5 ms·

I totally agree, but also recognized how amazingly lucky we are to even consider making such a commitment. Most folks don't have options like that.

• seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Two body problems almost always mean one body has to sacrifice for the other.
  • fudged71 10y ago
    unless you stack the bodies in a high rise at different prices :)
    • harryjo 10y ago
      "Two body problem" refers to a married couple. It is p^2 as hard to find good jobs near a potential home.
• ng12 10y ago
  I think that's part of the problem though, as a consequence of car ownership we've normalized having a terrible commute. We can't build traffic-free cities if we're not committed to the idea.
  • tropo 10y ago
    The commute is created by the expense of moving closer to work. If renting, you may suffer a rent control reset. If owning, you lose 10% of the home's value to various middlemen. You also get a reset on property taxes. Either way, you also have the opportunity cost associated with a house search, and you have the moving expenses.
    • ng12 10y ago
      It's still a symptom of the root issue -- sparse, car-centric cities. I live in NYC and the odds of me switching jobs to the point where I'd need to move (or purchase a car) are basically nil. Even if the only job I could find was in Stamford I'd still have a better commute than a lot of people in LA.
      • tropo 10y ago
        I think you aren't seeing all the options: 1. super-dense city core (your current situation) 2. mega sprawl like LA and Houston 3. traditional suburb, with long commute into a city 4. out on the farm/ranch, maybe telecommuting 5. small town 6. small city In particular, I think #6 is what you are missing out on. By that I mean the sort of place with 50 to 100 thousand people, laid out like a suburb but not oriented around commuting to a big city. The population density would be 1000 to 2000 per square mile. In this sort of place, commuting is easy by both bicycle and car. Traffic is seldom much of a concern. Parking is plentiful. Usually the houses are cheap, frequently 100 to 500 thousand for free-standing homes with yards. Usually the schools are good, with enough people to have a full set of advanced classes at the local high school. I've lived in several of these in several states. My commute is typically single-digit miles. I normally drive, but walking isn't much trouble. Currently I walk less than a mile. I'll need to do 5 miles in the near future, which should take 10 minutes by car. What is not to like about it?
        • freeone3000 10y ago
          It doesn't scale, by definition.
          • tropo 10y ago
            It scales just fine. The continental USA can hold about 200000 of these, with a total population of 6 to 12 billion. (hey, that's everybody!) Scale by making more cities, not bigger cities.
            • Spooky23 10y ago
• justinzollars 10y ago
  We are the privileged few. Most people are in dire straights. So yes, I'm thankful to have that option.