I used to be a general contractor with a 10mpg heavy duty truck. That dragged me into the pits and I decided to close my business and work in the public sector. Moved to Nashville, found an affordable apartment a few blocks from work, and the other morning I timed my bike commute from door to door: 00:07:29.39. If I drove to work it would take 20 minutes at least door to door because of the parking garage and walking halfway across campus. I can even walk to work faster than driving. It’s crazy how inefficient cars are over short distances, and even crazier that my coworkers live so far away and justify it with lower priced housing. They buy 2 tanks of gas a week, sit in traffic for 3 hours a day, and seem absolutely worn out all the time.

No joke! I live in an old city (New Orleans) with a relatively small footprint but even so, traffic at rush hour is always a ratfu**. I can get nearly anywhere in 20-30 minutes by bike at any hour. I recently got a new job with a commute of about 7 minutes as well. My old commute took me all the way downtown (4.5 miles) and my record time was 13 minutes. Now I can walk to work in 20 minutes. My walk would be through a college campus and city park. I work in the park now. Super sweet setup. Even during miserable weather its ONLY SEVEN MINUTES! I believe I could bike that distance set on fire.

Good for you man! Thanks for sharing. Always nice to hear about someone figuring that out and actually doing something about it.

Some times its an aesthetic choice, but oftentimes is out of necessity. New York and San Francisco come to mind.

Yes, many many people live on the northshore of our lake and commute to the city. So they drive a couple miles, or much more to get to the Causeway Bridge which is 24 miles long, then 5-10 miles to the city, then parking, then trekking from the car to the job. Many spend 2 or more hours every day in a car PLUS the time they work. All to live in a rural bedroom community. But this is their choice. So much life wasted.

Yep...sounds about like my last commute!

I always got a kick out of "racing" my friends who were driving to destinations within a mile or two. The bike was usually a winner.

Actually, I was inferring just the opposite due to location vs living costs.