Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Questions on moving closer to job

Well the wife and i have been talking about this for a while now and wanted to get some opinions and hear some others experiences. I live in a small town now bout 100 ppl and own our home. taxes are low now around 600 a year. We are looking to move closer to the large town where i work. I drive 50 miles one way atleast 6 days a week, and the town we shop in is 14 miles one way.

Trying to see if the added expense upfront of buying on the outskirts of the city would be worth the trade offs. Ideas Guys?



Thanks
David

I did the opposite. Used to live in town and drove 9 miles to work each day.

Moved to a small town farther away - now it's about 80 round trip to work each day.

Would never go back.

Taxes are less
Neighbors are better
Crime is non-existent
LEO's are cooler

I like paying less for my home, taxes and insurance out of town. I like living in a small town where people know one another and help out. I hated having to try and speak spanish to everyone and having urban youths running through my yard every night.

I also really REALLY like having that drive at night to unwind - by the time I get home, there is no work left in my system.

personally, i would never move closer to a city. but it depends on what you like. me, i hate cities and being around people and their BS. i would drive a long way to avoid it.

I work from home now and travel to visit customers. Every time I watch Doc Hollywood, I think about moving to a small town.

Anyway, I agree with Teal's comment about unwinding in the car. I know it sounds crazy, due to traffic problems, etc. But when I used to walk to work, I missed the time unwinding between work and home.

Do that myself. No way I'd move closer to that mess.

I am actually looking to move farther out of town. Look at the cost of living closer to town and such versus your cheaper taxes and owning the house...I'm sure the commute sucks, but it should be worth it in the end.

You might want to consider what you can do in a small town vs the city. So, can you plink out back of your house now? That would be deal breaker for me. I can't do anything like that in suburbia. If I could move to a small town and have some ground to shoot and maybe have an out building, I'd deal with the drive.

I have a customer whose son drives 2 hours each way, in and out of NY every day. Now that's nuts!

How large is larger? Will you gain enough in wear and tear, a big consideration on driving to overcome the wear and tear of getting "away"? I live on the edge of Denver, despise the whole place now. I grew up in Denver. The edge is moving past me, too. We raised the kids here,home paid for, lots of memories, wife is too sick to move away from docs and all, and we do have good neighbors, so as long as we (wife) can cope with stairs, we will stick it out.

WE are the last house on the paved road. one neighbor who is helpful. we can shoot in the yard and a re zoned ag so animals are ok. nice thing now is we burn wood to heat house and all our domestic water. which we cant do in the larger city as they have ordinances banning them. just wanted some other input to think about something we my have missed.

thanks
David

Live where it makes you happy.

Full3r,

lots of good "advice" so far. Hard decision for you to make.

We (my wife's place, more about that in a minute) live 20 miles + 5 miles up the hill or so from the big city where my wife works downtown. Neighborhood is rural-"lite", mostly lots over 3+/- acres, with some farming/orchards. Lots of vineyards too. Makes it more "upscale" in a way along with the old time farming families (think sheds, tractors, boneyards for parts etc).

I love it out here. Wish I could shoot on our lot which we are renting from friends. I hear shooting around, must be folks w/larger lots. Limited traffic, less noise, all the benefits of living in the "city". We just have to drive down the hill 10 minutes or so to get to the store/doctor etc.

Problem for my wife is the time away from home with the commute. One hour + every day each way counting time down the hill to bus stop, bus to train, train to right near work. I don't blame her, I value my time and don't like spending it getting back and forth to work. But I'd do it to live out of town if I couldn't find work near where I live.

No, my place, RV where I live during my work season is 3.5 miles (7 minutes) from work. 35 miles from town, deer, quail, pheasant, hawks, owls, badger, herons, loads of different "dickie birds", ducks and geese on the river 75 yds away. That's my type of living. But then I have a 45 minute or more drive to groceries, an hour to the big town for dentist and stuff, or to meet my friends. So that part sucks.

One must decide for themselves what they are willing to deal with, along with trying to do right by your spouse. Having the long drive to work to "unwind" is a good thing if you have that type of drive. Having a long drive to work when one has other stuff to do is a pain, especially if it involves traffic. My traffic where I live in the RV is deer and farm tractors. Other than that, very few cars until I get to town.

I wish you luck whichever way you go.

Geno

PS, I like the low cost of living in the country. My insurance for the vehicle is hundreds of dollars cheaper than my wife's just based on our residences.

I think you WILL miss your small town life within two or three weeks of moving to suburbia. JMHO.

I've done that hour drive thing and I hate it. Up extra early, waste time and gas driving to work, waste time and gas getting home, eat supper, have a couple of hours to spend with the family or do things that need done and into bed so I can get up early again.

Now, I live on the outskirts of a town with a population of about 6000. I'm home in 15 minutes, if I need to stop at the drugstore or want to go to the gunshop, I can and still have time to do stuff at home. I have neighbors but they're OK. 15 minutes to a 3000 acre State Gamelands with a range. Groceries, beer etc are 5-10 minutes away. Location, Location, Location I guess.

I grew up on a farm and like some alone time but I'll take convenience most of the time.

Dale

How close are you to retirement? Will you want to live on the outskirts of the city when retired or move again?

I live 11 miles from downtown and dislike the 25 minute commute. I would love to live 50 miles out, away from traffic and sirens, where I could see the stars at night....but there is no way I could do that drive every day! I will not consider the idea of moving out of the city until I am getting close to retirement, but once I am retired...I am so outta here! If I was close to retirement I sure would not be considering moving closer to the city unless it was necessary for medical reasons or something.

Ask yourself what your time is worth. Then figure out where your time is wasted most. Somewhere in there, you will find your answer.

I happen to like being close to my work. Don't like commuting. Lots of good stuff to do at and near home. But even though I'm in a community of about 80k, I'm 15 minutes from the lake, 15 minutes from the river and 30 minutes from the mountains.

Location is everything.

Dittos,

We moved from one end of the outskirts of town to the other, 18 mi commute turned into 12 mi, but 40-60 min each way turned into 20 min each.

An extra hour in my day and being free of the stress of being bumper to bumper was a huge improvement to me in terms of quality of life.

It's not worth moving to a place you'll be miserable, but if you spend all your time working and commuting then you aren't enjoying your home either. Gotta figure what works for you.

Makes one very dependent on fuel prices / availability..


Would rather bike to ones job..

I tried it. I was able to get my commute down to fifteen minutes when traffic was good. After additional expenses of living in an urban area you'll practically be giving yourself a pay cut.

You'll need to make ten to fifteen thousand more to have the same quality of life living in an urban area. Figure it being a significant improvement will be another five to ten.

I've always lived close to my work. Right now if I walk to work it's 1/3 of a mile and if I drive it 3/4s of a mile.
Jim

Ironic.

We live 14 miles from the nearest town, and I drive about 50 miles to work, one way.

I was looking at finding a closer job to my house, even if I took a pay cut.