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Forgive my bluntness, but I have never understood the people who buy or rent houses very far away from work so they can save on a monthly housing payment when t

by 0xy 6y ago

Forgive my bluntness, but I have never understood the people who buy or rent houses very far away from work so they can save on a monthly housing payment when their hourly rate at work times the additional commute time is larger than the "saving".

Spooky23 6y ago
You don’t get paid either way. In many places, urban or close suburban school districts suck. In my city, due to court mandated decrees from 40 years ago, my kid would need to take a bus almost 60 minutes to the other side of town based on a lottery. In the NY Metro area, you can trade commute time for being a few minutes from the beach or living upstate with lots of open space, etc. People make choices based on what is important to them. Who in gods earth wants to live in some cramped apartment in Brooklyn or whatever if other options are available?
reyqn 6y ago
Where I live, you have to earn at least 3 times what you spend on housing to be allowed to rent/buy. This alone forces people to live further away from work even if it costs them more in the end.
topkai22 6y ago
You are assuming that people can increase thier income by working more hours. Most salaried employees can’t do so at all and hourly employees don’t often get overtime hours. It’s quite possible that commuting really is the only way to “earn” the bigger house. Regardless, there are other factors at play. A big one is that the amenities you want aren’t near your work place at any price point- see all those people who commute from SF to Mountain View. Another is that your job changed but you don’t want to move- I once rented a place near the downtown core thinking I’d always be close to work, and then somehow ended up with 45 minute commute to a satellite location. Once someone buys a place, get settled, and kids start school it gets a hard to move your residence as well.

by 0xy 6y ago

Spooky23 6y ago

You don’t get paid either way. In many places, urban or close suburban school districts suck. In my city, due to court mandated decrees from 40 years ago, my kid would need to take a bus almost 60 minutes to the other side of town based on a lottery. In the NY Metro area, you can trade commute time for being a few minutes from the beach or living upstate with lots of open space, etc. People make choices based on what is important to them. Who in gods earth wants to live in some cramped apartment in Brooklyn or whatever if other options are available?

reyqn 6y ago

Where I live, you have to earn at least 3 times what you spend on housing to be allowed to rent/buy. This alone forces people to live further away from work even if it costs them more in the end.

topkai22 6y ago

You are assuming that people can increase thier income by working more hours. Most salaried employees can’t do so at all and hourly employees don’t often get overtime hours. It’s quite possible that commuting really is the only way to “earn” the bigger house. Regardless, there are other factors at play. A big one is that the amenities you want aren’t near your work place at any price point- see all those people who commute from SF to Mountain View. Another is that your job changed but you don’t want to move- I once rented a place near the downtown core thinking I’d always be close to work, and then somehow ended up with 45 minute commute to a satellite location. Once someone buys a place, get settled, and kids start school it gets a hard to move your residence as well.