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Why does everyone claim to have an hour commute? That’s a significant outlier.

bendauphinee 2y ago
Having recently driven through downtown Toronto at rush hour for an in person office visit, I could see how an hour would be easy to rack up, because I’ve done it. One day at the end of the workday, it took me 20 minutes to get from my parking garage, around a single city block, and to the highway on ramp. Never again.
dyauspitr 2y ago
You’d be surprised how many people that work in Manhattan offices have 1hr+ long commutes.
jinushaun 2y ago
In the is Seattle area you’re likely spending 30-45 min to go 10-15 miles. 20 miles is easily an hour.
albert_e 2y ago
I invite you to visit Bangalore or any city in India. Unless you are a career beginner and living in a shared one room "paying guest" arrangement closer to office or you are upper management earning enough to afford an apartment closer to office ... you are more likely living in an affordable apartment (that still costs you your life savings and 20 year mortagage) and commuting through horrendous trafic for 2-3 hours each day. This is me.
Volundr 2y ago
Is it? Back when I was commuting from Boise -> Nampa (a suburb where a lot of folks live) leaving at rush hour it'd easily take me a minimum of 45 minutes to get home. They've done some upgrades since so it might be better now, (I blessedly don't have a reason to find out). Plenty of folks were going to Caldwell (even further out). I don't have firsthand knowledge but it would surprise me to learn the big tech hubs are better.
mitthrowaway2 2y ago
An outlier in which direction? If you have to make even one transit connection, it's hard to average less than an hour.
- snakeyjake 2y ago
  In the United States the average commute time is under 30 minutes. The vast majority of Americans live in suburbs and the door-to-door from their suburban rancher to the office by car is 15-20 minutes. If, in the United States, your commute is over one hour you are an extreme outlier in the "wtf are you thinking?" direction.
  - antifa 2y ago
    > wtf are you thinking 1. Wanted to buy a house (everywhere closer is either a ghetto or 100k+ more and usually both). 2. Not going to spend 6 additional months job hunting to micro-optimize commute.
    - DiggyJohnson 2y ago
      All GP and I are trying to point out is that the average commute, depending on city, is somewhere between 15-40 minutes and is normally distributed.
  - nicoburns 2y ago
    > If, in the United States, your commute is over one hour you are an extreme outlier in the "wtf are you thinking?" direction. In a post-pandemic world the "what they were thinking" may well have been that had 2 years when they weren't permitted to work in an office, and made decisions on the basis that this would continue. My dad moved to an entirely different city 8 hours away from where he was originally living (although in his case he checked that he would allowed to continue working remotely before moving (which he has been able to), and was close to retiring anyway).
    - DiggyJohnson 2y ago
Freedom2 2y ago
Can you provide any statistics to show that it's an outlier?
pjmlp 2y ago
Quite common in most European cities, it suffices to have at least one change of transport.
amyames 2y ago
in LA, it’s 45-60+ minutes to drive anywhere. work if you’re lucky. groceries. gym. social activities. I’ve had 3 hour commutes in Chicago suburbs too. Austin and the Bay Area are awful too. Did all of them. Now I live in a town where it’s no more than 15 minutes to anything.
- DiggyJohnson 2y ago
  Double check me, but every source I can find says the average commute time in Los Angeles for working professionals is bang on 30 minutes.
- klipklop 2y ago
  Where is this magical place that also has in-office well paying tech jobs?
spicyusername 2y ago
One answer could be survivorship bias. Only the people who have long commutes are going to make comments about it, and thus every comment makes it seem like every person is saying they have an hour commute. When in reality the people with short commutes don't comment on it.

Having recently driven through downtown Toronto at rush hour for an in person office visit, I could see how an hour would be easy to rack up, because I’ve done it. One day at the end of the workday, it took me 20 minutes to get from my parking garage, around a single city block, and to the highway on ramp. Never again.

dyauspitr 2y ago

You’d be surprised how many people that work in Manhattan offices have 1hr+ long commutes.

jinushaun 2y ago

In the is Seattle area you’re likely spending 30-45 min to go 10-15 miles. 20 miles is easily an hour.

albert_e 2y ago

I invite you to visit Bangalore or any city in India. Unless you are a career beginner and living in a shared one room "paying guest" arrangement closer to office or you are upper management earning enough to afford an apartment closer to office ... you are more likely living in an affordable apartment (that still costs you your life savings and 20 year mortagage) and commuting through horrendous trafic for 2-3 hours each day. This is me.

Volundr 2y ago

Is it? Back when I was commuting from Boise -> Nampa (a suburb where a lot of folks live) leaving at rush hour it'd easily take me a minimum of 45 minutes to get home. They've done some upgrades since so it might be better now, (I blessedly don't have a reason to find out). Plenty of folks were going to Caldwell (even further out). I don't have firsthand knowledge but it would surprise me to learn the big tech hubs are better.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago

An outlier in which direction? If you have to make even one transit connection, it's hard to average less than an hour.

snakeyjake 2y ago
In the United States the average commute time is under 30 minutes. The vast majority of Americans live in suburbs and the door-to-door from their suburban rancher to the office by car is 15-20 minutes. If, in the United States, your commute is over one hour you are an extreme outlier in the "wtf are you thinking?" direction.
- antifa 2y ago
  > wtf are you thinking 1. Wanted to buy a house (everywhere closer is either a ghetto or 100k+ more and usually both). 2. Not going to spend 6 additional months job hunting to micro-optimize commute.
  - DiggyJohnson 2y ago
    All GP and I are trying to point out is that the average commute, depending on city, is somewhere between 15-40 minutes and is normally distributed.
- nicoburns 2y ago
  > If, in the United States, your commute is over one hour you are an extreme outlier in the "wtf are you thinking?" direction. In a post-pandemic world the "what they were thinking" may well have been that had 2 years when they weren't permitted to work in an office, and made decisions on the basis that this would continue. My dad moved to an entirely different city 8 hours away from where he was originally living (although in his case he checked that he would allowed to continue working remotely before moving (which he has been able to), and was close to retiring anyway).
  - DiggyJohnson 2y ago

Freedom2 2y ago

Can you provide any statistics to show that it's an outlier?

pjmlp 2y ago

Quite common in most European cities, it suffices to have at least one change of transport.

amyames 2y ago

in LA, it’s 45-60+ minutes to drive anywhere. work if you’re lucky. groceries. gym. social activities. I’ve had 3 hour commutes in Chicago suburbs too. Austin and the Bay Area are awful too. Did all of them. Now I live in a town where it’s no more than 15 minutes to anything.

DiggyJohnson 2y ago
Double check me, but every source I can find says the average commute time in Los Angeles for working professionals is bang on 30 minutes.
klipklop 2y ago
Where is this magical place that also has in-office well paying tech jobs?

spicyusername 2y ago

One answer could be survivorship bias. Only the people who have long commutes are going to make comments about it, and thus every comment makes it seem like every person is saying they have an hour commute. When in reality the people with short commutes don't comment on it.