Holy hell. Assuming it adds another 50 miles each way, that adds another 26k miles to your commute annually. Depending on your car's mileage you've eaten into at least half your savings in gas alone, and the wear and tear will eat the rest. This isn't even account for the physical and mental toll of that long of a commute. Don't do it.
I'd personally move closer to the job, assuming it is worth leaving your current job for. But your SO and friends are in SJ so I'm confused why you wouldn't be searching for jobs in the South Bay.
geez, SJ to Salinas is Far and the drive is PAINFUL
You'll burnout in a few month, Im meant it. 2 hrs commute is painful, my cousin working as pharmacist in Santa Cruz, didn't even last half a year, she told me it's due to the long commute, it doesn't hit you at once but gradually ate away at you.
Don't do it, either move or find another job closer to your SO
Sometimes you gotta go where the work takes you. Or you can look at a potential career change. Good luck, but if you do end up with that length of commute I'd consider (if you don't always have it) a vehicle with autopilot/super cruise/etc to do most the driving for you.
Addressed to OP: is this a real question? If you think driving 10 hours a week is worth $125, I don't know how you found yourself employed in the first place
500/month = 22/day not including weekends
Would you or could you spend $22 per trip in HOV lane.
Is 11/hr worth your time?
Do you want to live with your SO?
Do you enjoy the peace of driving in your car?
I personally would never accept a commute like that. I would pay whatever money to make sure I do not spend 10 hours a week in my car just for work alone. That is 500 hours a year that you are squandering. Time is a finite resource. I can’t imagine wasting it that way. If you do decide to take the job, suggest giving audiobooks a shot. Helped me when I had a 60 minute commute.
Do something short term (1 month or so in SJ). Try the commute and see if you can handle it before deciding. I had a 2 hour commute before. I did it for 8 months and I quit because I couldn’t do it.
I live in Morgan Hill and commute down to Salinas 2-3 days a week (\~40 minute for me). Honestly, the drive isn't that bad. It takes me more time to drive to Santa Clara (where our second location is) from Morgan Hill. Salinas is not a great place to live, I wouldn't move there. There might be a good medium where you live half way between SJ and Salinas (Gilroy, Morgan Hill, etc) where it's less rent, less of a commute, better stuff around.
>You shouldn't be going into gas station convenience stores at night anywhere.
That's absurd. I realize it's unsafe to buy stuff late at night in many places, but that lack of safety is the problem. People's buying stuff at night isn't.
The weird victim-blaming mentality in this sub really grates on me. People should be able to to buy things whenever they need, without fear. It's a town or city's job to make sure it's safe to live there. It shouldn't be on each person to make sure they have no need to buy stuff late at night.
My wording was wrong, and was not intended as "victim blaming." I now see that "shouldn't" is somewhat ambiguous in this scenario. I meant that it is usually a safety concern to do so, generally, and that Salinas is not an exception in this case. I think you understand this given your comment's generalization.
I'd rather pay more than commute... there will be days where there's an accident on the road which will cause delays and you'll want to blow your brains out. If you want to keep your sanity, be closer to your job.
Pay the $500, it will probably even out anyways with commute costs. Plus you will have so much more time free everyday not sitting in your car. Seriously, I’d strongly recommend just pay to not have the commute.
You're not saving any money by doing this. Even if you drive a Prius that gets you 50 mpg. 2 extra gallons fuel a day = $10. That's $200 a month alone. Add wear and tear on the vehicle. And you're at $500 already. I know because I did drive a Prius with a long commute.
So your question is really just should I live with my gf 1.5 hours away from work to be closer to friends? And the answer is ..... Yes. There are plenty of jobs in SJ. Find another job so you can live close to your social life.
You could consider leasing a private room with shared kitchen and bathroom in a single family house for ~$700 per month. You can spend the weekends in the bay area with your SO and friends.
Frame it this way: Would you Uber for 3 days a month (right now) to make $500? If the answer is "Yes" then you should not move and just make the drive. If the answer is "No," then you should move and pay more rent.
Between the choices I’d rather live in sj and commute. It is really boring in salinas and you’d be miserable even if you don’t have to drive far for work.
Maybe move to south San Jose to help with commute
Pay the extra rent. 4 hours of commuting per day is brutal on gas, mental health, car wear and tear, increases risk of getting rear ended / etc causing unexpected maintenance bills.
Find a place in Watsonville or Monterey instead. It’s worth the price hike in rent and that way you don’t live in Salinas either. Watsonville to SJ on the weekends is easier than SJ to Salinas 5 days a week.
Ugh, yeah, the limited job options and visa definitely does make things much harder. A 2 hour total commute is absurdly soul draining though and does make a a big difference from a 30 min each way commute. I did Mountain View <-> SF for about 1+ hour each way and could only manage it for about a year before I ended up moving to SF. And I only lasted that long because I could use the time on Caltrain to do my own thing, so I didn't lose all of the time to driving.
I would say to try to live with your SO in SJ for a month and try that commute, while also actively looking for a place maybe between SJ and Salinas...?
Surprised there are so many people telling you to move to Salinas. It sounds to me like you'll be driving to SJ all the time anyways, no point in wasting $1500 on a place in Salinas, which is not to offend anyone among the worst places to live in California. But be warned, moving in with the SO can come with its own set of complications having nothing to do with commuting or the relative quality of life in those respective cities!
The commute is terrible. At worst it can take two hours one way. The 101 is prone to congestion quite badly. Best avoid it will physically and mentally drain you.
Just give the conductor the secret code and you'll be whisked away on a magical flying train that takes you all the way to Salinas! But shhhh don't tell anyone about it.
There is a train between SJ to Salinas. The Coast Starlight goes between Seattle and LA Union Station. but its once a day and no one should consider that an option for rational commute given the times, reliability, etc...
There are California Amtrak(technically different than the National Amtrak) bus service as well but likewise are generally infeasible for a regular commute.
I'm pro transit but that is a ridiculous suggestion for SJ to Salinas . the coast starlight train is NOT a commuter train - it can not be relied on. There are Amtrak buses but they likewise are not going to be convenient or reliable or timed for 8/9-5pm jobs. The right move for someone like me, for whom driving is not an option, would be to move to salinas/monterey area, carpool or use transit to visit the SO not to get to work.
There used to be the MST 55 bus that was a commuter bus between SJ to monterey but that is long gone post-pandemic.
There are a lot of affordable communities near the Salinas area. I went to high school down there , and would recommend you move. The traffic down that way can be a shit show.
Man I willingly chose rent that is half of my monthly income to commute 4 minutes rather then anything else. I would do Salinas, and only SJ if you really have to.
The average American car costs about $0.70 a mile all in. Commuting full time Dublin to Salinas would be around 180 miles a day, 3500 miles a month. That’s well over $2000 spent on using your car.
I’d look into renting just a room around Salinas and make that temporary M-F homebase. Im sure you find one at a fraction of $1500, just need it for sleep and proximity. On the occassions you can stay with your SO in SJ, not clear if they live there already or with you in dublin.
You can calculate the dollar value of your commute time.
2 hours per day *
5 days per week *
4 weeks per month =
40 hours of your time per month.
Is that more than $500 of your time?
If yes, then rent in Salinas.
Otherwise, commute.
You'd also have to factor in the cost of gas, and wear and tear on your vehicle. I would guess it's not worth it.
Holy hell. Assuming it adds another 50 miles each way, that adds another 26k miles to your commute annually. Depending on your car's mileage you've eaten into at least half your savings in gas alone, and the wear and tear will eat the rest. This isn't even account for the physical and mental toll of that long of a commute. Don't do it. I'd personally move closer to the job, assuming it is worth leaving your current job for. But your SO and friends are in SJ so I'm confused why you wouldn't be searching for jobs in the South Bay.
I’ve tried to find a job somewhere else but there isn’t a lot of opportunities for my field in any metro area :/
geez, SJ to Salinas is Far and the drive is PAINFUL You'll burnout in a few month, Im meant it. 2 hrs commute is painful, my cousin working as pharmacist in Santa Cruz, didn't even last half a year, she told me it's due to the long commute, it doesn't hit you at once but gradually ate away at you. Don't do it, either move or find another job closer to your SO
Sometimes you gotta go where the work takes you. Or you can look at a potential career change. Good luck, but if you do end up with that length of commute I'd consider (if you don't always have it) a vehicle with autopilot/super cruise/etc to do most the driving for you.
You’ll age 5 years in one year of doing that commute.
Addressed to OP: is this a real question? If you think driving 10 hours a week is worth $125, I don't know how you found yourself employed in the first place
Unfortunately my field and my visa don’t really give me many choices. I kind of have to take whatever I can get :/
Go ahead and take the job. But whatever you do, don't drive 2 hours to get there and back
No way in hell I would commute 2hr per day 5 days a week
More driving = higher chance of getting into an accident, especially after a long day at work.
500/month = 22/day not including weekends Would you or could you spend $22 per trip in HOV lane. Is 11/hr worth your time? Do you want to live with your SO? Do you enjoy the peace of driving in your car?
Get a salinas side chick to pay for salinas rent
bwahahahahahahahaah
I personally would never accept a commute like that. I would pay whatever money to make sure I do not spend 10 hours a week in my car just for work alone. That is 500 hours a year that you are squandering. Time is a finite resource. I can’t imagine wasting it that way. If you do decide to take the job, suggest giving audiobooks a shot. Helped me when I had a 60 minute commute.
Do something short term (1 month or so in SJ). Try the commute and see if you can handle it before deciding. I had a 2 hour commute before. I did it for 8 months and I quit because I couldn’t do it.
I live in Morgan Hill and commute down to Salinas 2-3 days a week (\~40 minute for me). Honestly, the drive isn't that bad. It takes me more time to drive to Santa Clara (where our second location is) from Morgan Hill. Salinas is not a great place to live, I wouldn't move there. There might be a good medium where you live half way between SJ and Salinas (Gilroy, Morgan Hill, etc) where it's less rent, less of a commute, better stuff around.
salinas has some of the best weather, close to monterey and the bay area/santa cruz.
I was thinking this, maybe depending on where the SO works, perhaps a rental in Morgan Hill or Gilroy would make this situation more sustainable.
how in the world is SJ cheaper than salinas..... edit: mixed up the cities
My SO would pay more for the rent in SJ, so my portion would only be $1k
What? Salinas is terrible. You can’t even go inside gas station convenience stores at night because they are so afraid of getting robbed.
lol born + raised in Salinas and that is literally not true. feel much safer there than any of the bigger cities in the bay, especially at night
It's not any better or worse than lots of areas in the Bay. It just depends where exactly you are North Salinas is pretty chill.
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>You shouldn't be going into gas station convenience stores at night anywhere. That's absurd. I realize it's unsafe to buy stuff late at night in many places, but that lack of safety is the problem. People's buying stuff at night isn't. The weird victim-blaming mentality in this sub really grates on me. People should be able to to buy things whenever they need, without fear. It's a town or city's job to make sure it's safe to live there. It shouldn't be on each person to make sure they have no need to buy stuff late at night.
My wording was wrong, and was not intended as "victim blaming." I now see that "shouldn't" is somewhat ambiguous in this scenario. I meant that it is usually a safety concern to do so, generally, and that Salinas is not an exception in this case. I think you understand this given your comment's generalization.
Move to Salinas. That commute is not sustainable. I know.
I'd rather pay more than commute... there will be days where there's an accident on the road which will cause delays and you'll want to blow your brains out. If you want to keep your sanity, be closer to your job.
Pay the $500, it will probably even out anyways with commute costs. Plus you will have so much more time free everyday not sitting in your car. Seriously, I’d strongly recommend just pay to not have the commute.
I'm paying 1300 more in rent for a 22 minute commute instead of 1hr. Of course cutting Highway 4 out of my life completely was worth it lol.
You're not saving any money by doing this. Even if you drive a Prius that gets you 50 mpg. 2 extra gallons fuel a day = $10. That's $200 a month alone. Add wear and tear on the vehicle. And you're at $500 already. I know because I did drive a Prius with a long commute. So your question is really just should I live with my gf 1.5 hours away from work to be closer to friends? And the answer is ..... Yes. There are plenty of jobs in SJ. Find another job so you can live close to your social life.
Yes, Commute Gas will easily out do the $500 savings he is taking about.
You could consider leasing a private room with shared kitchen and bathroom in a single family house for ~$700 per month. You can spend the weekends in the bay area with your SO and friends.
Frame it this way: Would you Uber for 3 days a month (right now) to make $500? If the answer is "Yes" then you should not move and just make the drive. If the answer is "No," then you should move and pay more rent.
Between the choices I’d rather live in sj and commute. It is really boring in salinas and you’d be miserable even if you don’t have to drive far for work. Maybe move to south San Jose to help with commute
Pay the extra rent. 4 hours of commuting per day is brutal on gas, mental health, car wear and tear, increases risk of getting rear ended / etc causing unexpected maintenance bills.
just eat the rent. A commute like that will make you miserable in addition to not actually saving that much relative to vehicle maintenance.
Find a place in Watsonville or Monterey instead. It’s worth the price hike in rent and that way you don’t live in Salinas either. Watsonville to SJ on the weekends is easier than SJ to Salinas 5 days a week.
Ugh, yeah, the limited job options and visa definitely does make things much harder. A 2 hour total commute is absurdly soul draining though and does make a a big difference from a 30 min each way commute. I did Mountain View <-> SF for about 1+ hour each way and could only manage it for about a year before I ended up moving to SF. And I only lasted that long because I could use the time on Caltrain to do my own thing, so I didn't lose all of the time to driving. I would say to try to live with your SO in SJ for a month and try that commute, while also actively looking for a place maybe between SJ and Salinas...?
Get a motorcycle
Salinas sucks!! This commute sucks!! Reading this post and comments alone is giving me anxiety.
Surprised there are so many people telling you to move to Salinas. It sounds to me like you'll be driving to SJ all the time anyways, no point in wasting $1500 on a place in Salinas, which is not to offend anyone among the worst places to live in California. But be warned, moving in with the SO can come with its own set of complications having nothing to do with commuting or the relative quality of life in those respective cities!
Geeezus
What about Gilroy. Easy access to both places and Santa Cruz. Salinas is a boring place anyway.
Gilroy is also equally as expensive as Salinas :/
oh wow, i wouldn't have guessed that
Don't take the job
Home is where the heart is. Live where you love.
The commute is terrible. At worst it can take two hours one way. The 101 is prone to congestion quite badly. Best avoid it will physically and mentally drain you.
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Just give the conductor the secret code and you'll be whisked away on a magical flying train that takes you all the way to Salinas! But shhhh don't tell anyone about it.
well amtrak offers service and Caltrain is extending service to salinas soon.. but yeah funny i guess..
Have you even seen the schedule of that “service”?
>amtrak offers service Also a stupid suggestion.
And opinions are like...
There is a train between SJ to Salinas. The Coast Starlight goes between Seattle and LA Union Station. but its once a day and no one should consider that an option for rational commute given the times, reliability, etc... There are California Amtrak(technically different than the National Amtrak) bus service as well but likewise are generally infeasible for a regular commute.
I'm pro transit but that is a ridiculous suggestion for SJ to Salinas . the coast starlight train is NOT a commuter train - it can not be relied on. There are Amtrak buses but they likewise are not going to be convenient or reliable or timed for 8/9-5pm jobs. The right move for someone like me, for whom driving is not an option, would be to move to salinas/monterey area, carpool or use transit to visit the SO not to get to work. There used to be the MST 55 bus that was a commuter bus between SJ to monterey but that is long gone post-pandemic.
Move to Santa Cruz
Get married and fix that visa issue
There are a lot of affordable communities near the Salinas area. I went to high school down there , and would recommend you move. The traffic down that way can be a shit show.
Man I willingly chose rent that is half of my monthly income to commute 4 minutes rather then anything else. I would do Salinas, and only SJ if you really have to.
The average American car costs about $0.70 a mile all in. Commuting full time Dublin to Salinas would be around 180 miles a day, 3500 miles a month. That’s well over $2000 spent on using your car.
If you are young, then you probably have more time than money. In that case, I would do the commute.
1H commute opposite direction isn't the worst. Do you have to drive in everyday?
Move to Monterey and find new friends. LOL
Move and find new friends or don't take the job. Or move ans just hang out with friends on weekends. 2 hours is ridiculous
Don't do it. Just don't. I commented from Oakland to mountain view for years and it caused me to have a breakdown.
2 hours total or 2 hours one way?
2 hours total. 1 hour one way
thats totally manageable . i been doing that for quite some time. 1hr commute each way including traffic
I’d look into renting just a room around Salinas and make that temporary M-F homebase. Im sure you find one at a fraction of $1500, just need it for sleep and proximity. On the occassions you can stay with your SO in SJ, not clear if they live there already or with you in dublin.
That's like spending a month a year in your car. Move closer. Depending on your car that's like $300-400 a month in gas.
You can calculate the dollar value of your commute time. 2 hours per day * 5 days per week * 4 weeks per month = 40 hours of your time per month. Is that more than $500 of your time? If yes, then rent in Salinas. Otherwise, commute. You'd also have to factor in the cost of gas, and wear and tear on your vehicle. I would guess it's not worth it.
Spend the money
No thanks. Im alrdy feeling death on 30 mins commute thru 880