"Think of a woman who buys a home in one part of town, takes a new job in another area a few years later, and is then stuck with a 90-minute commute, or of a ma

"Think of a woman who buys a home in one part of town, takes a new job in another area a few years later, and is then stuck with a 90-minute commute, or of a man who turns down the better job because he doesn’t want to sell his home or be saddled with a long commute. Now multiply that by millions of households across the country. Homeownership locks people in place, in large part because of the high transaction costs of buying and selling property." This assumes that you exist first and foremost to work jobs, and anything that impedes this is bad and needs to be optimized away. This is very American, very contemporary - don't accept it as universal. Move a little to the side in time and in space and people are "from somewhere", live there, and optimize their life to improve them living there - possibly by taking jobs in the vicinity.