For some reason everyone always looks at commuting through the eyes of a 1950’s employee. How many people actually start work at the same time and end at the same time, work 5 days a week, at an office in a downtown building, where they will work at the same location for duration of their lives? The “office” is a outdated concept, many people work in a variety of places, for employers with multiple locations, some have no fixed locations or those locations can vary during a career, some people work a portion of their week from home, and I know this may sound strange, but there are jobs everywhere. Doctors, teachers, nurses, fireman, cops, dentists and a whole bunch of other gigs are more prevalent in suburbs than in downtown locations. My city did a study a few years ago, I’ve linked it in the past, and the amount of temecula to downtown sd commuters has fallen in recent years to something in the teens or single digit percentage wise. Once this valley hit about 300k people, it became self sufficient in some ways.
I am one of those people whose career has no fixed location, my employer moves me, every promotion comes with an office move, I might be 5 miles from home for a year, 25 miles from home the next or 70 miles from home the next, then the following year, back to 5. Moving to be near work is fruitless, once you settle in, they move you back to where you were living. Just pick where you want to live.
In the last 20 years that I’ve worked for the same employer, technology has lessened my commute, my commute is still work, I’m on the phone, I leave the house and get back in the house at the same time every day, if my office is 5 minutes away or 60, if I’m 5 minutes away, I’m on the phone the last hour at work, if I’m 60 minutes away, I’m on the phone in the car. Maybe I’m the only guy because I’m a regional manager of sorts, so my employer pays for my gas and car and I actually move around during my work day as well, planning things close to home at the beginning or end of the day. But with computers today, there really isn’t any special equipment at the office that I don’t have with my laptop/smartphone or at my home, there just isn’t the same 5 o’clock whistle that there used to be. I see this changing more rather than reverting back as we move forward.
For people like me, where location is irrelevent as far as work goes, this place suits me just fine. I don’t shave commute time by moving to Carlsbad or downtown, I just double or triple my mortgage, my only benefit is weather and it’s just not worth it to me. Plus i get teachers like 5yes for my kids, happy teachers, good teachers, teachers that make the same money as all the other so cal teachers but can actually make a good life for themselves on their salary here, which is probably why we can attract good ones since their pay is pretty much the same everywhere. Same holds true for a lot of local professions. A doctor or dentist up here can have a stay at home wife, live very well, while still living below their means, or they could live in a rented condo in del mar for the same price.
I know it’s not for everyone, but for all the complaining about todays economy and real estate market, I can’t share the feelings, we’ve got the 1950’s price to income ratios and it’s amazing how many positive side effects it creates. Most readers will dismiss this because they want to live the coastal so cal dream, that’s all good, we just have different dreams. My dream is to not worry about money even though I didn’t win the lottery. My dream is to pay cash for everything, my dream is to have enough banked that when i retire early (53ish is the current plan), I’ll have 10k a month income, no mortgage, without touching my principal, my dream is to pick up the tab without thinking twice, my dream is to log onto my online banking maybe twice a month and not be shocked, I’m living my dream but then again, I paid less than 300k for a house that’s bigger than I will ever need. But right now it’s hot, tomorrow I have to drive further than you do (even though I’m not obese or have health issues because money stress is worse than commuting in my book), so to answer your question, “should I live in temecula”, it all depends on what your dreams are. You gotta make you happy, I gotta make me happy, that doesn’t always require the same plan.
