Commuting for work - dilemma!

[prettybutclumpy]

Hi. We have sold our house and are keen to buy another in an area with good schools in our city (Edinburgh) or in the countryside around.

Dilemma is WHERE! We could move to one part of the city with great schools, or a lovely seaside town. City would be 20 mins commute for OH, and 20 mins for me. Seaside would be 45 mins commute for OH by car, and 30 mins on train for me. I only work two days a week from my office, so we are thinking more about OH's commute.

The question for you is, do you think it is worth OH travelling an extra 50 mins per day for a lovelier lifestyle?

The houses are probably the same price in both places.

I'd be keen to hear from people who have made the decision to move out of town, and whether a better quality of life can make up for a longer commute.

Cheers!

I have a 60 mile commute each way. My H's commute is 20 mins. I did do a 3 day week, now upto a 4 day week. Its hard work, means I'm often tired (have an early start to beat traffic) but the driver for us was schools + community life + long term family life. We did consider it but realised we simply wouldn't have got that any where near where I work (different city, not great state schools). So whilst your H is important obviously, hes just 1 member of the family and I think you have to consider whether the move would benefit your family as a whole (not just the commuting issue).

Good luck!

commuting is horrible.

Would that be two 45-minute drives on a fine day, or 90 minutes a day with snow, fog, roadworks and traffic?

Great - two very different replies so far. Thanks for your perspectives, they are both helpful. Anyone else?

What would be his options for public transport? Wouldn't commit myself to a 45minute (each way) drive without a fallback plan for days/weeks/months where I just couldn't face it.

On the other hand, I love where I live, because I leave the city behind me in the afternoon and get off the train to sea air, which is about the best possible thing for my head.

So there you are, I'm totally on the fence!

I'd live in the city and visit the beach at the weekend. Otherwise long commute may mean your OH is too exhausted to appreciate it.

I work in Edinburgh but live in a little village down between Biggar and Moffat so have a 50 mile commute each way. Takes about 90 minutes once you factor in the park and ride I use.

It's worth it, for the house and lifestyle we could never have in the city or a suburb. That's the main motivator, when we consider all the things we couldn't have and how much smaller our house would be for the same money. I don't mind commuting - here at least there's little traffic once beyond the Edinburgh bypass so I just enjoy the drive or bus ride and listen to the radio or read my book. How does your OH feel about it?

I wouldn't be too worried about a 30 min commute - but you say 30 min on the train, how long is the actual commute door to door and how reliable is it? The issue for me is always, what if something happens at school/nursery? How far away do I want to be if I get that phone call? Do I have any back-up? For me (in SE England and with a good support network locally), my limit is about 1 hr.

Move to Cramond and you'll have best of both!

For me it would depend on whether 45 minutes is the full time in normal working hours, or it's likely to be longer. I live outside a city and a 45 minute drive is typical morning and night, but off peak it's 25 minutes. If it is 45 minutes, I find that ok. I only find it stressful and very tiring if things go wrong with jams as I'm the one who does school drop off and pick up. DH does about the same commute so similar distance and time if we do need to pick the kids up in an emergency, but most parents in our village work that sort of distance away.

I find it does leave work behind getting out into the country side and I'm not too tired to appreciate it. I might have a slightly skewed view as this is the shortest commute I've ever done, it's been up to five hours round trip in the past!

There's another long thread about this from a few months ago, if you do a search.

BTW, we moved out of Edinburgh over to Fife. Love it. Slight issue of high school, but we'll deal with that in a couple of years.

I'd stay in the city.

Without question.

There are other ways of getting to his work, which take slightly longer. I would have 60 mins on the train total for twice a week, and my best friend lives in NB, so would be a great backup.

There are no suitable houses for sale there at the moment, which is a bit of a stressor! Any other views?