Originally Posted by
Robert Foster
Selling a house in Orange County allowed me to buy a bigger house for less money in the Inland Empire. The commute was longer and so I commuter by Motorcycle for over 8 years. Another promotion with another company and I was able to buy a place in the Mountains near a better school and though a bit smaller home one in a nicer community. Once were had an empty nest we could start planning for selling the mountain home and moving to our place in the desert. It was that investment that allowed me to retire early and bank some of the money the house had earned.
I'm happy to hear that you are somewhat out of the rat-race. I think those long commutes are very life-draining. A friend of mine lives in Northern California where he commuted over an hour a day. Recently he was laid off and confessed to me that now -- though he is stuck doing odd jobs -- losing his job has a few good side-effects. He now realizes the drain on his health of spending more than two hours a day sitting in an unnatural position behind a wheel just getting to his desk job.
Myself, I share a number of issues that you mention. Since I moved to the US, I got kind of tricked into the multi-car family mode until about 5 years ago when I realized that I really didn't live that far from my job or most things I cared about. The cost of housing in the mid west is reasonable and I can live in the city without declaring bankruptcy. In all, living in the city center really makes the shift from to carfree/carlight very doable.