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>There are people who commute for an hour, and who select a place to live knowing they'll have to commute for an hour, despite having options within 5-10 minute

>There are people who commute for an hour, and who select a place to live knowing they'll have to commute for an hour, despite having options within 5-10 minutes. I can't even begin to fathom why someone would do that, and waste 10 hours of their life every week for years. I am from Perth, Australia and people voluntarily driving for upwards of 30 minutes each way is extremely common with 1 hour not being all that unusual so people will happily buy a home that is distant from where they work. Although Perth isn't huge in terms of population (~2 million) it is extremely spread out due to its very low population density. 310/km2 Vs 5354/km2 for London for example. Australian cities generally have a low density, Melbourne is 430/km2, but Perth is at the low end of the low end. Most Perth people have never lived anywhere else so they grow up assuming that being in the car for 20-40 minutes to get anywhere is common and that a 1 hour drive to work isn't particularly bad. At a company I worked at there was someone who had a 2 hour commute. That is very definitely at the very high end and he actually lived outside of the city and drove in every day but let that sink in a little. 4 hours a day in the car. This is, in my opinion, part of the reason why Perth people who experience living elsewhere rarely return to live in Perth. Some return after some time elsewhere but typically they leave for good after another year or two. Once you have acclimatized to having a <20 minute commute, especially if its by public transport or walking, the notion of paying a bunch of money to buy a car so you can sit in traffic for 20-60 minute each way every day is profoundly unattractive.

vithlani 11y ago
This is becoming increasingly true for all major Australian cities. There is no new housing stock being built within 30 min drive distance from major work hubs. This in turn induces fierce competition for housing within that zone, with purchase for people with a normal income pretty much out of the question. This forces moving to outer suburbs, which can mean anything from 45min-1.5 hour drives each way or an equal amount on public transport. The government willfully ignores this problem as more people on roads means more tolls, more tax from petrol, more tax from cars and their maintenance expenses, more income from greedy builders building sub-standard houses in the suburban sprawl -- and more of the population wasting their precious time in the needless daily grind rather then spending time with their families and doing things that would make them happier. The last bit enables scummy politicians and bureaucrats to get away with outright stealing and abuse of public funds as people simply have no energy or time to question them. For example: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-dodgy-auditorgeneral-report-on-consumer-protection-in-the-building-industry-20150528-ghbd3b.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-do... How could school funding be stolen like this? Because parents have no time or energy to question and scrutinize their local schools administration. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-dodgy-auditorgeneral-report-on-consumer-protection-in-the-building-industry-20150528-ghbd3b.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-do... Why are housing builds "dodgy"? Because there is no regulation and builders get away with murder. Also means you the consumer ends up spending more to fix it.
andrewf 11y ago
Infill also mean's Perth's roads are far busier than before. My dad commuted from Bateman to Fremantle for 30 years; the same morning journey easily takes twice as long as it used to.
arkem 11y ago
As a Perthian living in LA I think it's interesting to note that Perth has about the same area as Greater LA (minus San Bernardino and Riverside counties) yet Perth has 1/9th of the population (2 million vs 18 million). Commuting in LA is rougher than Perth due to the traffic but Perth's low density means that people often travel further to find the same variety of amenities.
rgbrenner 11y ago
>I am from Perth, Australia and people voluntarily driving for upwards of 30 minutes each way is extremely common with 1 hour not being all that unusual That's common in the US too... The average commute to work in the US is 25 minutes each way. And 1 in 12 people spend 1 hour or more each way. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/05/commuting-in-the-u-s-is-long-and-hellish-but-at-least-it-hasnt-gotten-worse/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/05/c...

vithlani 11y ago

This is becoming increasingly true for all major Australian cities. There is no new housing stock being built within 30 min drive distance from major work hubs. This in turn induces fierce competition for housing within that zone, with purchase for people with a normal income pretty much out of the question. This forces moving to outer suburbs, which can mean anything from 45min-1.5 hour drives each way or an equal amount on public transport. The government willfully ignores this problem as more people on roads means more tolls, more tax from petrol, more tax from cars and their maintenance expenses, more income from greedy builders building sub-standard houses in the suburban sprawl -- and more of the population wasting their precious time in the needless daily grind rather then spending time with their families and doing things that would make them happier. The last bit enables scummy politicians and bureaucrats to get away with outright stealing and abuse of public funds as people simply have no energy or time to question them. For example: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-dodgy-auditorgeneral-report-on-consumer-protection-in-the-building-industry-20150528-ghbd3b.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-do... How could school funding be stolen like this? Because parents have no time or energy to question and scrutinize their local schools administration. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-dodgy-auditorgeneral-report-on-consumer-protection-in-the-building-industry-20150528-ghbd3b.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-four-home-builds-do... Why are housing builds "dodgy"? Because there is no regulation and builders get away with murder. Also means you the consumer ends up spending more to fix it.

andrewf 11y ago

Infill also mean's Perth's roads are far busier than before. My dad commuted from Bateman to Fremantle for 30 years; the same morning journey easily takes twice as long as it used to.

arkem 11y ago

As a Perthian living in LA I think it's interesting to note that Perth has about the same area as Greater LA (minus San Bernardino and Riverside counties) yet Perth has 1/9th of the population (2 million vs 18 million). Commuting in LA is rougher than Perth due to the traffic but Perth's low density means that people often travel further to find the same variety of amenities.

rgbrenner 11y ago

>I am from Perth, Australia and people voluntarily driving for upwards of 30 minutes each way is extremely common with 1 hour not being all that unusual That's common in the US too... The average commute to work in the US is 25 minutes each way. And 1 in 12 people spend 1 hour or more each way. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/05/commuting-in-the-u-s-is-long-and-hellish-but-at-least-it-hasnt-gotten-worse/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/05/c...