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Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Don't underestimate the cost of your commute
Marketplace: "A new study suggests we better figure commuting costs into the equation when we decide where to live. They matter a whole lot, especially in less expensive cities. Scott Tong explains."
10 comments:
Anonymous
said...
This seems like common sense...Either you pay a lot for innercity living and nothing for transportation or live on the outskirts and pay for gas...which could get way more expensive. Having a car is expensive in itself, and I personally would rather pay for a chic apartment and nothing for transportation than pay for insurance, gas, car payments, etc. Whatever happened to walking to work? I vote for cool digs over cool rides.
This obviously ties in to our lives today. Many of us have moved off campus because the housing fee at CMU is too expensive. The advantage that we have is the ability to utilize port authority goes into our cost. I know there are a few of us fromthe Pittsburgh area,which means this utilization of Port authority combined with living at home would be more cost efficient, it just would not be asmuch fun.
What Brian said caould not be more true, so many of us moved off campus to save money. And while we dont pay as much per month, and are actually benefitting from the port authority passes our tuition pays for, there have been other trade offs. We lose time for commute, even if not money, and those of us with cars have had to shell out for parking and gas. There are pros and cons for any decision, and ususally it boils down to sacrificing either time or money.
This article really is common sense. I agree with Brian and Sam that living off campus is cheaper and we don't pay to commute. The problem that you can run into outside of college is not having an alternative to commuting. I used to work for a theatre that was surrounded by million dollar homes. Not a single person on technical staff lived within 15 miles, because we just couldn't afford it. It is nice to say that we're better off to live close and save on commuting costs, but in reality, it's not as much of a choice as we want to think.
Personally I think it is not so much about the money but about the time (especially since the working days are becoming longer and longer). Quite often our life gets reduced to work/study and sleeping, having no time during weekdays to hang around with friends.
Principally because of long distances in America, I also would prefer a fancy little apartment in downtown rather than a big house in a surrounding neighbourhood, but I guess it also depends on the age, the kind of family, expectations, the way of living…
A major intangible factor in the realm of estimating the cost of commuting is mental aggrivation. Waiting for a bus in the morning that may or may not come, walking in the rain... the little nusiances that just damper the day, put people in less of a motivated mindset when they actually get to work/school. I tried to solve this problem for myself by buying one of those electric scooters. I know exactly how long it takes to get to and from school, making the morning have so many less variables, and making for a better day.
I agree with pretty much everyone here. While I am off campus, but still miserably paying the university for my housing, I don't plan to for much longer. Like rico said, the aggrivation in waiting for the bus, or shuttle in my case and really take its toll. Not having a car of my own makes things like groceries a huge pain, but thanks to friends who give rides and the like, this hasn't been too bad. But a car is a must in the near future.
hen I was looking to move off campus, i was very careful that I would be within walking distance. The added expense of transportation can be costly and while we, as students, get free bus passes that does not mean that buses are always convienent. Like most things it just comes to finding a balance between what is most convenient.
While the large picture math makes sense --- saying that you should buy a closer more expensive house to save money in the long run --- that solution is not necessarily practical. Generally, people who choose to buy a cheap house further away can't take the burden of the more expensive property but can manage the travel expenses as they are stretched out over a long period of time. The last time my family moved from northern virigina to harper's ferry, west virginia we had to crunch the commuting numbers as both my mom and step dad work in washington dc. it is incredibly more cost effective for them to live in WV and use the marc train service rather than pay the egregious sum to purchase a property in dc. someitmes living in the city just isn't doable on ANY normal budget. -Maddie Regan
it used to be that you lived very close to your work. Look at pittsburgh's many neighborhoods as an example. with freeways and cars we can afford to live out in the outskirts of town and work in the city. I personally like my commute because it gives me mandatory time to reflect on things and zone out (to some extent) without feeling like i have to be doing something...because...i can't be. It's also a great time to get caught up on the news or pods. i would miss those things if i just had a short walk to work.
10 comments:
This seems like common sense...Either you pay a lot for innercity living and nothing for transportation or live on the outskirts and pay for gas...which could get way more expensive. Having a car is expensive in itself, and I personally would rather pay for a chic apartment and nothing for transportation than pay for insurance, gas, car payments, etc. Whatever happened to walking to work? I vote for cool digs over cool rides.
This obviously ties in to our lives today. Many of us have moved off campus because the housing fee at CMU is too expensive. The advantage that we have is the ability to utilize port authority goes into our cost. I know there are a few of us fromthe Pittsburgh area,which means this utilization of Port authority combined with living at home would be more cost efficient, it just would not be asmuch fun.
What Brian said caould not be more true, so many of us moved off campus to save money. And while we dont pay as much per month, and are actually benefitting from the port authority passes our tuition pays for, there have been other trade offs. We lose time for commute, even if not money, and those of us with cars have had to shell out for parking and gas. There are pros and cons for any decision, and ususally it boils down to sacrificing either time or money.
-Samantha Englender
This article really is common sense. I agree with Brian and Sam that living off campus is cheaper and we don't pay to commute. The problem that you can run into outside of college is not having an alternative to commuting. I used to work for a theatre that was surrounded by million dollar homes. Not a single person on technical staff lived within 15 miles, because we just couldn't afford it. It is nice to say that we're better off to live close and save on commuting costs, but in reality, it's not as much of a choice as we want to think.
-Aaron Siebert
Personally I think it is not so much about the money but about the time (especially since the working days are becoming longer and longer). Quite often our life gets reduced to work/study and sleeping, having no time during weekdays to hang around with friends.
Principally because of long distances in America, I also would prefer a fancy little apartment in downtown rather than a big house in a surrounding neighbourhood, but I guess it also depends on the age, the kind of family, expectations, the way of living…
Laura Prieto Garcia
A major intangible factor in the realm of estimating the cost of commuting is mental aggrivation. Waiting for a bus in the morning that may or may not come, walking in the rain... the little nusiances that just damper the day, put people in less of a motivated mindset when they actually get to work/school. I tried to solve this problem for myself by buying one of those electric scooters. I know exactly how long it takes to get to and from school, making the morning have so many less variables, and making for a better day.
I agree with pretty much everyone here. While I am off campus, but still miserably paying the university for my housing, I don't plan to for much longer. Like rico said, the aggrivation in waiting for the bus, or shuttle in my case and really take its toll. Not having a car of my own makes things like groceries a huge pain, but thanks to friends who give rides and the like, this hasn't been too bad. But a car is a must in the near future.
hen I was looking to move off campus, i was very careful that I would be within walking distance. The added expense of transportation can be costly and while we, as students, get free bus passes that does not mean that buses are always convienent. Like most things it just comes to finding a balance between what is most convenient.
While the large picture math makes sense --- saying that you should buy a closer more expensive house to save money in the long run --- that solution is not necessarily practical. Generally, people who choose to buy a cheap house further away can't take the burden of the more expensive property but can manage the travel expenses as they are stretched out over a long period of time. The last time my family moved from northern virigina to harper's ferry, west virginia we had to crunch the commuting numbers as both my mom and step dad work in washington dc. it is incredibly more cost effective for them to live in WV and use the marc train service rather than pay the egregious sum to purchase a property in dc. someitmes living in the city just isn't doable on ANY normal budget. -Maddie Regan
it used to be that you lived very close to your work. Look at pittsburgh's many neighborhoods as an example. with freeways and cars we can afford to live out in the outskirts of town and work in the city. I personally like my commute because it gives me mandatory time to reflect on things and zone out (to some extent) without feeling like i have to be doing something...because...i can't be. It's also a great time to get caught up on the news or pods. i would miss those things if i just had a short walk to work.
Mr. Barton
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