Unfortunately no. Im with you, city rush hour traffic is pretty much the absolute worst kind of driving. East side / West side / South (e.g. Id be on board with public transportation options too, but given how long those take to get funded & built, self driving cars are more likely to happen first. I know! Not usually calls on the train, but email correspondence, reading, etc. Day. I got lucky in that I live in Dublin city centre and also work there. DH & I live in the Midwest (i.e. LA is an entirely different level of traffic. The user goes on to say that the way they see it, it's only at 2 hrs twice a week which would be the same as 35-40 mins daily of a commute. Youre commuting about 20-24 hours a week! Its not uncommon in my suburban town for it to take 20 minutes to go less than five miles. Its one of those things you have to be okay with in your work-life, so if the OP needs a different job with a better commute, that makes total sense to me. How long is too long to commute? I dont know anything about LA or LA traffic but to be fair, a 30 mile commute in the NYC area would also take FOREVER. Or if you live in suburbs with poor public transit and no BART access (or cant afford BART over bus fare). No. I finally settled into my long-term job with an hour commute each way and its a breeze to me. For a while, my work commute was about 3 minutes, which was nice, but that was when I was living in Ogden, and commuting to Salt Lake for school, and I hit rush hour going to school, so it was a lot worse. Later in the day, though, its another stories. For me, my 52 minute commute was extended to 1 hour 15 minutes anytime school was in session. La Habra and Whittier are pretty far from the freeways. I moved to Washington state for a bit in the early 90s, and I remember driving into Seattle with some friends of mind who warned me that wed be hitting rush hour traffic. Theres a reason why people in Southern California give distances in time and not in miles. An hour if I left any later. (2) I take public transportation. NOPE! I just want to point out that normal doesnt mean anything if youre suffering so much. The San Francisco Bay area is similar, even with having many more public transport options. 8 oil changes a year, $320. I got a new job. Now doing Reading-North Oxford and its 1.5-2 hours each way door to door. I did take the bus up and back once when my car was in the shop. I prefer taking the NYC bus even though it adds about 10 minutes to my commute. Old job was against traffic, current one iskind of across it. Ive since moved to a place with no public transportation (well, it exists, but its minimal and does not serve me at all), and how I long for my zone-out commute. Definitely love the straight shot commute. That area is home to Highway 401, the busiest stretch of highway in North America and one of the busiest and widest in the world. I barely saw him. I lived in LA for almost 30 years, grew up there, learned to drive there. Philly is much cheaper than NYC and their salary in NYC was still attractive enough to commute several hours each way. Human drivers lack the coordination and have too high reaction time to pull this off, so things inefficiently grind to a halt of roads. And I managed a 45 minute driving commute for two and a half years, its not bad, but not ideal either, even with some sweet tunes in the car. That was enough for us. 30 miles is very far for LA commuters. Yep; we discovered that the hard way last year while visiting my uncle in Palos Verdes. Public transportation, except for BART (and even BART), is not fast in the Bay Area. I ignored that rule in ex job and spent four years regretting it when I had a 90 minute commute each way that occasionally stretched to 2 hours (thank you and goodnight South Western railway). Very different than 50 minutes in traffic. But yeah, 30 miles in LA is a lot and will be at least an hour as youve found. It was an aggravating way to start the day anyway. Interestingly enough, the only sketchy/uncomfortable experience Ive EVER had on LA Metro was on the Expo line late at night on the weekend. Agreed, although theres a huge class element to commutes. The problem in practice is human drivers. Move your residence closer to your job, or get a job closer to your residence. It's quite a chunk out of your day. Youre not crazy. Do you end up having to leave very early and arrive home at bedtime? Tracy/Manteca/Stockton are solidly San Joaquin Valley, and a commute from anywhere south of Ceres (including Merced) is not considered commutable by most folks. LA is opening new rail lines more frequently, so you might have a solution come up soon. OP, depending on where youre living (sounds like maybe OC? Also, as some mentioned below, many freeways go through sketchy areas and I would not feel comfortable exiting. I had to reply to this. Yeah, LA you have to be pretty particular about where you live vs where you work. That does seem excessive, especially given the distance. On the East Coast you get commutes like that between CT and NY -northern CT. New York to Philadelphia (1.5 hours by train) or DC and Northern Virginia/ Maryland. I said above how I am not sure we do trains that well in this country!! However, you have to decide for yourself whether or not this is okay with you. Ahhhhh, Im so happy for you. DH and I also get dinner every night together, Im able to workout more and so is DH (since Im home earlier and can keep Tiny Human alive so he can go to the gym). Two hours is not normal and its decreasing not just your quality of life but your health. It was the extra push I needed to turn down a position that probably would have made me miserable. Im so sorry, OP. I live in The New Forest and work in London which is a 2 hour drive and I sometimes do it twice a week. Riding the train during commuting hours seems much different than late at night or on the weekend. June 29, 2018/ Jim Parker What was the biggest news in the world of cycling in 2017? Time is valuable, and spending it commuting sucks. My average drive time is between 50 and 90 minutes each way for 15 miles. My own commute is 15 minutes and that includes a stop to get breakfast. If I were you I would make sure you keep the appropriate . By car it still takes an average of 35-45 minutes. Im definitely one of the lucky ones! Ive been trying to reclaim my commute time and think of it as time to recharge, listen to a podcast or audiobook, basically just enjoy myself as much as possible while sitting still staring at taillights. Ez. Full-time, Part-time . Ha! Oh yes. 3 Strategies for Surviving a Long Commute. Taking either Sunset or 101 to 405 because of that interchange. Or maybe it means you start job searching, ideally being up front about that if possible, so it can be a smooth transition with you helping to hire and maybe train your replacement and him acting as a reference for you. About 10 years ago, I lived in the Cleveland burbs and commuted about 1 hour to graduate school (which in that program was a full-time 5-day-a-week job). Base it on your needs not whats acceptable to others around you! Makes sense if you receive more benefit on the other 6 days of the week. LA is 469 sq. Serious questionI have never ridden light rail in San Francisco but have in a number of other cities, and Im having trouble seeing how this is possible. But I did get sick of the commute & moved closer in so I only now have a 30 min commute. long in miles, loooong in traffic. Pretty sure Id lose my mind if I sat in traffic, barely moving, for two hours. I realize its a bit hyperbolic but almost nobody (relatively speaking) has a home in Los Angeles (city) they live in thousands of surrounding communities in the greater LA area and where you live has a lot of class distinctions. Since youre feeling like you dont have a life this might be an alternative for you, but its hard to make friends. Im not surprised that it has doubled as of today. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/us/california-today-super-commutes-stockon.html, Link is in moderation, but the article is called California Today: The Rise of the Super Commuter. I feel your pain. Excellent point. I had a commute that was about 40 minutes each-way in no traffic (Atlanta). As the crow flies, my commute is 4 miles. I couldnt drive for 5 hours each day even if I didnt have to work too, and there was no traffic- and I *like* driving for fun! I think you need to try to find something more manageable and not feel bad about it. I dont even care if its normal or not for the area, it feels awfully stressful and unhealthy. I commute from a northern suburb of Seattle down to Redmond every day (about 20 miles), and it takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours each way, depending on the weather, accidents, etc. I live in West LA and used to live in Westwood those might sound like suburbs, but theyre actually LA proper (controlled by LA city council and mayor). It was a contract job so it didnt make sense to move) and I hated every second of it. The lane changes are especially frustrating and bottlenecking, especially when youve got lots of trucks on the road (e.g., the I-5/110 junction). The last time I was in Eastern Cali was going to Reno during Obamas first run and Prop 8Ive never wanted out of somewhere so bad and I was just passing through. Every time I get salty about our COL I remember that California is above and far beyond. federal, and local laws. 91 to 605 to 7th st. Theres not enough audiobooks or podcasts in the world to make that tolerable for me. Thats not being special snowflake, thats being realistic about your limitations. Or if you rely solely on bus and are coming from an outer city in the direction of traffic. Biking takes me 23-28 minutes every single time. I know that I absolutely could not stand sit behind the wheel of my sporty little 2 seater, inching ever slowly in traffic. If you were able to be close enough to work and be car free how much money could you afford to spend on housing to make that happen? I live in Federal way and when I was doing my grad school research in SLU it would often take longer to get from Westlake and Thomas to I-5 (~7 blocks) then from Downtown Seattle to Fed (~25 miles). Could OP drive or take a train part way and then cycle? According to that research, only about 2.5% of workers nationwide have 1-way commutes over 90 minutes. You *could* get an electric car with the carpool lane sticker and take it when youre rising solo, but Im pretty sure those expire this year. My morning commute could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours and thats all within suburban Maryland going in basically a straight line down the highway. If the latter, I would like to gently urge you to consider reconsidering, or at least experimenting to see if reality aligns with your expectations. Absolutely, connections tend to be the issue with commutes on public transport. I drive 30 minutes one-way and that is about my limit. I am fortunate enough to also work in LB, but I had the soul-sucking 1.5 hour each way commute when I lived in the Chicagoland area so I feel you. You likely have a job you're required to be at for 8 to 9 hours a day, minimum. Yes some people accept it and do it. As Allison said, its not unheard of. Its really not that bad and I worry perhaps your judgement is based on stereotypes about said neighborhoods. Theres a lot of data out there suggesting how bad commutes are for you in a lot of ways people dont typically think of. That said, how normal or common something is isnt always relevant to whether it works for you! It is a brutal commute. Sure, traffic lights are a bore, but sometimes its a little easier. We looked at rent in the bay area (my wife was thinking about applying for some companies there) and noped out. I wouldnt have thought it would take that long but kudos to you for doing it! Public transit is not that amazing, especially if you are outside the city core. I did Kingston to Oxford Street, and that was 1.5 hours. Two hours by car in traffic sounds utterly vile. :(, If you give me some idea of what you like, I can make audiobook recommendations! Its insane. It was horrible. Part of the reason for this is that DC obviously has a lot of federal employees, but rent in the district (and even just outside of it!) What genres do you read? They offer typical traffic estimates. A bit longer than Id like, but far preferable than the hour-plus Id spend trying to get downtown. 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