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Back in my days of working in an office, I used to move to a new apartment every time I changed jobs so that I could stay within walking distance. Being young

Back in my days of working in an office, I used to move to a new apartment every time I changed jobs so that I could stay within walking distance. Being young and minimalist helped a lot with being able to pull it off, but I'd definitely recommend it for the benefits. Especially living downtown (Portland in my case) and having a short to medium sized stroll through the city to work, it's amazing what a difference it makes to your sanity compared to sitting in traffic for 45 minutes. I would interview for jobs and the first thing I'd ask the recruiter was whether they were in Portland itself or out in the suburbs. They'd say "yeah, definitely Portland" then set up an interview and give me an address out towards Beaverton. I'd have to cancel. Moving to LA, the difference was even more pronounced. I set up shop in a shabby little neighborhood in San Gabriel, the shortest distance across the sea of concrete that contained the office I was contracting at. They had guys driving in from the hills above Mission Viejo and even Yucaipa, 2.5 hours away. It was insane. Those guys never seemed overly happy with the situation. But I bet their houses looked nice. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about this anymore. Enough shops have caught on to the benefits of having everybody remote that a fella can pick up a gig from anywhere in the world these days. I haven't commuted more than 50 feet in a decade.

mooreds 11y ago
And that behavior of yours (before you started doing remote work) is a huge and understated benefit of renting rather than buying s home. You aren't "throwing money away", you are paying for, among other things, the privilege of being able to move quickly and cheaply.
dsp1234 11y ago
The flip side of this is to find a good company that is in the metro area, but not in the main city. For example, my commute from Sherwood to Wilsonville is 20-25 minutes. Since I'm not trying to drive through Portland proper, I'm able to use a back road that has 2-3 cards on it during 'rush hour'. So I'm able to get the big house and the short commute at the same time by have a starting and ending destination that is not where everyone else is.
- jasonkester 11y ago
  Indeed. One of those early moves was into one of the run down apartments across the tracks from the Home Depot in Tigard, so that I could be walking distance to the little office park there. Super cheap, and plenty of stuff around to do. Just not overly walkable or as pleasant as living in the Pearl District. Then again, just like a fella can make up for a lot of unpleasantness given an extra 1-5 hours a day in free time, the same can be said for paying half the rent of a downtown loft. They still let you drive in to town on the weekends if you get bored of throwing darts at a plastic board and drinking Budweiser non-ironically. And working a software job while living in the "first month free" apartments, you can certainly afford to do so.
zmmmmm 11y ago
It all falls down though as soon as you have any significant priority in your life other than work however. Just a partner who works elsewhere will put you in a quandry, and a family will totally do you over (schools immediately elevate to trump just about any other priority). I think there's a lot to be said for living close to work, but there's even more to be said for cities investing well provisioned, fast and inexpensive public transport. The intangible benefits from a happier, more flexible, mobile workforce are huge. Where I live I am extremely fortunate: I am 45 minutes away from work by train, but 95% of the time I can sit down and work on my laptop for 80% of that time. So I see my "effective" commute as about 15 minutes.
- iaresee 11y ago
  I'm in strong agreement here. The character and nature of the commute play a huge role. There's a big difference between sitting in a train for 45 minutes and sitting in a car in traffic for 45 minutes. Being able to free your mind from the stresses of conducting a vehicle make a longer commute far more tolerable long-term IMO. Investing in public transportation is where it's at.

mooreds 11y ago

And that behavior of yours (before you started doing remote work) is a huge and understated benefit of renting rather than buying s home. You aren't "throwing money away", you are paying for, among other things, the privilege of being able to move quickly and cheaply.

dsp1234 11y ago

The flip side of this is to find a good company that is in the metro area, but not in the main city. For example, my commute from Sherwood to Wilsonville is 20-25 minutes. Since I'm not trying to drive through Portland proper, I'm able to use a back road that has 2-3 cards on it during 'rush hour'. So I'm able to get the big house and the short commute at the same time by have a starting and ending destination that is not where everyone else is.

jasonkester 11y ago
Indeed. One of those early moves was into one of the run down apartments across the tracks from the Home Depot in Tigard, so that I could be walking distance to the little office park there. Super cheap, and plenty of stuff around to do. Just not overly walkable or as pleasant as living in the Pearl District. Then again, just like a fella can make up for a lot of unpleasantness given an extra 1-5 hours a day in free time, the same can be said for paying half the rent of a downtown loft. They still let you drive in to town on the weekends if you get bored of throwing darts at a plastic board and drinking Budweiser non-ironically. And working a software job while living in the "first month free" apartments, you can certainly afford to do so.

zmmmmm 11y ago

It all falls down though as soon as you have any significant priority in your life other than work however. Just a partner who works elsewhere will put you in a quandry, and a family will totally do you over (schools immediately elevate to trump just about any other priority). I think there's a lot to be said for living close to work, but there's even more to be said for cities investing well provisioned, fast and inexpensive public transport. The intangible benefits from a happier, more flexible, mobile workforce are huge. Where I live I am extremely fortunate: I am 45 minutes away from work by train, but 95% of the time I can sit down and work on my laptop for 80% of that time. So I see my "effective" commute as about 15 minutes.

iaresee 11y ago
I'm in strong agreement here. The character and nature of the commute play a huge role. There's a big difference between sitting in a train for 45 minutes and sitting in a car in traffic for 45 minutes. Being able to free your mind from the stresses of conducting a vehicle make a longer commute far more tolerable long-term IMO. Investing in public transportation is where it's at.