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I said exactly that. Only that you can choose to work and live in Amsterdam, ~15 minutes cycling from work. Or Eindhoven, Nijmegen, even Enschede or Groningen.

by berkes 4y ago

I said exactly that. Only that you can choose to work and live in Amsterdam, ~15 minutes cycling from work. Or Eindhoven, Nijmegen, even Enschede or Groningen. Yet many people choose to live 30 minutes car-commute (or train) from their work. E.g. because it's easier to find a place there (which suits their wishes). Reverse: I'm certain that if you live in, say, Nijmegen, you can find a job there, but many people choose to work in Arnhem, Eindhoven or Amsterdam instead travelling up and down every day. I know. I've been there done that. In all directions.

tigerlily 4y ago
I had to work in Arnhem once, but I chose to live in Nijmegen. If I timed it right I could do 10 minutes on the bike, 12 minutes by train and another 10 minutes by bike again. Most commutes were 40 minutes all up, which I found pretty workable. I didn't want the hassle of owning a car.
squeaky-clean 4y ago
It still sounds like you're sacrificing your personal life for the sake of a commute. Good commute? Crap living situation. Good living situation? Crappy commute. Or I could just work from home and have a good living situation and no commute.
- berkes 4y ago
  You're missing my point. In the US, in most places, it is illegal to have work and home close to each other. You are forced to choose between commuting and WFH. In Europe no such laws exist. If anything, the opposite is cemented in laws. Meaning it's often possible to work close from where you live and vice versa. I often work from home. But can choose to get on my bike and be in an office with colleagues, beer, pingpong and noise when I need it. My point was that this choice is important. And that good city planning allows for such choices
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    > it is illegal to have work and home close to each other. What do you mean by illegal?
    - berkes 4y ago
      Well, IANAL, but zoning and such, disallow commercial buildings (shops, offices, factories) in housing zones. I understand this differs per state or per locality even. And I think 'illegal' is probably not the right legal term either.
      - squeaky-clean 4y ago
        Zoning is usually block by block. Sure maybe your job is in a massive shopping mall that takes up 3 square blocks of space, but there will still be residences near it. The bigger issue is being priced out of living near your job. I've lived in several cities in the US and always had the legal ability to live within a 10 minute walk of my office, but not the financial ability. It's about double the price of living roughly an hour away in morning traffic. Ever since going remote I'm able to choose where I want to live based on the other quality-of-life factors in my neighborhood, and not have to worry about trading commute time for rent.

by berkes 4y ago

tigerlily 4y ago

I had to work in Arnhem once, but I chose to live in Nijmegen. If I timed it right I could do 10 minutes on the bike, 12 minutes by train and another 10 minutes by bike again. Most commutes were 40 minutes all up, which I found pretty workable. I didn't want the hassle of owning a car.

squeaky-clean 4y ago

It still sounds like you're sacrificing your personal life for the sake of a commute. Good commute? Crap living situation. Good living situation? Crappy commute. Or I could just work from home and have a good living situation and no commute.

berkes 4y ago
You're missing my point. In the US, in most places, it is illegal to have work and home close to each other. You are forced to choose between commuting and WFH. In Europe no such laws exist. If anything, the opposite is cemented in laws. Meaning it's often possible to work close from where you live and vice versa. I often work from home. But can choose to get on my bike and be in an office with colleagues, beer, pingpong and noise when I need it. My point was that this choice is important. And that good city planning allows for such choices
- ekianjo 4y ago
  > it is illegal to have work and home close to each other. What do you mean by illegal?
  - berkes 4y ago
    Well, IANAL, but zoning and such, disallow commercial buildings (shops, offices, factories) in housing zones. I understand this differs per state or per locality even. And I think 'illegal' is probably not the right legal term either.
    - squeaky-clean 4y ago
      Zoning is usually block by block. Sure maybe your job is in a massive shopping mall that takes up 3 square blocks of space, but there will still be residences near it. The bigger issue is being priced out of living near your job. I've lived in several cities in the US and always had the legal ability to live within a 10 minute walk of my office, but not the financial ability. It's about double the price of living roughly an hour away in morning traffic. Ever since going remote I'm able to choose where I want to live based on the other quality-of-life factors in my neighborhood, and not have to worry about trading commute time for rent.