Buying A Home
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Has anyone here moved further away from your/DH's job?

Any regrets?

Currently, DH is 4 miles from his place of employment.

He sometimes comes home for dinner... and can pop in from time to time, depending on how busy the city is (one look at my avatar and I'm sure you can figure out his career pretty quickly).

Being SO close to DH's job has been one wonderful perk to living "within city limits."

But we are about to move out of city limits. About 40 minutes away. Where the schools are better, things are a little slower paced, you can get a bigger, newer house for less, there's very little, if any, crime; it's an ideal place for families and is everything we want in a place to raise our kids.

 DH will be commuting, allotting himself an hour each way (it may take as little as 1/2 hour but he said he'd feel more comfortable leaving an hour before his shift begins). He will no longer be just a few quick minutes away. DH has said he is ready for this (he wants to move just as much as I do) and won't mind the commute.

Just curious if anyone else moved further from their job (or DH's?)  Was it a difficult adjustment?

 

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Re: Has anyone here moved further away from your/DH's job?

  • We haven't done that, but it would be really tough for us.  Have you run the numbers on the extra gas to figure out if the housing savings really add up?  
  • lolclolc member

    Yes. Gas/mileage is not a concern at this point, thankfully.  

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  •  It really depends on what type of commute it is.  Is it mostly highway or city streets with stop lights?  How congested does the route normally get?  Does he drive an automatic or a stick?  Will he be responsible for kiddo pick up/drop offs?  40 minutes on the freeway with no stop lights, no kiddos and my favorite music is NBD.  40 minutes listening to Kid Bopz and/or screaming in stop and go traffic in my stick-shift worrying about getting my kid to school on time AND me to work on time sucks donkey balls.
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  • lolclolc member

    imageMrsAxilla:
     It really depends on what type of commute it is.  Is it mostly highway or city streets with stop lights?  How congested does the route normally get?  Does he drive an automatic or a stick?  Will he be responsible for kiddo pick up/drop offs?  40 minutes on the freeway with no stop lights, no kiddos and my favorite music is NBD.  40 minutes listening to Kid Bopz and/or screaming in stop and go traffic in my stick-shift worrying about getting my kid to school on time AND me to work on time sucks donkey balls.

    Agreed, but I'm not asking if we should move further away... I'm asking who has moved further away.

    DH will still have his department car, doesn't work traditional work hours so traffic is a non issue... he isn't responsible for the kids (I stay at home) and whether he wants to take the interstate or back roads is up to him since he would have both options available that would take the same amount of time either way.

    Wondering if we are the only ones who are choosing to move further away from a job in a time when it seems like more people move to be closer to their jobs. 

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  • We have not done this yet, but we will be.  Right now we are in a town between where DH works and family.  Everything is 45 minutes away from us (both other towns).  We thought it would be a great compromise to keep DH's commute down and not be too far from family but I am beyond sick of not being close to anything so we are moving to the town with our families.  Good news is there is a newer expressway that will now cut down on travel time for DH.  His new commute will be about an hour.  We are willing to make the sacrifice thoug because we will be closed to family, stores and things to do.  Plus the school districts are great.
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  • We did this a month ago. We moved back to our home town and one of my jobs is 1hr 15 minutes from home, but then I only work there 4 days a month so it isn't to bad.
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  • Technically, yes. We now live within walking distance of DH's job and now we're moving to the surburbs. The commute should only be 25-35 minutes though. DH will miss the no-commute but I can't take another day of apartment living.
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  • DH has.  He initially was less than 3 miles from his work and could make it there in less than 5 minutes.  When I moved up to be with him, my job was two hours away from his so we moved to a location that splits the commutes.

    Sure it would totally be more convenient to live closer but DH says he is content with where we are and has no regrets.  Eventually we would like to move to either be closer to his job or to back where we grew up, but we have been here 3 years already and don't have any plans to move within the next 3-5 years.

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  • We moved further away from both of our jobs three weeks ago. I used to be 15 minutes away, now 45. H used to be 25 minutes away, now 40. It's definitely been a bigger adjustment for me, but I love our house and I think it was worth it. We moved to PA but still work in NJ, and we could not have bought something this big and nice in such a great school district in NJ because of the massive property taxes. Since I know that buying something closer really wasn't an option, it doesn't bother me too much. I also drive a Prius, so the gas increase isn't too bad.
  • We moved further away from both of our jobs.  I was 10 minutes away from mine and DH was a half hour away.

    Now I'm a half hour away and DH is 50 minutes away.

    When picking a location, we made sure we had easy access to the freeway.  That was one of our number one priorities.  The time it takes to get down to work doesn't seem so long when I'm going on a freeway and moving along with traffic.  We did it for some of the same reasons as you: better schools and safer neighborhood.

    We've only been here a month, but it's been working out great for us so far.

  • We did. It's been fine. The positives outweigh the negatives.
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  • We're in the process of doing this right now. My job is only about 10 minutes away from where we live now. H travels a little over an hour as it is to get to work but takes a train. We're moving another 30 minutes north, assuming everything works out with the house we're currently trying to purchase. My commute will change to about 40 minutes and H's will be 1.5 hours or so. It sucks to have a longer commute, but the difference in taxes and home prices in our current county is substantial enough that it makes it worth it for us. We're so sick of living in our crowded 1 bdrm apartment and would gladly sacrifice our commutes to own a home and be able to start a family. It's just a matter of priorities for us.
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  • We did it three years ago.

    We moved ten miles further away from work and my afternoon commute went from twenty minutes to an hour and twenty minutes.  It's about forty minutes in the morning.

    I can't stand it and we're planning to move back downtown as soon as we can.


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  • We did a couple weeks ago.  I went from a 30-35 minute one-way commute to 55-1 hour+ one-way commute (so 2+ hours/day).  I drive & park at metro and take the train into the city.  Once in the city, I walk a couple blocks.

    The jury is still out on how I feel about it.  I'm not used to waking up so early and keeping myself entertained on the train.  If I adjust to those things, it will probaby be better.  I was ready to quit my job last week b/c of the commute.  It's an adjustment and a sacrifice.  When we have kids, I'll definitely have to work from home more often.

    Other housing options were not particularly attractive.  The alternative would have been a teeny house w/teeny yard and huge mortgage in Arlington.  Or a medium-sized house in a mediocre school distrct that was still 40+ minutes away. 

    DH's commute is the same, about 25-30 minutes.  I'm a little jealous of his commute.

    DC is very HCOL and very congested. 

  • We did.

    I used to drive 45 minutes one way to work and FI would drive 45 minutes in the opposite direction. Both mainly freeway.

    I wanted to be closer to work and be in a better school district whenever we have kids (no kids currently). We kept an eye on houses closer to the freeway and we found a house that was on the county line in the district we wanted to be in. It is now an additional 2 miles for FI, but only 15 minutes for me.

    FI enjoys driving and we got a honda civic for this reason. He used to use his pick up all the time. It helps us knowing that we'll be in a good school district and I'll be in the same town where our future kids will be going to school (hopefully). We also do grocery shopping in the town I work. We pretty much live out in the country so it's nicer being closer to the necessities.

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  • We are about to do exactly what you just did.  I believe my DH has the same job as yours and we live within city limits so it takes him about 5 minutes to get to work and he's able to pop by on occasion.  We are moving to a house 20 minutes away for most of the same reasons.  I honestly don't think the commute will affect us much since, like your DH, he doesn't have to deal with rush hour traffic, but it's going to be a hard adjustment of him not being able to stop by when he's at work.

     Either way, we knew that we never wanted to permanently live where he works and are really ready for the move.

  • We considered it, but quality time together as a family was more important to us.  When 2+ hours a day is spent in a car (or dedicated to commuting as you describe), that is less time for family. 
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  • SisugalSisugal member
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    Don't forget to include the cost of gas & wear & tear on DH's vehicle.

    We hate commuting.

     

  • I find that most people tend to hate commuting/want to live close to work.

    My parents had the opposite view, and I've come to appreciate that reasoning. They wanted a big house in a quiet area with a lot of yard for their kids. The trade off was a 45 minute+ commute (except... when they lived in a very populated suburb the traffic congestion was a concern as well - living in a more rural area with highway/freeway access was further, mile wise, but the commute was more predictable).

    If you are the type of person who is/wants to be a homebody, will want to stay home and work on house projects/yard projects, doesn't mind driving to the store, etc, then living well outside city limits will be very appealing for you. I find this is more common when people have children and don't want to necessarily leave the house much anyway, because packing everyone up is a PITA. ;-)

    I would not be opposed to something like this, depending on our situation. I think only the two of you (especially your husband, if it's his commute that's changing) can decide if it's a good idea.

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  • imageCrackHabit:
    We did. It's been fine. The positives outweigh the negatives.

    This. DH's commute went from 5 minutes to 25 minutes and mine is actually 2 miles farther but takes me 5 minutes less. We love being outside and got a half acre lot just outside of a cute little town with no neighbors right next to us. We totally think it's worth it. We both grew up in the middle of nowhere where you had to drive at least 20 minutes to a grocery store so I really don't think driving 40 minutes to work is the end of the world.

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  • imageJliongrrrl:

    imageCrackHabit:
    We did. It's been fine. The positives outweigh the negatives.

    This. DH's commute went from 5 minutes to 25 minutes and mine is actually 2 miles farther but takes me 5 minutes less. We love being outside and got a half acre lot just outside of a cute little town with no neighbors right next to us. We totally think it's worth it. We both grew up in the middle of nowhere where you had to drive at least 20 minutes to a grocery store so I really don't think driving 40 minutes to work is the end of the world.

    We are about to do the same for and for the reasons listed above, we feel very confident this is the right thing for us.  We are OK in the city, but we are country bears at heart.

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  • JoeLiesJoeLies member
    We're in a similar position.  My H's job is 3-4 miles away right now but we're moving 20 miles away but due to the direction we're moving, he'll be on the wrong way of rush hour. We agreed that it's worth it in the long run because we can get far more for our money where we're headed and the school systems are top notch.  H actually has quite a few co-workers already living in town.
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  • We are looking to move further away from both my job and DH's job.  My DH is also a cop and we used to have to live within city limits.  Now we are able to move out and I cannot wait.  But this means, we both go from a 5-10 min commute to approx 30-40min commute.  I know it will suck but we HAVE to move as the school system where we live now sucks and we want to be able to send our girls to public school outside the city.  So for me, it isnt even an issue, we are planning on moving.
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