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Comment by anon291 | Hacker News Reader

It is actually cheaper to rent in Portland and fly commercial daily to SJC than it is to live in the bay area. I did this commute regularly since my family is settled in Portland. End to end it is only slightly slower than Caltrain (sfo->SJC) as well... Actually one of my more pleasant commutes. I live close to the airport and with TSA precheck I would show up 15 minutes before boarding, be in air for 90 minutes and then to the office. If I leave at 7 then I'm perfectly on time for 9AM and then fly home at around 7:30 to be back in bed around 10. Even have time for dinner and drinks after work.

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> If I leave at 7 then I'm perfectly on time for 9AM

I don't doubt you but most people would not find a 2-hour one-way commute pleasant.

Everyday? No. But a few days a month? Absolutely. It works really well.

There's a lot of downtime in that commute. Sitting in an airport. Talking to people. Flying is fun if you're into it.

Anyway, a 2 hour commute is normal in the bay area . I used to do the south bay to San Francisco Caltrain daily... Flying is better. Free drinks for one thing

I thought 9-5 + 1hr commuting was bad enough. What you just said is crazy.

Different strokes for different folks.

You don't have to answer this question, but: do you live off the I-205? I'm always astounded (well, annoyed) at how, living in the inner east side, getting to Multnomah Falls via I-84 would sometimes be quicker than getting to PDX fir the 205.

I live in inner NE. I'm two miles from downtown via the broadway bridge, and four miles from the airport via surface streets (about a 10 minute drive. If someone texts me while picking up bags at baggage claim, I will be at the airport before they are out). If I lived farther out, then commuting to the airport would be a problem. However, central Portland is very livable compared to most cities.

How much did you pay per flight? Your carbon footprint must put Taylor Swift to shame...

Yeah that's absolutely insane. I can't imagine the mental gymnastics needed to do that.

Pure financials can more than explain this, if you have a family and want space for them. Let's do some napkin math, from a quick Google search it's 150$ round trip, so 3000$ a month assuming 20 work days (maybe even less with frequent-flyer status, cashbacks and rewards).

For a 4 bedroom house, Zillow gives me around 7-8k a month in rent for SF and around 4k for SJ, so you'll at least break even and have a better quality of life for your family even if you won't see them much during the week.

Anyway: The fact that a simple adequate house for a family runs at 4k in the US is ... maddening. 1500 sqft is around 140 m², a comparable house in Berlin (one of Germany's hottest markets!) runs ~2500€. How one is supposed to live in the US when not on a typical techbro salary, I have no idea how y'all even manage that.

Why? I own a house in Portland. Company closed the Portland office. My family is settled there. It doesn't make sense to move your whole life just for a few days a month in the office . I didn't do it daily. However I did price it out and it is cheaper.

I didn't commute daily. Just a few times a month

Did the employer know you didn't live there?

Yes. This was part of the deal; that I show up in the office every once in a while. They paid for my flights too, so it was actually cheaper than renting in the bay area, and certainly more convenient (my wife and kids are well settled in Portland). The flights were so cheap ($90 - $110 round trip with south west)

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