Busch Gardens Tampa and SeaWorld Orlando stop just short of $80 admission

I've had to unlearn the driving thing, and it's still hard. My employer actually runs its own buses to certain areas that are further out, and they have Wi-Fi, so when I do ride it's like I feel that I'm getting back some part of my day. I knew a guy once who drove 90 minutes each way to work, and was OK with it. Even when you did the math about how many days of his life he was pissing away, you couldn't convince him it was ridiculous. The programming runs deep in a lot of people.

I guess it runs deep with me, too. I love driving. I have a 75 minute commute, twice a day, and I actually look forward to it.

I'm sure I'm in the minority, however.

I count my commute as part of my work-time-earnings curve. Spending time driving to and from work is something I find unpleasurable to the point where, to me at least, it's virtually identical to time spent in front of the computer/phone/fax...

You don't have to drive in a dense area bordered by lakes, mountains and other barriers, where people are funneled into relatively few routes. :)

I have an hour commute to work, but that changes Friday as I start a new job 15 minutes from home. I dont' need to kill the earth that much ;).

Admittedly, while my area is one of the most congested and has some of the worst traffic in the country, I am able to find different routes that prevent me from having to sit in stop-and-go for more than 5 minutes or so. Plus, the last two cars I've owned have been 'driver's' cars--I hated the same commute in my old SUV. It was amazing when I realized how drastically my mood changed just owning a car I enjoyed driving.

Like I said, though, I'm probably in the minority. I consider myself as much a car/driving enthusiast as a coaster enthusiast; similar thrill, but under my control. And more than just perceived danger. :)

I drive an Accord which is hardly a 'drivers' car but I like my 25-30 commute each way. Its a time during which neither the folks from home nor the folks from work can reach me (at least their ability to do so is totally in my control). I drive off rush hour so the drive itself isn't bad at all.

I count my commute as part of my work-time-earnings curve. Spending time driving to and from work is something I find unpleasurable to the point where, to me at least, it's virtually identical to time spent in front of the computer/phone/fax...

Maureen has two different offices, a community mental health clinic in the next county over, and a private practice in the town next to ours. The private practice is only about 20 minutes, but the CMH office is just under an hour, one way. She negotiated a higher hourly rate at the latter to make up for the commute time, using exactly the same work-time philosophy. Luckily, that's only two days a week.

My brother and his wife both live in Ann Arbor, and work in Battle Creek. 80 minutes, one way, each and every day. He's a folk hero at his car dealership, because he discovers high-mileage problems before any of their other customers do.

^Maureen is a freakonomics master... ;)

jonnytips said:
One could argue that the trend started as early as post WWII; once everyone fighting comes home to the promise of the "country life" but with city perks (i.e., suburban sprawl). Now the normal isn't to live close to work, but to live in individual homes, have a family vehicles, and drive everywhere. With this added seclusion and feeling of worth comes the residual perks of buying more than you need

There's a good documentary on this (mostly the trend of living, though it touches on the rest) called the End of Suburbia

It was even before that. I've seen subdivision plans dating from 1906 referring to "a Suburb of Reading, Pennsylvania." People have wanted to get away from new immigrants for more than 100 years.

The modern concept of cities containing pockets of upscale gentrified neighborhoods with art galleries, coffeehouses, and eclectic restaurants has only developed within the past 25 years. Cities as they existed from the 1850s to the 1950s were crowded and dirty industrial bases. Coal was used to heat almost every home and business (even the Mertz's apartment house on I Love Lucy had a coal bin in the mid 1950s), as well as the trains that ran on the railroads. Can you say soot? You can't blame people for wanting to get out of that environment.

Another factor that contributed to the growth of suburbia was the fast rise in housing prices. Every time a group of higher income people came to a community, they drove up the price of housing, making it less affordable for people already living there. People had to move further and further away to find affordable land and housing. For example, as professionals from Philly moved to the suburbs immediately outside the city, they built expensive homes. But the people who worked in the service jobs in those communities couldn't afford to buy housing there, so they moved to towns 20-30 miles out, and commuted in.

These people had more income than the people already living there, so they could pay more for housing, which drove the prices up. Basically the "natives" found themselves outpriced of the market, so they had to look further to find affordable housing. So now you have people living in King of Prussia commuting to Philly, people living around Reading commuting to King of Prussia, and people living in further outlying areas commuting to Reading.