Living on the UWS and commuting to midtown via riverside park/west side highway doesn't count as a long commute. The only reason it's long is that you choose to

Living on the UWS and commuting to midtown via riverside park/west side highway doesn't count as a long commute. The only reason it's long is that you choose to bike it rather than take the subway. Living in central Jersey (or hudson valley or greenwich) and commuting 2 hrs to midtown via car and NJT-- that's more the tradeoff the OP is talking about. :-P That said, another choice (may not be valid in some cities) is to split the difference-- live on the edge of cities where housing is more affordable, but commutes are still reasonable (e.g. South Brooklyn, Washington Heights).