How long is your and/or your SO's commute?

I think the idea of renting to test out the commute is a good idea. You have a few more years before kindergarten and such, right?

DH's commute is 10-15 minutes...and at least another 5 to park. He hates to commute and feels like time in the car is wasted time so this works well for us. It also works that I like the area near the university and that there are good job options within 10-20 minutes.

Good point about the amount of time you and the kids spend where you live. I'm not sure if I would be willing to move from here to reduce his commute time (if he took a job further away). Oh yeah, that was an option and I didn't want to move. I felt like a 45 mile move might as well be a 1,000 mile move in terms of re-establishing and meeting new people.

[alison]

10 miles in Chicago. I think you already know from experience that it varies from 25 minutes to up to 1.5 hours. Sometimes 2 if there's something going on downtown.

5 min. He loves it.

[DCJenn]

We're exactly 9 miles from the Army hospital and 9 miles from the AF hospital. So, the way my husband drives? 10 minutes to either.

When we were in DC we were 6 miles away which could take 15 minutes before 6am or four hours if the President decided to see the troops.

Jenn

ETA: My commute is ten minutes, if I hit both red lights between me and the office.

[Michele]

In G'ville I was 7 miles from the hospital and it would take me 30-40 minutes during traffic....10-15 minutes at 2am.

Here we live farther away from the hospital, but thanks to the great highway system Shreveport has, it only takes Russ about 10-15 minutes to get to the hospital....during "rush hour."

I hated the 30 minute commute...but if it was because I was actually driving, instead of stop and go...it probably wouldn't have been so annoying.

For us, the decision on where to live depended some on home call...when I was coming home from the hospital at 2am or some other ungodly hour, even the 10 minutes seemed long...and I would occasionally "snooze" at the wheel...so if that could be a factor, then even a fast 30 minute drive is too much.

[SuzySunshine]

Ours are each about 15 minutes, but as you know Rochester isn't very big. With that said, I beleive DH has to live a certain distance from the hospital to be able to take call from home.

My dh commutes about 30 minutes. It was the cap of the 'range' we gave the realtor when we were looking. That said, we picked it totally abstractly. In cleveland we lived about 10 minutes from the hospital (and 10 min from my job) .. that was perfect. All things being equal, a slightly shorter commute would probably be ideal, but I really like where we ended up. He doesn't complain about it.

[Flynn]

When the move is final, we will be 5 miles or less from the hospital.

It just worked out this way. I found THE community I wanted to live in and it happened to be close. However, if you live in what will be our new town....about 100,000 people, EVERYTHING is close so take this with a grain of salt!

[Vishenka69]

In NY nothing is measured in miles because they don't mean anything. We always had to be within 30 minutes (no matter what) commute of the hospital, so DH always had better commute than me. My commute for the past 6 years has always been an hour (give or take 5-10 minutes). In NY that's pretty average and considered normal. He's currently shuffling between two hospitals, it's 5-7 minutes to one and 20-30 to the other (depending on the lights, traffic and speeding).

[rainbabies]

3 miles from the hospital.

It takes 3 minutes at 5:30 am and 10 minutes in the evening. We love it.

[Phoebe]

DH has to be within a 25 minute drive from the hosp. His drive during peak traffic is 20 to 25 minutes. Otherwise it may take10 minutes.

Jennifer

We are about 1 1/2 miles from the primary hospital....no traffic, so 4-5 minutes (unless he bikes or walks it). DH also works about 5-6 days a month at two other hospitals which are each 45 miles away (again, no traffic so it is 45 minutes driving time).

DH doesn't mind the longer commute times, but I'm sure it would be a different story if he had to do it every day. I like the shorter commute because I don't have to worry about him when the driving conditions aren't so good plus it's nice for DS and me to be able to drop by the hospital to say hi.

I think renting in the area is a great idea. Before you rent you can also do a "test commute" to see what the drive is like during rush hour. I don't think 30 minutes is bad at all (unless, like Michele said, it's stop and go), but long hours and bad weather could make it very draining.

[planet]

We live blocks form the hospital now. During med school we did a 45 min-hr commute toward the end when we decided to get out of the city. It is a wise move to rent first and see if the time he is gone is a worthwhile trade off for the place you will live. You won't be locked into staying that way. Honestly I think you will know whether it is working in a month or two.

[mommax3]

We are 10 minutes door to door from the hospital. DH needs to be able to get there in 15 or less. If we lived further away, he would spend a LOT more time at the hospital, and we sure don't want that!

I just got a job teaching middle school choir part-time, and my commute is 15 to 20 minutes of highway driving......but I am driving the opposite way of most of the morning traffic, so it isn't bad. I would love to move to the community I am teaching in, but it is a little far for DH.

Sally

[ellie]

DH's commute is 25 minutes, 35-40 in the winter. In this area, it's considered quite a long commute, but it doesn't bother DH...he grew up in Los Angeles, so the commute here pales in comparison. For us, knowing that he was going to spend so much time at the hospital, we decided it was worth it for me and the kids to have a more family friendly community out in the suburbs rather than downtown near the hospital.

Plus, he knows that it's a small trade off for this fellowship.