Half hour? That's been debatable for some time now. As an example, it takes 20-30 minutes to commute from the Upper East Side to Midtown West, barring any subwa

Half hour? That's been debatable for some time now. As an example, it takes 20-30 minutes to commute from the Upper East Side to Midtown West, barring any subway issues. There are very few grocery store clerk, delivery drivers, and coffee baristas who live in UES. They've already been pushed out to the edges of Manhattan and other boroughs. The 20-30 minute commutes have been snapped up by younger people who have been priced out of the 10-15 minute commutes. You currently see a lot more ads for rentals that seem to stretch the boundaries of neighborhoods (e.g. West 110th Street == "Upper West Side"). The wait lists for rent stabilized apartments are incredibly long, so the chances of a grocery store clerk, delivery driver, or coffee barista getting into more affordable housing closer to their place of work is pretty slim. And good luck if you're an hourly employee with a long commute when the MTA lets you down in the form of a delayed train, or express-turned-local, etc. You're either penalized by your employer (or angry customers) for arriving late, or you penalize yourself by leaving the house 30-45 minutes earlier and sitting around unpaid until it's time for your shift to start (ignoring any cost of leaving the house earlier, e.g. cost of extra child care, or risk of being unreachable on the subway by a dependent).