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Comment by seam_carver | Hacker News Reader

I agree, but only because the office is a 25 minute walk away. If I was driving an hour I’d feel different.

Because you have common sense; so many of these commenters seem to think that it’s somehow everyone else’s fault they chose to live in a place where everything is a 3 hour drive away.

Yeah, that works at best only as long as you're single; once you live together with a partner, it's highly likely one of you will be getting a long commute.

In a proper metro area, where jobs and housing are concentrated, this isn't such an issue, as there’s a high probability both your and your partner’s jobs would be quickly commutable.

Sadly, America’s backwards zoning policies have led to a situation where nothing is typically near anything else. But hey, at least people can have huge front yards that they never ever, use for anything! That’s something!

There's another problem, that's hitting Europe right now: approximately no one can actually afford to move to "a proper metro area", at least not when it comes to larger cities. Even on a dev salary, when you move to a place you can afford that offers basic comforts to family (i.e. not renting out single rooms shared with others), your commute is now back to ~1h each way. But at least you and your partner are traveling in the same direction, so there's that.

It's much easier for people who already own a place in the city.

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