]

I chose to live close to my job (60 minute walk, 15 minute bike, 5 minute drive), then my job moved but I couldn't. So now I commute 3 hours a day via combination of car, bus, train, bike, micro mobility. 😪

[@Fan652w]

I think there are people like you all over the developed world. There are certainly a lot in Britain where I live.

[@bloqk16]

An aspect I noticed about the vehicle driving commuters in the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose region is how the traffic jams started earlier in the morning commutes over the past 40 years. When I live in the region in the 1980s, the 7 AM hour was when the traffic got heavy. But then people figured if they left home earlier, they'd avoid the crush of traffic. But, when having tens of thousands of commuters thinking the same, then the heavy traffic shifted to 6:30 AM; where it seems every succeeding decade, the traffic jams started earlier and earlier in the Bay Area.

[@tomscott1159]

I only watched the first 10 minutes. I stopped because you ignored a huge cost averted by many commuters: the cost of decent education. I have two in school. They literally walk to some of the most highly-rated schools in the nation. If I moved into some neat downtown areas, it would cost at least $30,000 per year for equivalent schools in addition to the crime, much higher home prices, and higher taxes. I have lived in large urban centers, but left after schools came into play.

[@theempirestrikesback]

When i lived in Chicago, i worked with 3 different supercommuters. One lived in Milwaukee and took the train to Chicago 3x week. The other two came from sw Michigan (2-3 hours based on time one way) and had accommodations where they'd stay the night or only come in office one or two days a week. I also had a handful of teachers that drive from Central Indiana to Chicago daily. Had to be 2 hrs minimum one way.

[@roxycocksey]

This came across my recommended and I subbed! I love this video because I relate to this subject A LOT. I’ve always unfortunately lived far from everything my whole life. When I was younger, it was my friends and my school. For my adult life it’s been my friends, my partner (except my current boyfriend, thank god lol), and my jobs. I’ve had one close job before and unfortunately it was terrible so I didn’t work there long. I just started a new job 3 days ago that is anywhere from 1 1/2-2 hrs from my house and even in just these 3 days I feel my soul being drained from the commute. Luckily when I start my normal schedule I won’t be commuting in rush hour traffic, so at least I’ve got that. The industry I work in is very niche so there’s not a ton of places I can work at so therefore I must commute if I want affordable housing 🤷🏻‍♀️ it sucks big time and I wish this situation could be better for all of us that have to deal with it.

[@jennifertomaiolo]

I commuted from Brooklyn to Norwalk, CT for 7 years (2 hrs each way). It was only 3 days a week and all trains. It was ok and it helped it was mostly a reverse commute, but now I walk to work and I am happier, even if cars are a menace on my walk. Walking to work is the best! Edit: I moved briefly during those 7 years to a place where I had to drive but it was "only a 45 minute" trip - driving almost killed me, I moved back to my 2 hour train trip from Brooklyn after 6 months.

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

"Maybe people can actually afford to live in Chicago" That's exactly it. Also Chicago is just a better place to live than Milwaukee or Rockford. By big American city standards, not only are there plenty of affordable neighborhoods in the city of Chicago, but there's also some very affordable inner suburbs (Cicero, Berwyn, Stickney, etc) that are closer to downtown than some Chicago neighborhoods are, and there are some very very affordable suburbs south of the city.

[@tony_5156]

Affordable? Affordable and safe? (Second part is important since Chicago is known for ummm… some Iraqi style action)

[@twostop6895]

@@tony_5156 crime is over blown and not as bad as it's always reported, normal people don't get caught up in nonsense

[@robfinegold1597]

@@tony_5156yeah it’s safe. Stop watching Fox News.

[@calvenknox8552]

@@tony_5156 Crime is, while fueled mostly by reputation, an actual issue. You don't have to watch trash T.V news to get that impression. Just stay away from the hood and you'll be fine 99% of the time, just like every other city.

[@Ilanon1569]

@@tony_5156 Chicago is safe, Neurotic Americans just want to blow a gasket at the idea of any area with a large Black community

[@appnzllr]

My wife had to drive 5 miles each way, but I had to drive 25 miles the other way. We've lived in a house we could afford 30 years ago, and there wasn't anyway to move where each of us had a short commute. We bought cars that got as high MPG as we could afford. Not much else to do to fix that. Working from home would solve a lot.

[@Geotpf]

I'll bet there are more couples in that sort of situation than you would think.

[@harktischris]

when i first moved to the bay area, i had a horrible commute from the east bay to the south bay, alameda county to santa clara county. it was awful. traffic got worse over time and eventually it was 90m-2h there in the am and--if there were bad accidents on the highway--2h up to 3h back. for a while though it made massive rational sense because of how stupidly expensive housing is down there (though now the east bay is also pretty pricey) and how much more that job paid than my previous job in the east bay, but it definitely came at the cost of mental health. glad i don't have to do that anymore (now i can take a short train to a downtown SF job). and it bums me out that there are people coming in to silicon valley with even worse commutes from like tracy. i don't blame people for WFH or moving away completely thanks to the greater availability of remote work. the bay area is frittering away its residents' productivity on absolutely moronic land-use, development, and transit patterns.

[@zenarodill]

Hi Ray! I’m a Tampa resident, when you’re in the area, would love to see a video based on how car dependent the city and overall metropolitan area is. I usually refer to Tampa as “the city where car dependence prevails.” Would also love to hear how public transit in Tampa in itself can improve for all residents across socioeconomic backgrounds when it comes to mobility access and reliability…even housing rates and sustainability. I love your channel and appreciate your insight on public transit, housing, and all aspects of cities across North America! ☺️

[@BobG15]

mexico has just announced plans to reintroduce passenger rail connecting a majority of the biggest cities, are building a new inter-oceanic rail corridor, and are completing the tren maya project in the yucatan peninsula. think this would be a great time to have another video looking at the future of mexican cities! theres also plans to build the mexico city to guanajuato high speed railway in the news following the upcoming election. so much stuff to talk about!

[@texasjapan4071]

A coworker I worked with told me that she would drive 300 miles each day for her commute. She only worked there cuz it was a stupidly high paying job, but apparently, she was driving so much, she had to get a new car every year, AND she could afford to do so. Not to mention she had to use the busiest highway corridor in our metro area to get there and back. Crazy.

[@walther2492]

All the lost lifetime...

[@mistahtom]

Some people would apply the labels “monotonous, dry, and deadpan” to describe @citynerd and I tend to agree with their assessment.

[@wombatdk]

Simply put: Rent near my workplace is upwards of $3000 for a tiny studio apartment. Rent about an hour away is $1500. No-brainer. Environment? Who gives a F? I sure don't. Money rules. That's ALL that matters.

[@birbluv9595]

My mind is just boggled by all the pollution for cars engaged in super-commuting. We are never going to get a handle on our climate goals with this going on.

[@waynepurcell6058]

You'd really dislike me lol. I live exactly three miles from my place of employment, but my daily "commute" is like 50 miles total. I drive a Miata, I like to drive my Miata, and I drive the hell out of my Miata. Wouldn't make any difference if they made an EV Miata either, I'd be burning through tires (and probably) batteries and be polluting just as much, just a different way.

[@connors3356]

i commute with a razer scooter i am powered by burritos and rage

[@birbluv9595]

@@connors3356 i like that. Wish i were young again and could ride scooters and eat burritos

[@Rhgeyer278]

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[@Ashleycorrie8494]

I've been struggling with finances for months after I lost my job and I haven’t been able to get another and also the bills are so much for me For real.

[@Rhgeyer278]

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[@Rhgeyer278]

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[@Ashleycorrie8494]

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[@Annakrueger822]

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[@AdamFoster]

I'm not a patreon, but I want to see this study done for snowsports/outdoor sports towns. There are people commuting 70-80 miles one way to Aspen, and it's becoming common. Summit County and Tahoe probably aren't much different. And in these situations, its not just distance but its also an issue of weather and technical mountain pass driving increasing the time commitment beyond milage. All from these resorts who claim to care about winter, these towns that claim to care about winter, but wont do the one thing that would take thousands of pounds of carbon out of the air per day. The same situation that would make it not destructive to prevent people from buying houses/condos they don't live in, forcing employees to commute from an hour away.

[@jonahs4819]

Well, frankly, Aspen is filled to the brim with elitist millionaires who quite literally hate poor people. I’d bet all my money that less than 10% of the rich people there can even conceive of climate change affecting their life. And that remaining 10% hates commoners so much they don’t care that they have to drive 100 miles to work. For them, climate change is worth it if it means poor people won’t be sleeping in the same zip code as them.

[@bonne_vie]

This is a huge issue

[@TD05SSLegacy]

There is a video about that from another you tuber. And ski areas are becoming artificial cultural centers. Corporations make real communities into skiing theme parks. Crested Butte is one of the examples in the video. They are now ‘company towns’ with one single employer owning 80 to 90 percent of businesses. They can black list employees without due process.

[@AdamFoster]

@@TD05SSLegacy care to share? I saw the Wendover video, and he's only sort of covering surface level topics and gets a few things not quite right.

[@TD05SSLegacy]

@@AdamFoster yes that one. “How ski towns destroy communities…” if that’s the one you are referring to. Not gotten the City Nerd data treatment but some data show from census and again points to housing investment for short-term rentals leaves homes empty in shoulder and off seasons. College towns have this too much extreme examples in ski towns.