The lad and I went to the LA Auto Show last weekend. Hung out with Fireball Tim and some of the crew. Pictures and audio will be coming a little later in the week.
Until then…
[ rhetorical rant on ]
I know I have ranted about my commute here in the past, but it has gotten worse. Today, for example, it took me 3 hours to travel the 55 miles from my house to the office. Yes. 3. Hours.
And now, my afternoon commute is 2 hours. I could take an alternative route, but then I would have a 3+ hour commute again.
There has to be someone I can talk to about this. Someone that I can send an email to.
Here is the problem. I live in an area of Southern California called the Inland Empire. The IE. The 909. I live out here for a few reasons, chief among them is the cost of living.
I work in Orange County. The OC. Behind the orange curtain. I work here for a few reasons, chief among them is the large availability of tech related jobs.
I could move to the OC, save on my commute time, right? Well, here’s the thing. Rents in the OC are quadruple what they are in the IE. And, even with the real estate market in a bit of a slump, the average price for a house in the OC is still well over the half-million dollar mark. It’s not that I couldn’t afford the higher rent, or even an astronomical mortgage, it’s just that I prefer to eat. And have electricity. And keep the lad in shoes and pants and all that. I’m guessing I’m the odd one out for not wanting to spend over 1/2 of my income on my housing. Go figure.
So, back to the original dilema; traffic. Since spending over 4 hours a day in my MINI is obviously affecting my quality of living, should I start small, like at the city level? Maybe a note to the Mayor of the town, or to one of the council members. I’m far from the only IE to OC commuter in my community, so I would think it might be in the city’s interest to maybe lend a hand.
Or, should I go to the DOT (CalTrans here in CA). Ask them what is being done to relieve traffic congestion on the routes I take on a daily basis?
Or maybe I should skip all of that and go right to the Gov-en-ator? Ask what the state is planning on doing to combat this problem?
It’s just completely out of control. And I just can’t stand it any more.
[ rhetorical rant off ]
Thanks for listening.
check back in a few days for those LA auto show pics. Oh yea, plus audio, but that will be over at WRR.
>It’s just completely out of control. And I just can’t stand it any more.
Well, you *could* leave California… :-)
Don’t think I haven’t given that some serious thought.
If it weren’t for the lad being in High School, I would be even more serious about it. His school performance to date hasn’t been that hot, and I’m afraid a move would ruin any chance of him being successful in school.
I don’t know how it works in CA, but here in AZ, politics always wins.
The routes that get the most attention for widening are those that support the highest number of friends of State politicians. I don’t know that they are friends of the Governor, or just representatives….
But that would be where I would start.
Get your community together! and send a letter, petition, or something like that to your state representative and the one for OC. Bug those people.
You could also write letters (or call) to CalTrans. Not the local. Go State level. To get Federal funding they have a requirement to plan many years in advance, so at a min, you might find out what their long term plans are for your route. If its nothing, then you know you live in an area that noone cares about, and you’ll have to work REALLY hard to get some attention. Also – you might find that their proposed resolution is improved public transit, not the highways.
26 miles in two hours when I was in London :(
I think basically CA is *!@&#ed in many many ways and it can’t be fixed.
>26 miles in two hours when I was in London :(
Ouch! Ok, I promise I’ll stop complaining.
I feel your pain. I lived in Moreno Valley (Inland Empire) and commuted to La Habra (sort of OC) every work day for eight years. The 52 miles each way wore me down. I got laid off in 1992 and had to move to the Bay Area for work. Probably for the best, commute is much better. Although, for the first several years it took 55% of my take home pay to pay the mortgage. Now, the best part about the relocation is that I can take public transport in the same time the old commute was, or when I get my MINI next year, in a third of the time of my old commute.
DB – Your in the tech side of things, so is telecommuting at all an option for you?
Even if you can wrangle just a couple of days a week it can make a HUGE difference.
Rich.
It is possible to an extent. I have to be available 8-6 7 days a week for possible on-site support at 9 locations within Orange County. It’s just easier when I can do it from the office.
I do try to work from home 1 day a week currently. I’ve tried for more, but it never worked out.
teleworking seems to be a big myth. Since I live in real BFE any job I take in the IT world is at least 100 miles from where I live (hence my job in San Diego – though I do the 130 miles faster than db’s 55!). So I keep looking for a real teleworking job and they don’t seem to exist. Like db says there is always a reason why they want you in the office…
Since its a rhetorical rant, I supposed it doesn’t call for a response…. but here’s one anyway. Spend those 4-5hours at a second job to pay for the higher cost of living near your work. Either way you’re s.o.l. ;-)
At least your in your MINI for those long commutes, which makes it a little less cumbersome…. or more so…
OK, so telecommuting is out given the on-site requirements of the job. I fully understand that. Most of my clients want me on site most of the time as well.
I’m sure you’ve been looking into other positions closer to home, right? If not, then that might be an alternative.
I know that the good tech-sector jobs in the IE are few and far between though, but a consistent, long-term job search will usually (eventually) net something decent. (Yeah – I know – you can bag on be for stating the obvious).
Either way I hope something good breaks for you on this – you have too much talent to go to waste sitting on the 15/91/55/5/405 etc. 30% of the day!
Take care, and I believe I can speak for everyone when I say we’re all pulling for ya.
Rich.
There’s a lot of stuff going on up here in Portland, man. How much more high school does the lad have left?
3 more years. Well, 3.5.
Portland? Doesn’t the sun only shine a week a year up there? ;)
That’s a huge exaggeration. We get at least two.
Honestly, it’s not really as bad as people make it out to be. Yes, the winters are quite damp and gloomy. But the weather the rest of the year is incredible.
I was getting to hate my commute into Cambridge, MA (about an hour to do 20 miles). The problem with commuting to Cambridge for the hi-tech and bio-tech jobs is not where you start from – it’s an 80/20 thing. The last 3 miles take most of the time. The problem was solved for me because the company laid me off..! My prime requirement for a new job was that it did not involve going into the People’s Republic. So far, my life has been much better (as long as you don’t count the complaints from my wife who still works in Cambridge!!)
Seriously, I don’t think chronic traffic problems like these can be fixed unless you force everyone into smaller cars. Even that would only help a little. The problem has to be solved by moving the jobs out to other places. Why aren’t high tech employers attracted to the low rents near where you live..?