What a lot of comments and reactions! My experience from talking to my folk in 1-1s over the years is that views in this topic run extremely deep psychologically, and differs hugely. My office is on the edge of London, and I would say there are 3 groups. - people who like lots of people. Think live nearer the centre of London and commute out. - people who like lots of trees. They live further out and commute in. - people who want to walk to work. They live nearby. The majority of the people who want a short commute had a short commute to school when they were young. Not all, but significant. Their hatred of a commute is deep seated. The people Vs trees thing is also strong (it's a little bit like introvert Vs extrovert). But it can vary over people's lives. Young people like the city vibe more. People with families tend to like trees more. Not universal obviously. I haven't completely understood the WFH effect yet. It's more complicated than just people who like trees and not commuting. And finally, there's the whole partner dynamics aspect. That's always fascinating. You learn a lot about people when you talk about trade offs they make in their relationships when considering something so deeply felt.
If you had a huge windfall or catastrophic event happen to you, you generally get back to the same level of happiness in time, but there is no getting used to a long commute. I heard that on a podcast, and I was fascinated. So when I saw this chart in 2021, it stuck with me. It is, of course, illustrative, but the point remains that humans are fairly adaptable to both positive and negative events, but a long daily commuting causes a long term hit to happiness. This is the second in my series of charts from my post "Ten Charts I Can't Stop Thinking About". In a 2011 interview, author Dan Buettner said, "In fact, if you can cut an hourlong commute each way out of your life, it's the [happiness] equivalent of making up an extra $40,000 a year if you're at the $50- to $60,000 level. Huge... [So] it's an easy way for us to get happier. Move closer to your place of work." Source for chart: https://lnkd.in/gsK7X-yr NPR 2011 interview: https://lnkd.in/gcVHKpQ9 All Ten Chart: https://lnkd.in/g3tdHbZf
Anthony Hayward
3mo
I've had a lot of different commutes in my time, and the longer/worse ones did make me noticeably less happy! Selected commutes on a scale of best to worst: Best - WFH! Just going downstairs. - 15 minute walk across my village Middling - Cycle or walk across central London - 1.5h drive from Cambridge to Milton Keynes - SE london overground rail (Connex as-was) Worst - Tube from SW London to Bank With the long drive and the crowded Tube platforms, I also felt that if I did that commute enough times, something bad would happen to me due to accumulated probability or momentary inattention on my part. It never did, but it wasn't a nice feeling.
Matyas Kinde
4mo
It's such a nuanced topic! And as you touched on it - by no means static and is almost always a trade-off. One particular aspect that is often forgotten is the "baked-in" opportunity to refresh/unwind. I "get home" still gripped by/thinking about work far more often when I'm just walking in from the garden office, than when I had a 40 minute walk or drive home. Perhaps better reflected in my mind if I replace "length" with "comfort" - of which length would be but one element.
Paul D Smith
3mo
I've "reverse" commuted once (against the normal flow) in the US and although the drive home had some slow bits, it was a good time to wind down listening to music from the radio so I can't say it bothered me. OTOH I was once on a commuter train into London and crammed in hard and unpleasantly when my travelling companion, who commuted often, commented happily on how empty the train was today!
Software Engineer II at Microsoft
3moA really interesting topic, and I always find it interesting to talk to people with different preferences to me and find out what they value differently to me that causes the difference. Definitely agree with the "comfort" vs. "length" aspect of commuting, and I'd also add "utility": - I need all the exercise I can get, so my current 20-30 minute walk to work serves a double purpose and I wouldn't particularly want to shorten it. Similar for people who like to cycle to work. - For people who work well on the go, commuting on a not overly-crowded train (where you can sit with a laptop and get something done) is much less burdensome than the same commute by car or rush-hour tube On WFH, I think one big factor is going to be introvert vs. extrovert. I absolutely need to be in an office and have other people around, to the degree that it overrides most other considerations (lockdown was a horrible time); other people will fall along a spectrum from where I am to "actively hates being in an office". The closer to the middle of that spectrum someone is, the more other considerations like commuting, location etc. will come into play.