5 ms·

Sure I can live an hour away from my workplace and sit on the BART 2 hours every day but it's quite well known that this kind of living is bad for you [1] and I

Sure I can live an hour away from my workplace and sit on the BART 2 hours every day but it's quite well known that this kind of living is bad for you [1] and I know from experience I would hate doing that again. Why commute all that way when I can move somewhere much more reasonable and get a 3 bed house with a pool for the same price as a small 1 bed apartment in SF, AND only have a 10 minute drive to work? These places exist all over the world and contrary to popular belief around these parts, smart people and businesses do exist in places other than SV. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your_commute_is_killing_you.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your...

caniszczyk 14y ago
Totally agree, that's the reason I'm in Austin.
- ahlatimer 14y ago
  +1 for Austin. My base salary is slightly higher in Austin, mostly due to moving to a later-stage company, though the salaries really aren't that different. My take-home pay is noticeably higher because of that and the lack of state income tax. Couple that with a substantially lower cost of living [1], and my dollars go a lot farther. The financials of it isn't the end of it, though. The nightlife is better, the people are nicer, I can have a backyard, I'm not severely limiting my options by having dogs, and the weather is better (for me, but I'm used to hot). I'm significantly happier in Austin. [1]: My 2-bedroom house that I live in by myself costs about what I was paying for my share of a 2-bedroom apartment in SF. Both required about a 10 minute commute, though I drive in Austin where I could walk in SF. It extends beyond rent, though. Everything in SF is more expensive, though nothing is quite as dramatic as the rent.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - caniszczyk 14y ago
    On top of what you said, I think the culture and nightlife is amazing in Austin. There's more to do than in the bay area IMHO (this includes SF which most shit closes down early and has a sorry ass nightlife). The culture is a lot less vapid, people don't care where you work and I find people just more balanced. Furthermore, if you're fitness, there are so many running clubs, core classes and cycling races that go on. Note: I moved to the bay area for a couple years before heading back to Austin (I lived in Austin for a decade before wanting to try out the bay area, no idea why people like it so much).
kyrra 14y ago
Agreed. I was job hunting a couple years ago and decided to stay in Austin after looking at SF and Seattle areas. The cost of living + commute just wasn't worth it to me. In Austin I can get pay pretty close to Seattle, but live within 30 minutes of my office (fairly easily) and have a nice house to live in.
sbov 14y ago
To each their own. I rather enjoy riding the train. It forces me to do things I should do anyways. For the vast majority of jobs it would be time wasted. But as a software developer it's an automatic 1.5 hours per day I have to spend thinking about what I need to do.
- hudibras 14y ago
  I used to feel exactly the same way, but eventually the novelty wore off after I started a family. The prospect of spending 2 hours every day commuting for the next 20-30 years got me looking at real estate and job listings real quick. Two hours a day is 500 hours a year on the train. That's a tremendous amount of time to be away from your loved ones for the sake of a Good Job or a Nice House.
  - ihaveajob 14y ago
    That's assuming you waste those 2 hours. I do work while on Caltrain, and count those hours as work, not as missed private time.
- peacemaker 14y ago
  Does that 1.5 hours per day count as part of your work day, allowing you to leave work earlier? Or are you just doing extra work every day and not being compensated for it? I can understand using that time to better yourself in some way, but working for free I don't agree with.
  - sbov 14y ago
    There aren't any particular number of hours I have to be there. Usually I just leave when I hit a good stopping point for the day.
candybar 14y ago
Have they differentiated between commuters who drive and commuters who have public transit? I wonder how much of this is due to the length of the commute as opposed to specific common experience (driving? traffic?) during the commute.
- zmj 14y ago
  There's not a ton of data, but one study suggested: stress from long automobile commute > long public transit commute > short public transit commute > short automobile commute.
hnriot 14y ago
You either love SF or you don't, for me cities are not interchangeable based on factors of convenience. I live in SF, and love it.

caniszczyk 14y ago

Totally agree, that's the reason I'm in Austin.

ahlatimer 14y ago
+1 for Austin. My base salary is slightly higher in Austin, mostly due to moving to a later-stage company, though the salaries really aren't that different. My take-home pay is noticeably higher because of that and the lack of state income tax. Couple that with a substantially lower cost of living [1], and my dollars go a lot farther. The financials of it isn't the end of it, though. The nightlife is better, the people are nicer, I can have a backyard, I'm not severely limiting my options by having dogs, and the weather is better (for me, but I'm used to hot). I'm significantly happier in Austin. [1]: My 2-bedroom house that I live in by myself costs about what I was paying for my share of a 2-bedroom apartment in SF. Both required about a 10 minute commute, though I drive in Austin where I could walk in SF. It extends beyond rent, though. Everything in SF is more expensive, though nothing is quite as dramatic as the rent.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- caniszczyk 14y ago
  On top of what you said, I think the culture and nightlife is amazing in Austin. There's more to do than in the bay area IMHO (this includes SF which most shit closes down early and has a sorry ass nightlife). The culture is a lot less vapid, people don't care where you work and I find people just more balanced. Furthermore, if you're fitness, there are so many running clubs, core classes and cycling races that go on. Note: I moved to the bay area for a couple years before heading back to Austin (I lived in Austin for a decade before wanting to try out the bay area, no idea why people like it so much).

kyrra 14y ago

Agreed. I was job hunting a couple years ago and decided to stay in Austin after looking at SF and Seattle areas. The cost of living + commute just wasn't worth it to me. In Austin I can get pay pretty close to Seattle, but live within 30 minutes of my office (fairly easily) and have a nice house to live in.

sbov 14y ago

To each their own. I rather enjoy riding the train. It forces me to do things I should do anyways. For the vast majority of jobs it would be time wasted. But as a software developer it's an automatic 1.5 hours per day I have to spend thinking about what I need to do.

hudibras 14y ago
I used to feel exactly the same way, but eventually the novelty wore off after I started a family. The prospect of spending 2 hours every day commuting for the next 20-30 years got me looking at real estate and job listings real quick. Two hours a day is 500 hours a year on the train. That's a tremendous amount of time to be away from your loved ones for the sake of a Good Job or a Nice House.
- ihaveajob 14y ago
  That's assuming you waste those 2 hours. I do work while on Caltrain, and count those hours as work, not as missed private time.
peacemaker 14y ago
Does that 1.5 hours per day count as part of your work day, allowing you to leave work earlier? Or are you just doing extra work every day and not being compensated for it? I can understand using that time to better yourself in some way, but working for free I don't agree with.
- sbov 14y ago
  There aren't any particular number of hours I have to be there. Usually I just leave when I hit a good stopping point for the day.

candybar 14y ago

Have they differentiated between commuters who drive and commuters who have public transit? I wonder how much of this is due to the length of the commute as opposed to specific common experience (driving? traffic?) during the commute.

zmj 14y ago
There's not a ton of data, but one study suggested: stress from long automobile commute > long public transit commute > short public transit commute > short automobile commute.

hnriot 14y ago

You either love SF or you don't, for me cities are not interchangeable based on factors of convenience. I live in SF, and love it.