"The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting."

dynamick

Some information about research into the link between commuting and unhappiness.

David Brooks, summarizing the current state of happiness research:
The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting. According to one study, being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year.
In other words, the best way to make yourself happy is to have a short commute and get married. I'm afraid science can't tell us very much about marriage so let's talk about commuting. A few years ago, the Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer announced the discovery of a new human foible, which they called "the commuters paradox". They found that, when people are choosing where to live, they consistently underestimate the pain of a long commute. This leads people to mistakenly believe that the big house in the exurbs will make them happier, even though it might force them to drive an additional hour to work.

there is more...

Also:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/zur/iewwpx/151.html

amacachi

Leaving the house more than 2 hours before my first lecture all year has made me realise there's no way I'll be doing a similar thing given a choice in a few years.

Cookie_Monster

Amen to that.

I've moved to be closer to work and only have a 10 min cycle commute. I taken jobs based on where I live so I don't have to commute. I would move and pay more rent to have a shorter commute if needs be.

I hate comuting and do anything to avoid it. Have to be in college on Friday all day and not looking forward to leaving 1.5 hours earlier than I need to be there to be sure I'll be on time. In on sat as well and can leave 25 mins before need to be there cos no traffic, so much nicer

seamus

being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year

Eh, "psychic gain"?
Either that's a typo or the word "science" in the domain name is an intentional joke.

dynamick

A third possibility is that you aren't familiar with all the meanings of the word 'psychic'.

Klingon Hamlet

Late buses, packed buses, rude drivers, bad drivers, loud sh!tes down the back, urrgghh...commuting sucks.

Roll on the metro and luas extensions...least there's a tad more comfort and less noise.

Cookie_Monster

dynamick wrote: »

A third possibility is that you aren't familiar with all the meanings of the word 'psychic'.

ho ho.
zzziiinnnnggggg


I think people who commute generally don't seem to think of their own time as that valuable. On a very basic note if you earn €20 quid an hour in work you could say that your hour each way commute is costing you €40 a day in wasted time (plus the cost of that commute). Or its costing you time with your family, playing with your kids, longer sleep etc.

The whole "commuter society" is an interesting topic.

Blowfish

I actually wish my commute was longer, especially at this time of year.

At the minute it's a 12k cycle, but the best commute I've had was 17k (Roughly Dun Laoghaire to DCU) one summer during college.

dynamick

Do you get more fun from cycling 17K to 12K?
I notice that motorcyclists often enjoy commuting.

Pigeon Reaper

Yes cycling and motorbikes are challenging and fun. You don't get stuck in traffic so you're constantly stimulated. It's a bit of a pain in really bad weather but this only occurs about once every three months or so. 22km each way by bicycle(45min) or motorbike(25 min) if I'm running a little late. I wouldn't do it in a car and public transport just takes far too long(90+ min).

nlgbbbblth

It depends on what you make of it.

My commute consists of a 15 minute walk, a 40 minute bus journey, and a further 10 minute walk. And the same in the evening.

The walk means exercise which I badly need.

The bus journey allows me to catch up on reading.

I also listen to music on my discman throughout the commute.

I don't mind it.

Cookie_Monster

Blowfish wrote: »

I actually wish my commute was longer, especially at this time of year.

At the minute it's a 12k cycle, but the best commute I've had was 17k (Roughly Dun Laoghaire to DCU) one summer during college.

can you not just lengthen your route by going different ways?

dogmatix

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

Late buses, packed buses, rude drivers, bad drivers, loud sh!tes down the back, urrgghh...commuting sucks.

Roll on the metro and luas extensions...least there's a tad more comfort and less noise.

Agree regarding buses.

But be careful what you wish for 're luas and metro. I'm assuming you have never been on a green line luas at 8:30am with your nose lodged in someones unwashed armpit while the bloke behind you obviously does not believe in oral hygiene. Can't speak for the red line but some of the green line trams can be so packed at rush hour that you would swear you are in India. Only the electric overhead lines would prevent people from trying to climb onto the roofs.

ongarboy

interesting topic. my commute takes 60-70 minutes door to door and involves 20 min walk from house to train, 25 mins on train and 20 mins walk from train to work. My hours are 10-6.30 at work which means I can get quieter trains to and from work with guaranteed seats. I enjoy the exercise I get from the walks as my work is an office sit down role and also enjoy the downtime on the train to read the Metro or a book or just to take time out. Obviously in bad weather, it can be unpleasant but generally the commute doesn't bother me and I don't see it as a social cost to me.

However, I have been bus and car reliant in the past and find both those means stressful (buses due to unreliable service and car due to gridlock) and definitely a social cost. When I hear of people driving from places like Athlone and Cavan (and further) to Dublin and back every day, I shake my head in wonder. I would rather a less paying job in a smaller house much nearer my rural residence then endure the 4 hours of driving to and from each day. Any gains from a higher salary/bigger house/extra disposable income would be more than negated by the stressful endurance of that type of commute.

dynamick

Meanwhile, a myhome.ie survey discovers that first time buyers want the opposite of what will make them happy...

According to a new survey, having adequate storage space, suitable room sizes and parking are more important to first time buyers than being located close to family, friends, parks or schools.

The survey, which was carried out by leading Irish property website MyHome.ie shows that factors such as general safety, storage, room size and parking are ranked as important or very important by between 94 and 96% of respondents.

Conversely only 67% of first time buyers rate proximity to friends as important or very important while that figure drop to 62% for family or relatives. In fact 14% of first time buyers say proximity to family is unimportant or very unimportant.

Another interesting finding is that while 94% say parking is important or very important, the corresponding figure for public transport is 81%.

http://www.myhome.ie/residential/advice/whats-new/what-first-time-buyers-really-want-2636

silverharp

I live 5 minutes walk from work and am married. I'd say I'm happy I think you would class the commuting though as a possible "dissatisfier" , ie you could be unhappy if its not working for you but it will not make you happy