I was curious what kind of commute stares each of you in the face every morning? I currently have an 15 minute drive to the office every morning, but things may be changing. My fiance lives about 60 miles south of me, and we are considering living where she’s at now. We both prefer San Diego, and the housing prices are pretty reasonable if we decide to buy our first home. The down side, of course, is the 70 mile commute to my office. The other issue would be whether I decide to start looking up in L.A. for work. As many of you know, there are more opportunities for finance dorks like ourselves up in L.A. when compared to Orange County. So, for one reason or another, I may be considering taking a train to work everyday. But, having never done this, I was hoping some of you might have some recommendations or comments on how much more complicated it might be taking a train to work in California. Some concerns I’ve thought about include: 1. What if I have to work late? Will the trains still be running? 2. Where does the train let out and how far is it from the office? 3. How safe is it to park my car at the terminal every day? I thought I posted this thread yesterday, but didn’t see it in any of the forums. Thanks!
5-8 mins walking, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Well, OK I would!
45 min one way in the car. I miss my 15 min bus ride. I telecommute occasionally, though.
I can se my VP’s cube from my Apartment window and start walking towards office only when the light is ‘ON’. I’ll miss such a (IT Software) relaxed lifestyle when I move to finance.
CFA_Halifax Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 5-8 mins walking, and I wouldn’t trade it for the > world. Well, OK I would! I hhave the option to do this as one of my friends is renting an apartment of his literally 4 minutes away from my office, but it would cost me about 500/month (which is still hella cheap for downtown toronto 1 bedroom of a fairly decent size, all to myself) BUT I refuse to pay rent. I’m stubborn and want my own condo so I’m currently commuting from my house, get a ride from someone and it takes about an hour. I don’t mind the commute because I know it will pay off in the end.
SomewhatDamaged Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFA_Halifax Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > 5-8 mins walking, and I wouldn’t trade it for > the > > world. Well, OK I would! > > > I hhave the option to do this as one of my friends > is renting an apartment of his literally 4 minutes > away from my office, but it would cost me about > 500/month (which is still hella cheap for downtown > toronto 1 bedroom of a fairly decent size, all to > myself) > > BUT > > I refuse to pay rent. I’m stubborn and want my own > condo so I’m currently commuting from my house, > get a ride from someone and it takes about an > hour. I don’t mind the commute because I know it > will pay off in the end. 500 for a one bedroom DT TO. I pay 700 for a bachelor here in Hai. That’s pretty sweet man, considering you said yourself you waste 2 hrs a day commuting. That’s 40 hrs a month, so your BE is $12.50 an hr. Of course that is before other costs of living on your own. 6K a year isn’t all the much money to pay for rent in my book, especially when you consider all the fees you pay when you buy a condo, and how over heated the condo market is in TO. Plus, when you rent, you are extremely mobile in the sense that if a good offer jumps up state side or whereever, you can go. Of course if your settled in TO, different story. I was looking at some apts in TO, as I am scouting the job market there and considering a move cold, even w/o a job. I must say it is very affordable for a city of 3 million or whatever it is.
15 minute walk which I love. I could drive but then I’d have to pay $20/month for a parking pass and with traffic and parking, it would likely only save me 5 minutes. Plus this way they give me $65/month in free metro (subway) cards.
60 miles one way. 1 hour drive to train station, 20 minutes on the train, 5 minute walk. Not too bad.
CFA_Halifax Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was looking at some apts in TO, as I am > scouting the job market there and considering a > move cold, even w/o a job. I must say it is very > affordable for a city of 3 million or whatever it > is. TO is affordable?! news to me… and i think in the GTA its more like 7 million people…
drive+train+metro+walk = 1.5 hours each way to both University/work.
About a 15-20 minute drive
jeff_s Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFA_Halifax Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I was looking at some apts in TO, as I am > > scouting the job market there and considering a > > move cold, even w/o a job. I must say it is > very > > affordable for a city of 3 million or whatever > it > > is. > > > TO is affordable?! news to me… > > and i think in the GTA its more like 7 million > people… Well 5ish in the GTA. 3-3.5 in the Metro Toronto though. I see a lot of apartments downtown for 1K or less, and yes, compared to say NYC that is nothing. I know TO is not NYC, but I’d say the same apartment in New York would be 3 times as much as TO. That’s a pretty big spread.
Montreal is even cheaper for rent, I would say $700 get you something really nice in the downtown area (1 bedroom) and salaries are comparable to TO. edit: + the hockey team is much better (1942)
Sims Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Montreal is even cheaper for rent, I would say > $700 get you something really nice in the downtown > area (1 bedroom) and salaries are comparable to > TO. > > edit: + the hockey team is much better (1942) True, but isn’t it a very difficult city to advance in if you don’t speak french?
It certainly limits your options if you don’t speak a word of french. But many of my coworkers are unilingual and never had a prob, this is especially the case if you work for a public company where all the work / research is done / filled and published in english. After all there isn’t a soul in the business community that doesn’t speak English.
I live 3.9 miles away from work to be exact. Takes me about 7-8 minutes in the morning. Living close to work has become a lifestyle requirement of mine. First, you save a lot of money on gas. More importantly you save time for sleeping/studying/gym. I can’t imagine driving 1.5 hours a day for work again. Also you can lease a car because you dont have to worry about going over your miles when you live so close.
5 min walk. Worth every penny.
I live/work in Manhattan. 20 minute walk/subway combo. Walking home at nite when the weather is nice, about 45 minutes
Had a 1.5 hr commute (each way) when I lived in OC and worked 45 miles away in LA… and that was when I left by 6:00 am and stayed at the office till 7:30ish. Obviously left me drained after a while. Really investigate the train option before buying in San Diego. I looked into it and it really was not pragmatic. Beside the fact that its cost prohibitive (unless you utilize only 1 metro system), the hours are too limited for people in our field. I assume you’d do Amtrak to LA Metro, and unfortunately Amtrak is just not geared to commuters; San Diego-LA surfrider is ~$25 roundtrip w/ 10 pack discount. Add parking, LA metropass, and an absurd taxi fare/ hotel stay every time you miss the last train out of Grand Central (i think it was at ~7:40pm) and then compare housing costs. Now I have a 15 minute commute and LOVE it.
Sims Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Montreal is even cheaper for rent, I would say > $700 get you something really nice in the downtown > area (1 bedroom) and salaries are comparable to > TO. > > edit: + the hockey team is much better (1942) Salaries in Montreal are not comparable to Toronto. 10% to 15% less. You could succeed without knowing a single word of french. But, the finance industry in Montreal is small and if you get good promotions, you’re headed to the head office in Toronto.