Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
IMO, the reason for moving voluntarily to another location farther from work usually has something to do with getting a residence better suited to meet family meeds such as number of bedrooms, economics, quality of neighborbors/neighborhood, school districts etc. I assume even those who are carless and without family would consider access to public transportation, churches, shops etc to be more pertinant reasons to pick a residence than forcing themselves to bike a greater distance to work. As others pointed out take an alternate route or do the R/Tcommute twice or thrice a/day.
There are good reasons to live some distance from work. If you live a short walking distance from work, it is incredibly easy to have your personal and professional lives mingle too closely. This is especially true in certain lines of work.
At various times in the past, my wife and I have talked about moving to a location closer to my work. I simply don't want to be that close. Frankly, my commute is one of my favorite times of the day. I enjoy the process, and I like being in shape. Besides, it's the only time I'm guaranteed to have to myself.
If having a nice bike ride and a great dog waiting for you when you get home significantly improves your quality of life, that's a perfectly good reason to get a house. The best way to live is to find yourself in a position where you're forced to do exactly what you want to do. That makes it much easier to resist pressures that will put you on the wrong path.