The Long Haul to the Office

From the Wall Street Journal | Aug 17, 2011 | By SARAH MAX

Most weekday mornings David Herbert, 44, is out the
door by 4:15 a.m., hoping to get a jump on the 74-mile slog from his
home southwest of Olympia, Wash. to downtown Seattle.

Rather than fight traffic the entire way, the information technology
manager drives 45 miles to Tacoma, boards the 5:35 a.m. train for the
one-hour ride to King Street Station then takes a bus for the final 20
minutes of his commute to the office.

Associated Press

At his desk by 7:00 a.m., Mr. Herbert works a full eight-hour day
before leaving to catch the 3:15 p.m. train to Tacoma. By the time he
pulls back in his driveway around 6 p.m. he'll have been in transit more
than five hours – and that's on a good day.

More than 3.2 million workers in the U.S., or about 2.4% of the
nation's workforce, travel more than 90 minutes to work each way,
according to the latest data available from the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics. (According to the Bureau, any commute over one hour is
considered extreme.)

Although the average commute hasn't changed much in the past five
years, in certain pockets, such as parts of Southern California and the
New York metro area, the number of people with extreme commutes has
increased, says Kate Lister, of the San Diego-based Telework Research
Network.

"It used to be when you looked at Census data
and saw that someone lived in Los Angeles and worked in San Francisco
you assumed it was a mistake," says Alan Pisarski, author of Commuting
in America. "These days you cannot be sure."

The economy, no doubt, is a big factor behind increased commutes: In
many instances workers will go just about anywhere for a job, especially
when selling the house and relocating isn't an option for homeowners
hamstrung by underwater mortgages.

Another factor is lifestyle. Employees who are working longer or
returning to the workforce after retirement, suffer long commutes for
the sake of kids who are well-established in schools or the desire to
stay put in the family home.

Take James Walbridge. With his family firmly
established in Lincoln, Neb., he flies across two times zones at least
twice a month to get from his home to his office in San Francisco's
trendy South of Market district.

The president of Tekton Architecture and Artisan Builders Corporation
moved to Lincoln in 2003 after meeting his future wife at a conference
and "showing up on her doorstep." The plan was to go back to San
Francisco, but Lincoln grew on Mr. Walbridge. Eight years later the
office is still six hours and a world away.

"When I'm in San Fran, I'm type A and in Nebraska I'm type B," says
Mr. Walbridge, who stays in a small studio in his San Francisco office
and works 16-hour days for two weeks at a stretch. He's often in good
company. The firm's other two architects commute to the office from
Oregon and Washington about every two weeks. "We're a very tightly run
organization, but we're flexible about how we've accommodated employees'
life choices," he says.

Lifestyle choices aside, long commutes take their toll emotionally
and physically. According to a 2010 Gallup Poll, long commutes are
associated with health problems, such as high cholesterol, and recurring
neck and back pain, as well as higher stress levels. What's more, a
study out earlier this year from Sweden's Umeå University, showed that long commutes – 45 minutes or more – take their toll on marriage too, increasing the risk of divorce by a full 40%.

"This is the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life," says
Jill Pollack, who flies 3,000 miles between her home in West Hartford,
Conn. and Vancouver about three times a month, eight months out of the
year for her role as host of HGTV Canada's makeover show "Consumed."

While the time spent away from her husband and 3-year-old son takes
the biggest toll, Ms. Pollack also doesn't like to fly. "It dries your
hair and your skin, and you're surrounded by a bunch of sick people."

Still, many road warriors argue that the benefits of living where they do outweigh the toll of the commute.

Mr. Herbert has no plans to change jobs or his address. "I live on
two acres across the street from a federal wildlife reserve and the
schools here are good," says the father of four. "No matter where I
work, I'll always live here."

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