ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- My commute is like a second job, and it might be killing me.
Check out our video on how highways negatively impacted US cities: bit.ly/2mQJOCx
Subscribe to our channel! goo.gl/0bsAjO
Millions of Americans commute to work. It can be a stressful journey that involves cars, trains, bicycles, and even airplanes. This video breaks down the pros and cons of long commutes -- it's by someone who actually has a painfully long one: Vox's Kimberly Mas commutes to Manhattan almost every day. She drives her car to the train station, takes the train to the subway, and finally rides the subway to the Vox office. She's had this routine for a long time and she always wondered what kind of toll it's taking on her. Her reporting shows that, while commutes may just be an unavoidable part of life for many Americans, they don't have to be all bad, all the time.
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out www.vox.com to get up to speed on everything from Kurdistan to the Kim Kardashian app.
Check out our full video catalog: goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Twitter: goo.gl/XFrZ5H
Or on Facebook: goo.gl/U2g06o
Check out our video on how highways changed US cities:
bit.ly/2mQJOCx
Vox Make a vid about shutdown plsssss
Regardless of my commute whether it be 30 minutes or an hour, I still manage to get my 10 mile biking every other day and I love commuting by myself before the fact to all my great Tunes. A very happy to commute by myself hand crank up my radio. In the end it all really boils down to the attitude that you have and perceive in life. Your only down if you allow yourself to get down. I can just having some better Tunes to your commute. Hope it takes me an extra 30 minutes just give me another 30 minutes to jam out.
Americans! Did you know that existing will eventually cause death? The only way to not die from natural or unnatural causes outside of your control is easy. Just talk to your doctor about being prescribed EUthanasia, a nonbiologic. With EUthanisia you will be able to finally be happy and worry free. Once on EUthanasia you may experience extreme pleasure and happiness. Side effects may be a realization you did the right thing. Getting to meet your great great great grandmother. Being able to do anything you want. Being able to experience a super nova.
Ask your doctor if EUthanasia is right for you.
Vox Nice, I get up 5am. And have to leave my home half hour later to be at work changed and everything at 6:45am.
God you're hot
"people are *choosing* to commute more"
I don't think being pushed out of city centers due to increasing housing prices is much of a choice.
Long island is more expensive than most of nyc so thats a moot point when it comes to that especially if your commuting to nyc for work.
Some are pushed out due to polluted, noisy and overcrowded environment. If prices would fall down these problems would become even more severe.
I wish I could give you a "high 5"!
@@ligametis if businesses spread out demand could fall and so would prices. I don't understand why so many places have so many businesses on top of each other like silicon valley.
@@bl00dkillz all of long island..? I thought the only expensive part of long island was Montauk and the rest of the hamptons
2020: *i can fix that.*
Some Guy eating his spicy homemade bat soup: You could thank me later
That was the only merit of this pandemic. Not having to spend 3 hours of all weekdays on public transports has been a blessing. I really would appreciate if companies overall switched to this model. Like 1/2 days working from the office and 3/4 days working from home 🙏
You can't beat the satisfaction of ending a workday and hitting the streets 10 minutes later to go for a run.
Or even when you're loaded with work, at least you can push your workday a little more without having to then face a 1.5/2h commute back home on top of that
It definitely did!
@@fpereira77 you have to keep asking them to continue to work online! dooo ittt!
The comment i was looking for
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." -Ellen Goodman
o o f
I don't own a car so I have some money left over but the point stands, we are in a rat race.
Welcome to slavery.
The only other option is to just live in the woods like a hermit. I'd rather work a job than that personally.
@@coolbrotherf127no? We can also advocate for better condition??
Commuting doesn't give us a break. Going to point A to B is sometimes more stressful than working.
Way more stressful than working, for me, when working I fell productive but during the commute I feel that my life is being wasted away
It depends on your commute and how you see it. Personally I love metro I love commuting on it and I even specifically find activities that force me to take it.
You wake up at 6:15 to start work at 10. Good God, that is horrible, and yes, it's probably killing you. I rather live on a farm.
I am very confused on why this is bad cuz where I am from, I usually wake up at 5 am and go to school at 6, school starts at 7 30. I just usually sleep at 9 pm to satisfy that 8 hour recommended sleep hours
My school starts at 6:30 AM 😂, and I usually wake up at around 4:00 - 4:30
@@themradio4600 Yeah.. But I don't really sleep anyways thanks to all my homeworks and stuff.. 😂
@@themradio4600 my school is like on another neighborhood 😂
@@themradio4600 I work for US Foods.Try getting up at 2am to go drive a truck for a living!
The majority of people commute for jobs they could do remotely.
I literally do all my work on my computer and do not talk to anyone for most if the day, it is definitely something I can do from my couch at home
@@fashionluvr15 what is your job?
yet most bosses want you to be physically present in the office just to prove that you are a human being and not a machine
EcoDimension and some other companies outsource whole departments overseas but can fathom the possibiliy of data entry clerks and analysts doing the same jobs locally from home.
Indeed, my boyfriend's job requires him to be there just because they don't want the office to be empty.
This seemed to take an odd turn. She talked about how commutes are ruining our mental health and then that guy said "it's not dead space " and now it makes it okay? That doesn't take away all the detractors but trying to put it in a different light
I took it as finding the silver lining and trying to make your mental health issues worse but giving you bit of control. I found it ironic that most of the suggestions don't work for drivers- reading a book, doing your work, etc.
Nope, I thought the same thing. Odd video essay.
Did she make this so Vox would let her work from home?😂
As if there's anything remotely important going on in the actual Vox offices anyway.
@@alikazerani Yeah lol most of the work is done by individual reporters and some camera people. The writing staff need to be together obviously but the reporters do not need to go to work every day.
I love my alone time when commuting tbh. I either read or listen to music. That's why I appreciate train drivers and bus drivers so much. Imagine doing that for hours non stop knowing that you have so many lives in your hands. Lets give them some appreciation guys.
issa osama I hope they get replaced by robots someday, not that I want them to get unemployed, its because its seems like a lonely, boring and stressful job. Can't imagine driving 12h per day.
Lucas Kikkawa I don't think robots are capable of making decisions to save lives. I don't think robots should replace humans in important jobs like that. Just me and my opinion tho.
I love bus and train riding too
@issa OsamaRobots already are. Have you never heard of self driving cars? If anything a bus would be even easier. We're already there buddy
@The Dead Immortal: Cool, where can I catch the next self-driving bus then? Oh, there are none? Self-driving cars don't even get a license yet? "We're already there"
Americans aren't just "choosing" to commute farther and farther distances. We're designing for and incentivizing that choice.
Unfornutely, This is the case people all around the world who live big cities. I live in Chennai, India and this is the case here too plus it is hard to rent an apartment for yourself if you are a single woman.
@@MultiAjitha India has a similar problem. Workplaces are too far from (affordable) housing when they don't have to be. That's what Cas means by designing for and incentivizing.
@@MultiAjitha There's no stigma attached to living in joint families in India, right..? Then why not get some relatives to live with you and share the combined income you guys make?
_The Geography of Nowhere_ by James Howard Kunstler.
I'm so glad we have such effortless public transit in the Netherlands. You can pretty much bike anywhere, and catch a train on most stations every 15 minutes 🙏 Eventhough there's a certain frustration to our public transit provides, I can't imagine what it's like in the US. Props to you for making that effort!
Well distances in Holland are tiny compared to the US. Long Island itself is 200km long. The New York City area however is a magnet for business and probably too centralised for it's own good.
@@tasmapittock5680 What is this "Holland" you're talking about?
@@rjfaber1991 You're acting like an arrogant European in the comments.. what's the deal with you 😂😂??
@@tasmapittock5680 "Theoretical distances" are not relevant. You can work in Midtown Manhattan and live in Williamsburg and still commute quicker than a person from Amsterdam. And a person from Long Island can very well work within biking distance from their home.
I wake up at 6 am to take a bus that takes 1- 1.5 hrs to get me to college. It’s awful
No word about high housing prices?! Yeah, right, we all choose that ... of course.....
Has more to do with zoning laws in the US, I think. Because the suburbs of cities in the US are all just endless urban sprawl, it takes ages to get from there to the city centre. Europe's medium-density residential areas have this problem to a far lesser extent.
@@rjfaber1991 Oh you gotta travel to bigger European cities, they all suffer from empty houses and sky-high prices. Do you want to live in the city? No, no, no, stay in the small town besides it and drive over two hours to your workplace.
@@hblaub Oh, I have. It's certainly true that prices do go up dramatically, but unless they are so high that you actually have to live in a town outside the city (which is certainly true for some, so you have a point), it isn't nearly as bad as in the US.
I personally actually work in a town that's only about 20% the size of the city I live in, so I have it the other way around, but of course there's more people who commute from towns to cities than from cities to towns.
This is exactly why people accept offers for a lower paying job than their current one that is closer to their home. It's for the sake of mental health
yup
Exactly, I took a job that was 15% less than a competing offer that was a literal mile away from home opposed to a 25 min drive each way. Not including gas, maintenance, and increased depreciation on the car, just the time alone was worth the 15% cut.
Sure
You find excuses everywhere
Like the title of this video
Ofc it s not your fault :))
It s "never your fault"
Grow up and take responsability
I just did this. I said no to a job that paid more plus tips. But now i can walk to work in 10 min. It's just so much better. I used to travel 2 hours there and back it was miserable. Even an hour there and back is bad
Also time is money... you may be getting less money but you can work more hours since it is closer and you spend less time
This video seems to be lacking an analysis of the economics of commuting - of how living near where you work is often prohibitively expensive and how long commutes are often a result of under-paid employees. There's a whole economic class dimension to the use of public transit (especially in more rural areas!) that is entirely missed here. Commuting isn't always as much of a "choice" as some might have you believe.
Actually people is rural areas commute much much less than people in cities... I live in a small rural area, my workplace is 30 miles away, it takes me about 15 minutes to get there
+RimmyJimmy
So you drive around 120 mph???
ice_hawk10 things like this made me curious as to why she works with such a long commute
RimmyJimmy but do people even make much money in these rural areas
@@rimmyjimmy8385 Most jobs are in big cities. Not everyone can find jobs in rural areas.
Make no mistake-- building that much unnecessary travel into your daily routine isn't just killing you. It's killing the world you live in.
Exactly
gotta love tightly packed European cities
Oh believe me, Europe has the exact same problem. The percentage of commuters and the average distance to work are steadily increasing as well.
@@FrostyAUT Well, I guess that depends on where, but where I live at least the public transportation links are much better. No driving to the station, trains every 3 minutes. It takes her 2h30 to get to work. I'm not exactly close to work by the standards of my city (London) but by similar methods I can get to work in a third of the time.
I work in a different town than the city I live in (well, I did before the pandemic and several months of working at home), and I can still be there quite rapidly. A ten minute bike ride to the railway station, 17min on an intercity train, and then another ten minutes by bus, to a bus stop right in front of the office.
Hong Kong probably suit you. Packed city with very frequent public transportations.
My commute in London via tube was an hour and that's considered short.
Hell no. I would rather live in a 200 sq ft studio cube near my workplace than live in a mansion miles away and have to commute 2 -3 hrs.
If only that were the option - I live in a subsidized suburban studio a 50 minute commute from my city-center office. I can't afford to live any closer without roommates, and even then I can only afford my current place because of the subsidized rent. And every mile further from the metro is a higher price to get to and from work every day. And I make a "normal" salary for someone my age and have a part-time job on the weekends.
200 square foot _is_ a mansion in Hong Kong
And some people have children, just saying...
@@Zworri Why? Is it cause commuting is obsolete now because of corona?
tfw you can only afford a shoebox and commuting 2hrs.
Work sleep repeat. Work sleep repeat. Work sleep repeat.
We are Slaves. And don’t even care or notice.
But that's what the whole world does. Some even work 12 hours a day. You need workers to keep society running and give people meaning.
A boring job that you don't care about does not give you meaning. And other societies have figured out ways to work much less, be much happier, and still have a functioning society... It's America man and this work ethic we preach to poor people so rich people can live lives of leisure. And as a result, most Americans have little spending money which is why we all seem to turn a blind eye towards the sweatshops producing our electronics, clothes, and tools. Consumer culture is awful.
weekends? friends at work? lunch break? entertainment during commute?
@@tomoyohermosa Yeah, give people meaning by taking their freedom, and told them it is for greater good.
The silver lining from Covid is the work from home...
Now I commute from my bed to the table :)
Driving to a train station is the most american thing ever
My mental health dramatically improved when my commute changed from a 30 minutes to an hour on the freeway, to 10 minutes in my neighborhood.
US stock indices ended the quarter with significant growth. Another strong quarterly reporting season and the promotion of macro statistics in the United States supported…e-fin.top/page/2/
I am literally trying to join you
Nice
Did anyone else feel like there was no conclusion to this video...? It felt like an abrupt ending that didn’t convey a strong closing point. There is definitely missing something.
I thought the way this video ended was a bit off as well and it just suddenly ended.
All vox videos are like this....
They made a strong claim in the title and then completely retreated from it.
That is called clickbait / bait&switch or just lying...
I don't care how close you are to the job, if you have to leave your house to go to it, you should be paid for the hour before and the hour after. If you live far enough to make it more than an hour commute to and from, than you deserve 4 hours of additional pay per day you work. This is especially true for all jobs that were able to be done from home, because there's no longer any reason to demand your employees to come into work if they can do all that work from home.
Life before 2020: Commute
2020: Hold my beer
This definitely could have been more thoughtful about WHY people need to commute which generally comes down to cost of living/housing
that's true
lazy reporting gets you lazy reports
Hey, she spends five (!) hours a day commuting. Give her a break, lol.
I worked near downtown Dallas. I lived in an apartment 1/4 mile from work for 13 years. People were commuting from southern Oklahoma.
The build up in this video is really great but the conclusion feels rushed and incomplete.
They had to get home!
Americans are super commuters. They've gotten so good at separating housing and workplace that commute distance is farther than ever.
It's also incentivized, for instance I work as a contractor for a staffing firm and get paid $140 a day of non-taxed per diem if I live farther than 50 miles from the jobsite. My pay translates to about $30 an hour but when you factor in the the time for the 65 mile commute (one way) it works out to about $20 an hour. And after a month I feel physically drained and exhausted mostly because of the commute.
This is why we need high-speed electric trains running frequently on direct, well-designed routes through networks of accessible and well-placed stations. It would eliminate traffic, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save people a whole lot of time and stress.
It’s a commuter train
No need for any high speed train
The problem is bigger than that. Just like you said in the beginning, the state rather spend the money to make parking space than to create more affordable housing.
There is the real problem.
@Robby Dey The train station is owned by the New York state MTA though.
To create affordable housing all that needs to be done in most cities is reduce zoning laws and make it easier to build.
@@tech-hilfeportal6611 and limit foreign buyers. so many people are parking money in real estate with no intent to live there
its not that she doesnt wanna move its that she actually financially cannot. living anywhere in nyc is incredibly expensive so she's forced to commute.
To be fair, Long Island is expensive, too and owning a car is expensive. And not everyone wants to live in Jersey City or Newark.
Rachel Arnold exactly so its not like she can just "move elsewhere" like thats just not the best option even though it should be
Did you see how big her house and yard were? And as far as I'm aware she lives alone. She could get a house that's a little bit smaller and cut like 20 minutes off her commute, one way.
Then move.
Rachel Arnold I’m in a suburb of Newark and I gotta say NJT has been a lot more efficient than other services recently. With the express trains it takes as little as 15 minutes to get from the station in town to penn station. A local train takes 40 minutes. The downside is though you are paying for that convenience in property taxes.
I commuted to the city by public transport for about 4 years. My commute consisted of 2 busses and 2 trains for a total of 2.5hrs - 3hrs each way. Yep that's not an over exaggeration 5 - 6 hours per day commuting. This commute literally drove me into a huge dark rut of depression. I found driving made me much happier but unfortunately driving to the city is not usually an option so I used to drive as far as I could and then park at a station and get the train the rest of the way. A tip for anyone commuting far that hate public transport, get a motorcycle. You'll look forward to going to and from work every day for that ride and you can park in the city. Also you can lane split and beat traffic so it's literally the quickest option.
Lol I love that we’re ignoring the housing crisis in city centres that cause people to move further and further away from the downtown core 🙃
i hate commuting so much. it takes nearly two hours to commute from my house to college only to arrive in classes where the prof just reads the textbook or powerpoint slides. if i miss one of the buses add 20+ more minutes to the commute. i can't even read on the bus because it makes me feel dizzy and most of the times i cannot even find a place to sit cause the buses are PACKED. most days i just look out the window listening to sad songs contemplating whether to end it all.
th-cam.com/video/m7GAtSIy4-w/w-d-xo.htmlm6s
I'm eating a Dorito right now
This is so relatable... It's eating my time and my mood. Every day by the time I finally get off the subway and start the day I'm already emotionally drained.
Oh I feel your pain! My commute to Uni this past year and a half has made me so depressed and unhealthy
I travel 6 hours a day to and from Uni. With the Uni day lasting from 8:30am to 7:30pm.
I am at the point where I can NOT find the motivation anymore! I'm always questioning if I'm even capable of finishing this course. I genuinely feel like I am killing myself with it all
doritos i know this is a very old comment but my college was 1.30-2 hours away and there isn’t even a schedule for mini-buses to know if it’s even coming anytime soon. Then I started to teach there so now my work is 2 hours away. It is a lot of stress but I am able to read and prepare for my lectures etc. however, if you can’t read on the bus, then download podcasts. The best way to learn while commuting for sure! I have learned about so many different topics.
You can look up most highly rated podcasts and give it a try. It will make your commute so much better.
Why do I commute 1 hour 20 mins? ‘Cause I can’t afford to live in SF and that’s the only place with decent paying jobs where I am 😂 I love how they make it sound like it’s a lifestyle choice. I’m pretty sure nobody would CHOOSE to commute if they didn’t have to.
SadSynth
This was the most informative and intelligent post that I've read so far. I agree.
I am agreed that one may have no choice, although would you swap your detached house in the suburbs for a tiny apartment in SF?
It's not a decent paying job if it doesn't let you afford rent on a place close to work.
And a lot of it is because of shitty urban planning with American cities. They were planned around the car because when the car was new and fresh there wasn't enough traffic to be pulling your brains out. Only middle class and upper class working men had cars to commute. Add on a lower population overall and there were way less cars on the road so it didn't seem to horrible to design cities around cars. In say German cities you can find affordable-ish housing within the same urban zone and never need a car. Public transport to work, you walk to the grocery store because everything is a cornerstore just down the block, not a Walmart every five miles, and you take the train if you have to go to a different city. A much better commute and much more efficient use of urban space than megahighways and endless rows of suburban housing.
I just made the move from the Bay Area to the Big Island of Hawaii where its actually a little cheaper to live. Tropical paradise vs. Urban Hellscape and you pay less for property?
The commute from the south bay into Mountain View was eroding my soul. Being in car jail for 3-4 hours 5 days a week is maddening.
Do Americans not understand multilevel parking
I had to look this up. We only have that for sporting events. Lol
That's just looking at mental health; the commute can make you physically sick too. In my country - even before Covid became a thing - we had this ongoing issue with people travelling on buses to go to work even while sick. They would cough and sneeze throughout the trip, thus sharing their germs and viruses with everybody else, especially when the windows were kept closed. Avoiding those situations is one of the things that's made me truly grateful about working from home.
Who wishes their city had a bullet train? ✋
+John Johnson.
Classic socialist troll. Go leave in Venezuela if you love communism so much.
I would love that! Unfortunately, most of the US train tracks are owned by the large train cargo companies. They are older and geared towards freight which doesn’t care how rough the ride is. So in order to put in high speed rail (approx. 200 mph) most of the rail would have to be new. That is extremely expensive. Most American politicians think in election cycles, not 30 to 50 years out. I lived in Europe for several years and I think if you got most Americans on to the Eurostar or TGV they would be sold. I still hope that we get it sooner than later.
airline industry would not be happy thus no bullet train
Nah we filipinos indubai have it already
Who wishes their country had a bullet train? Australia still don't have one
"Why do so many of us do it?" -- Suburban sprawl. Bad urbanism.
THANK YOU I WAS HOPING SOMEONE WOULD SAY IT
Don't know why but felt kinda good after seeing this. It is relieving to know that you're not the only one..
*Living an absurd amount of distance from your job is bad for your health*
Why can't they just build a multiple level parking garage...poor trees!!!
Costs tens of thousands of dollars to make a parking spot in a city just for one car
wtfwc construction would be an inconvenience for people? Idk maybe
They should build apartments next to the train stations and get rid of the parking. Parking just encourages poor development habits.
you know,muricans
I heard that cities start taxing anything past ground level heavily or something along those lines
This video feels like a retread of the articles cited at the beginning of this piece. And, it doesn't actually fit the title. Interesting video, but it doesn't feel like there was enough content in there. Especially about why people commute in the first place - rising rent prices in dense areas, the need to be out of a large city, and the other multitude of reasons I'm sure you can come up with. And it doesn't discuss how these commutes are, in fact, harmful to your health. In fact, it seems to veer pro-commute at the end of the video with that interview.
Yeah the video doesn't really have a clear takeaway. I'd probably add a "what you can do!" which would be to push for much bigger housing developments near public transportation.
I feel like all vox videos don’t have a clear takeaway, that’s why I’m unsubscribing
X ACT LEE
THANK YOU she just seemed like she was ranting about her "poor commute life" without saying anything substantial
firewordsparkler i guess because Vox's mission is mostly just to help people "understand the news" (?)
2:42 As a new yorker, that "stand clear of the closing doors please" made me panic a little.
I wouldn’t last a week with that kind of commute. I’d literally go hustle to do any other job.
Agreed
I wonder if working from home should be an option? 2.5 hour commute one way equals 5 in total. That’s close to an entire work day and seems really freaking sad!
abluemug Working from home is a nice idea but for many jobs it's just not a possibility for one reason or another.
abluemug Not likely there will be lots of jobs out there where u can work from home. The company wants to have control over their employees
A lot of people would find themselves pretty socially isolated if they didn’t get to work with others which would also be bad for their health.
Working from home is often countered with "that's just not possible for this job". If you are a contractor building houses or a cashier at a store, fair enough.
But in many cases, you can consolidate office-activities to one or more days, and provide the tools to employers to do the rest from home. Even a teacher spends 20-40% of their time not in front of a class, developing new lessons and correcting tests...
I think most people would be much healthier if they could split the week and spend for example the Wednesday away from the office.
If you get loads of people together and create a cooperative you're life will be a lot easier
It's not you, living is bad for your health.
Its true! What will we ever do! More to cry about!
Life...work...repeat...repeat..die. The end. Lol
Being born is a death sentence
staying alive is hard....
Preach
I used to live in Newcastle, Australia and worked in Sydney. 2-hour train commute each way and there was always people travelling to work on the 4:30am train. There are so many good jobs based out of the big cities but they're too expensive to live in. Employers really need to embrace working in an active online environment so we can all live healthy lives.
Now that it's 2021, I'm glad to have been blessed with no commute for more than a year. Commuting does add extra stress and I'm blessed not to have it anymore.
Long commuting not only makes you sick, but create ghost town during the day. This american dream of buying the biggest house 1 hour away from your work slowly eating our lives.
Nomadic Julien whose American dream is that? One hour away, why not ten minutes? It’s totally possible.
Well said!
A logical libtard? Interesting.
Liberals don't just live in cities, they never advocated for free puppies and 6 month long breaks....Here it's a small town and the conservatives fight against abortion even if they aren't suited to take up a kid for adoption, they get fat, live on their employment insurance and child insurance, marry their cousin because the government is going to take care of ...it.....when they are senile.... and I'm the trow away morals/money liberal? You're the kinda person that makes me want to be a eugenist.
Most AA don't even know what liberalism nor conservatism means. They just follow and believe what their elected liberal politicians, Hollywood, ESPN and MSM say. For them, liberals are portrayed as heroes and conservatives are the evil racists.
I took an 8% salary cut for a job that's MUCH closer and much more full-filling. I cannot recommend it enough! Yes, I have to be mindful with spending (I tutor 2 hours a week for extra cash), but I'm much happier! 😊
Good for you
Money isn’t everything
I took a 40% pay cut for a job that was 5 min away, compared to my previous that was 1hour away. Best decision ever.
Much more full-filling is the operative words. No brainer.
@@ronnie4661 No, but NOT having money is. It costs money to eat and it costs money to feed other people.
Corona : Are u happy now?
covid 19: hold my beer.
Bullshit. The reason most of us commute is because we can’t afford to live closer. The cities are where all the jobs are but the suburbs are where we can afford to live. I wouldn’t be living I Methuen if I could afford to live in Boston.
zh11147 And if I didn’t still have ~$25k in student loans
This is the correct answer
Spencer O'Dowd you hit that nail in the head !
No you're bullshit. I've been living in brooklyn for a decade in a top floor apartment 1100 a month split with my girlfriend in clinton hill. About to move to a bigger place for 1500 in willamsburg. You guys are just too dumb to find a deal
Spencer O'Dowd ahh...vut you can afford closer living. Your standards are just higher. Welcome to materialism.
I wonder if the disappointment over commuting goes hand in hand with the rise in remote working. Working from home might seem weird, but I do it and the number one benefit is not having to commute. That and free coffee.
Oddly enough I am in a bit of an opposite boat : I love my commute, but recruiters keep pushing companies that have 'work from home!' as big selling points or even mandatory features.
kinda hard to flip burgers or drill for oil from home
Agreed, though I get free coffee at work and have to buy my own at home. But still, 2 hours a day where I can do other stuff. I tend to work more from home, not less, just because I feel less stressed and tired. Starting my day with 1 hour of trafic (I drive 7mi to work, takes me 50min on average) is draining my energy. I wish I could take a train but no time-sensible options are available for my commute, so I drive. I understand the need to be in the office most days but I cherish those days where I'm wfh.
There are tons of disadvantages however. All communication has to be done via Skype or a chat program. You can't just quickly mention something while taking a coffee break, you don't have a few minutes of talking before a meeting. All communication has to go through an official, digital channel. That doesn't always work well to convey a feeling of being part of a team.
I work from home and I dont care much for it. I mean, it has its perks but I rather work at an office with other people. But I also hate commuting. The best of both worlds for me was when I took 8 minutes riding my bike from home to my last job, that was the dream!
The whole video is built on false pretences that the long commute is always a choice. Very often it isn't.
A study found that a 30 min one way commute is good for you as it let's you to adjust to what is coming...
I find that as well. My commute before working from home was about 40min, and it's a nice way to slowly wake up in the morning and actually be ready for work once I get to the office. Now that I'm working from home, my first hour of work is terribly unproductive in comparison, because I do that adjustment while already working...
@@rjfaber1991, you should do a morning activity before starting to work. you could meditate and work out as an example, and not only this will get you prepared as it'll give you a huge boost in terms of performance when you start to work.
@@Victor-hg5sx I'm the world's biggest night owl, so I doubt I'd be able to get out of bed a minute earlier for anything that I couldn't be contractually held to.
@@rjfaber1991 lol, me too brother, what I've just said to you is way easier said than done. But whenever I find the strength to bring myself to meditate and work out before work(it really doesn't matter if it's morning or night) I usually get things done rather quickly and efficiently during my work.
0:50 The problem is literally right behind her.
Instead of a parking lot next to a train station, the town should be around the train station. You should be able to walk to it or ride a bike to it.
Sprawl is a huge problem. America's urban land usage is horrible.
Here in Washington DC, MD and VA, the region is beginning to figure this out.
Mixed use around these stations is SMART GROWTH.
Single 2 story homes where you drive everywhere or drive to train stations is a waste of land, a waste of ones time, and overall just stupid.
Make our communities more walkable will make all of us healthier.
i agree with this...i hate how us americans are so dependent on cars
pretty hard thing to fix though.
may vr we have a train called BART in my city. I’m 4 miles away. We have a dozen county buses, including our own city funded buses that go to the train station. Does anyone use em? Partially... everyone drives!
@@m3rl1on DMV is doing this (DC, Maryland, Virginia) Check out Rockville Pike in Maryland......
It starts with rezoing. And once local developers in your area realizes this is very profitable for them, then it can be done. Like I said, its happening here.
Jessen's Channel It takes money and political will, and we have neither.
You didn't even touch on the reason why most people commute...
because we should just smile and take it up the ass with public transportation. see how its all our fault!
Are you gonna finish that thought, or simply leave us in suspense forever?
xxedwin818xx Which is what? Lack of affordable housing near where they work?
xxedwin818xx ??
bcubed72 bingo.....affordable housing
This is why i chose working for myself. My happiness and mental and emotional health is always my top priority not just for me but so I can be FULLY present for the people in my life
Don't glamorize it. You have to cover your own insurance yourself. I tried it, it has its pros and cons.
@@lepetitchat123 A lot of jobs don't offer insurance or at least not good insurance. Another reason why people choose to work multi jobs.
I voluntarily quit my job because the company that took over switched our offices to a further building. it wasnt necessarily farther from my home but the traffic makes it a longer commute.
Do not settle guys. commuting is really a job in its own yet most companies dont really care and see it as one.
Another take on this: Affordable Housing.
While I assume the vlogger in this video loves her job, she is likely not being paid well enough to live in Manhattan (I assume she works in Manhattan b/c she stated that she arrives to Penn Station). But living in Manhattan is extremely expensive, especially if you want space.
There might be an argument for a simpler lifestyle, one without all the comforts of suburban living, but we aren't there as a society yet. But when I worked in DC, it still took me ~20-30 minutes to get 2 miles to my job in the Navy Yard neighborhood on the Metro with the transfer.
We need our local governments to ensure that new housing developments have a healthy mix of affordable and market rate housing so we can all live healthy lives regardless of socioeconomic status.
Affordable housing, better walkability, more functional public transport infrastructure and less support for cars are all in the public interest. Affordable housing with designs that encourage community will also mean that the commute could be more social and thus more enjoyable and less taxing and could be used to offset the sacrifice of suburban comforts and to create a sense of place. Shared indoor spaces to offset the loss of housing space, shared green spaces to offset the loss of the ‘yard’.
Yeah this is also Vox's fault; they're not paying enough to ensure she can avoid a home nearer to where she works
Most media companies don't pay well. It's the Catch 22 of young media people. Either take a decent paying job in TV media in say, Elko, Nevada but never really able to create a national profile and limit your options OR take a shitty paying job in NYC, LA, or DC ("shitty pay" in NYC is probably upper class living in Elko, NV) but have a better chance of creating your national profile that will lead to the big bucks.
It depends.
CardsNHorns04 Yeah here in LA there's zero affordable housing and you have to move further east to get cheaper homes but means longer commute times
CardsNHorns04 I remember the days when you could be working class and live in Manhattan. Now you have to be upper middle class in order to afford the rent.
why is the dog not mentioned in the credits
He prefers to remain anonymous.
I was driving 300 miles round trip to my last job and spending close to 7 hours a week in the car. I don’t work there anymore.
Personally, I love commuting!! I commute about 40km every day. Most days I ride a bicycle. It’s great exercise and I actually gain money (here in Japan employers pay transportation costs) by doing it! Other days I take public transportation. On public transportation I catch up with my family on social media, watch TH-cam or sometimes even doze off!
Thats great for you
But not everyone lives in a place with public transportation
@@mechengr1731 they have alternatives. In Guerrero if you just used the public you wouldn’t be able to live, but we have private buses! Where someone OWNS the bus and makes money each rider comes up. That makes them want you to get on more and is more likely to wait for you! And comes every 15 seconds! Of course they travel different parts and it’s individual so no quality control but since when there was quality in us public transports? Anyways it’s super convenient most times
@@iseytheteethsnake6290 and once again, its awesome if you live somewhere with something like that. But not everyone does. Even if I could bike to work, there are no bike racks at my job. And google estimates it would take me over 90 minutes to walk, and im not the fittest person. So it would probably at least take me closer to 2 hours
I've turned down jobs because of the commute. No regrets.
I can't believe you just tried to find a silver lining on commuting. You want to read? Why not read at home? Much better. And do you really want to keep working on the bus or on a crowded subway train?? I've done it. It's not nice. Besides, what about the extra hours you're not being paid for? That dog that you played with at the end, he or she spent the day alone. We stay long hours at work and then commuting.. it's just killing you, that's all.
EXACTLY! And that guy at the end is TERRIBLE!
i cant get any reading done at home, distractions everywhere
commute reading makes the time pass by, it's great & productive
@@kn00tcn first of all you need to start and spend about 1-2 hours for two days and you READy !
Because time, some people don't HAVE the time to read or listen to music at home.
@@fbritorufino The gig economy is a lie to force young people to accept working minimum wage jobs with no guaranteed hours and no job security whilst corporations rake in record profits and CEOs enjoy hundred million dollar salaries.
These videos are a constant reminder to enjoy my teen years before I have to deal with my job killing me, the government being corrupt, and me being able to do nothing about it
I'm 25 and starting down the barrel as we speak. Enjoy it bro.
“Something to be said about coming home at the end of it all?” What is to be said?
For those who live near, choose a BICYCLE = exercise + transportation + motivation.
+ sweat :/
Francine Kloh Trust me, you sweat a lot more if you walk
that is why rich people are getting healthier, cause they live in downtown manhattan, and bike to work meanwhile they can save time and turn it into productivity and rest. welcome to 21 century capitalism.
+ it's nearly free in comparison to gas prices.
You can cycle a small amount and still make a difference. Instead of that 5 minute drive to the train station, she could do a 10 minute bike ride, weather permitting. It being winter, though, I can forgive that - for all we know, that's exactly what she does in the summer.
Listening to podcasts and audiobooks changed my life. I am happier now and don't mind the commute as much.
the thing is, there's a point when it grows old. I used to say the same
@@andrelopes8688 i agree. I use to be like 'ill listen to podcasts'. But a few months in there have been times when i just wanted to get home after a long day but no, i have to sit in 2 hr traffic on an buss made for short people
I do that too but it gets old at least for me. I just want to be home.
Can Gunaydin same thing here, I recently discovered “Conan OBrien Needs A Friend” Podcast. It helps a bit.
What can you recommend to listen exactly?
FOUR HOURS TO WORK? It's nonsense.
“Is my commute actually killing me”
Well right now you see... um it can
This is why urban sprawl needs to stop. We need to make our cities denser, not bigger but Americans love our cars for whatever reason.
Renovator ayeee
We need more cities, period. The problem is everyone goes to the top 4 or 5 big cities, the rest are noticeably less busy and dense by comparison.
Gaming and Tech that’s just not human nature, eventually the amount of popular cities will get smaller and smaller and some cities will get even bigger
I say we *actually keep track of military spending and make some cuts.* Reroute at least 1 billion $$ to transit infrastructure in the U.S.
It's a pipedream, since the media is so good at ignoring the caotic military spending.
Horrible-Artist699 I think it's simplistic to blame this on American's love of cars when ultimately people make choices based on the affordability of an area. It is more expensive to live in dense urban area, which push the middle class and poorer citizens to the suburban rings surrounding those cities.
Commute two hours each way from New Jersey to Queens since I moved in with my parents. I was able to pay off about $17,000 worth of student debt after only 7 months, but it’s definitely left me depressed. There’s no room for a life, and when I do get home, I’m in the middle of the suburbs.
Soon I’ll be paying $1,700 per month to live in midtown Manhattan, but I honestly think it’s a better choice for my well being.
Where ya at now?
I live in a small town and it sucks
The cost of living in Manhattan is nuts. It forces people who work there and have a family to commute for hours a day.
Before the pandemic I travelled 3 hours everyday to college, but to be honest I enjoyed waking up early and enjoying my company, listening to music and stuff.
U think commuting can be good as well. If i commute to my work (teacher so school) trough public transport i work on the lessons i give, try to enjoy yhe scenery's , sleep or stuff. I think riding a car to somewhere can give people more stress for commuting
@@nathanvrvrt So true, even I travelled by train and walked to the station I graduated this year so I'm gonna miss travelling
So in total, you commuted for 6 hrs a day? I'm gonna start it so I'm genuinely curious
This is why transit oriented development needs to be implemented, driving your car to park at a train station is a lot better than surface parking in the middle of a city but it isn’t sustainable
Crazy! 2 hours to get to the job?! I spend 30 minutes and I'm not happy!
Shut up, I dream about spending on public transport not more than 30 minutes.
you happiness in your head . try to activate your brain cells by reading interesting book!
dfsadsdas dasda books are overrated anyway. you can easily get a summary on youtube and spending time practicing it instead of letting the author fill your brain with his stupid life stories
@@AlexeiMotoRin Not really, reading or listening to podcasts in a busy train or bus is very different than at your sofa at home, I have tried it endless times and can assure you it is very different
so...14 hours per day spent on work, basically?
Commuting takes literally FIVE hours a day, 25 hours a week and 1300 hours/54 days each year of your life! This is awful and pointless IMHO.
The issue isn't commuting, it's transport infrastructure
6AM to 8PM, Jesus.... I can't imagine having that little time for life and hobbies. I get up at 8:45AM and I'm home for 6PM lol.
Thomas 16.04 My commute I 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way. Yes, I live in NY like she does. No, I don’t want to move. I do wish my commute was shorter, but at this point in my life I’m not willing to exchange that for a shorter commute outside of a largish city. I can’t live in the suburbs so if I do leave maybe I’ll be in the bushes somewhere one day
Fortunately, the 8 hour workday SEEMS to be approaching the conveyor belt to death - research increasingly shows that it isn't efficient compared to shorter days, and that there are all sorts of health (mental and physical) issues that can come from it.
People are too into how cool they think NYC is to actually realize they don't need it.
I remember when I had a part time job too.
That's why you should choose a job that you like, a working environment that you like. If you can only get a job that you hate, you don't deserve to survive the modern world.
I love these totally uninformative inconclusive videos in TH-cam. Makes you question your life choices, now instead of watching more I will do something productive thanks Vox.
Sounds like a USA problem, here in the UK you don't "drive" to a train station, rather walk or take a bus there.
USA/Canada problem. and it's worse in Canada, a lot worse. We're not as populated as US so we have much less any infrastructure, and we have so much more land everything is either extremely spread out or way too packed. Train stations here are built in the middle of the industrial zone, so there are no housing near any stations, closest walk would be about 30 minutes, but usually is 30 minute drive. and busses come every half hour during rush hour, and would zig zag in and out every major street because there's only one bus route, so taking the bus would easily double driving time to the station. Living near the city is only possible if you have a med-high paying job, you NEED a high paying job to live in the city, and I'm talking about 800sqft apartments that cost more than 1mill. I really want to move out of here, to Asia or something.
Depends on where you live in the UK. I am in South London and still know people that drive to stations. South London has the worst transportation links in London. Some days it can take me 50 mins to get to work in Central London. Other days an hour and 20 mins
I do this exact commute everyday. Live in long island, commute to manhattan. It's very stressful
Meatcrob1 LI REPRESENTS
I had this commute for a while too. Nearly killed me. I've since moved and I walk 20-30 minutes to work each day.
move
Sina move to Manhattan where it costs $2800 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment the size of an elementary school classroom? Some people aren't blessed with funds to do that. You got a lot to learn about the world
And Long Island is quite expensive too. A $500,000 house on LI is a dump, but in other areas its practically a mansion, lol.
it's impressive how when they begin to scratch the surface of the subject, they just end the video...
(I'm saying this after watching some other videos of them)
GoldPurpleGotic Time and money are scarce. Im glad they at least posted what they did
I feel like they grabbed my attention and delivered nothing
I was thinking the same, it was like hey my name is.... Jajaja
Nah, I think they reached some solid conclusions. Commuting is good because you can spend that time "alone", reading, or listening to podcasts, which there's apparently no way you could ever manage at home. And commuting, because it's so awful, makes you more grateful to get home. Incredible, grand insights.
I noticed that too. The premise catches your attention, but overall the result feels totally underdeveloped.
This aged well
"commuting is terrible in all these ways and it's shortening your life"
"actually commuting is good for you, forget all we said before"
How are you able to have a dog when you are away each day from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.??
Celisar1 dog sitter
Family member
Partner
By neglecting the dog really. :/ That's the real truth.
It’s kinda 6am bc she is too busy getting ready for work
Especially if you live in populated countries, commute is not peaceful at all.
Covid pandemic : Don't worry,I am coming!!
Everyone watching this in 2021. No more commuting...
Vehemently disagree with Mitchell Moss.
(A) Extension of the work day: last time I checked on average workers are not reimbursed for their commute and are overwhelmingly underpaid.
(B) Commuting has been viewed as source of stress, but in fact it gives people a break: Pretty language to persuade businesses to not pay workers for the extra hours they work.
(C) Having a home that is accessible transportation, is far more important than having a home which is next to your job: As long as the transportation is Public, Inexpensive, and Reliable! Everyday amenities should be within walking distance!
"Commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty. The longer an average commute in a given county, the worse the chances of low-income families there moving up the ladder.” Source: NYT Transportation Emerges as Crucial to Escaping Poverty
This is why I never leave my couch..
Dexter Morgan *this is why I'm a virgin
FTFY
Elias Games This in why I refrain from making jokes on the internet.
Also, studies say that 90% of the people who use the word 'virgin' as an insult are virgins themselves..
Zach Arbogast Dog piss but close..
Dexter Morgan Lol
I thought you worked as a blood-splatter analyst. :(
the parking area of LIRR trian stations is so overcrowded. it is impossible to find a parking space after 8:30 in the morning.
Still??
I wake up at 8:55 AM and start working at 9 am, this kind of life you’ll lead when you are a software engineer.. totally paying me off the struggle I had to go through during my time in University.
Okay this has told me nothing..
SAME
well you are on vox
beck if you walk or ride bike to work you better off
It was great that she presented both sides of the story but I believe a little more depth would have provided a more solid foundation for people to answer the question by themselves. Maybe a few more facts and their analysis, to support the second point
LOL same
My commute to high school is 1 hour long.... Nyc trains are just slow af
Pintexx bro wtf why is it 1 hour in nyc how do you not go to a high school like 20 mins from you????
Collin / SeaElTea i commute an hour each way to highschool too (in chicago) because my neighborhood school isn’t as good as the magnet one i got into
Pintexx Left Manhattan, went to Seattle. Now Seattle has bad traffic too. I’d take the Subways over the bus any day.
Mine is from 5:50 to 8:30 am (not in the US tho) :)
Feathers 6:45 To 8:30... You win
cutting trees for parking? how will we survive in 10 years
I was expecting a video about why commuting is bad, what I wasn't expecting was a video about how my exact commute is bad. The commute she takes to work is literally the same station I start from lol