DAY 232 - CITY LIVING, SUBURBAN LIVING...WHICH ONE WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER?

Day 232

Yesterday, my eldest daughter had a soccer match at 6:30pm, in a suburb of the city. It was rush hour.  I left home at 5pm and got to the field just in time for the match.  It made me think of the fact that some people actually drive that distance in traffic on a daily basis.   Having a family and the zillion responsibilities that come with it, I cannot imagine having to be in my car for a total of three hours a day.  I would go crazy... There are so many things you could accomplish in three hours...

I work in a suburb of Montreal, but I live in the city.  So, every morning, I drive against traffic.  It takes me around 25 minutes to get to work, which I feel is  reasonable.  And, to be quite honest, I don't think I could handle spending more time than that commuting.

Obviously, a house in the suburbs costs much less than a house in the city... And I understand the desire to want to have a bigger piece of land and two or three bathrooms! But is it worth the hastle of having to spend so much time commuting?

Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer studied the phenomenon and called it "the commuters paradox". They found that people underestimate the pain of a long commute when they decide to live in the suburb. They believe that their bigger house, their bigger yard and their three bathrooms will bring them more happiness.

In fact, according to the study, a person with a one-hour commute has to earn 40 percent more money to be as satisfied with life as someone who walks to the office. And that is not taking into account the fact that commuting wastes valuable time that could be spent with your family, socializing with your friends or simply enjoying life!

I guess it is up to each person to evaluate the pros and the cons when making the decision on where to live.  The problem is, if we tend to underestimate the unhappiness commuting may generate and overestimate the happiness a bigger house would provide us with, we might not be able to make the best decision possible!

All I know is that I could never spend three hours of my day, each day, stuck in a traffic jam!  I would become this unbearable impatient always-in-a-bad-mood kind of person and I would probably end up annoying everyone around me with whining and complaints!  Basically, I know I need to live in the city for my happiness as well as those around me!

And what about you?  Where would you rather live?

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