An hour before dawn on a Tuesday in the tristate area, the lights are on and the coffee is already made.
In Wilton, a small Connecticut farming town, Zach Kaminsky wakes up at 5:30 a.m., sips a cup while watching NBC News. The 24-year-old PR account executive traveled by train and multiple subway lines to his lower Manhattan office — 45 miles as the crow flies, but it took two hours and fifteen minutes.
In Neptune, a Jersey Shore town, Cathleen Crandall started her car around 6:30 a.m. to catch the train. A senior legal assistant, the 45-year-old commutes to the office of the mutual fund group he works for in the city via NJTransit. It usually takes two and a half hours in total, but he said today, “It took crap.”
In Mahopac, a hamlet of less than 9,000 people in New York’s Putnam County, product marketing manager Chris Vennard wakes up his two young children, makes breakfast, and drops them off at school before heading to downtown Manhattan. “It takes 45 hours no matter which way you go,” Vennard, 47, said.
A workweek morning resembles a tenuous Jenga tower; one minute misspent immediately decimates the balance. The three workers are required to commute two to three days per week, but the time spent on that trip puts them in rare company, representing only 3.1% of American workers: super commuters, who travel at least 90 minutes each way to work.
It’s been a trend for decades, before many city dwellers fled to remote, airy suburbs at the start of the pandemic, Richard Florida, a professor of economics at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said. fortune But the practice still works for most, especially as telecommuting has spread across the business landscape.
“It’s really hard to be able to raise a family in many American cities, but research knows this: The most miserable thing you can do for yourself is a long commute,” says Florida.
But in New York City, known as one of the most expensive cities in the US, the savings trade has benefited workers like Crandall and Vennard, super-commuters for more than a decade. And, as the cost of living in NYC continues to grow under inflationary pressures and rents skyrocket in a pandemic world, the super commuter has given a cushion for young professionals like Kaminsky to save their big city dreams. While everyone admits that there are no opportunities in the cities compared to Manhattan jobs, there is no pain on the streets.
Super commuting offers New Yorkers both career and affordability
Vennard and his wife bought their home about ten years ago, deciding a larger property and a strong local community was a worthwhile trade-off; his wife stays at home, which means that going home is a sacrifice alone. “We could have moved 20, 30 miles closer, but it could have saved me like 20 minutes. Does 20 minutes improve my quality of life? Not much,” he said.
Additionally, Crandall bought his home 15 years ago because he loves living by the coast. He sees his 15 hours a week commuting-give or take-as necessary to maintain the lifestyle he has been able to build.
In New York City, housing costs were a factor in super-commuters long before the pandemic, Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, said. fortune. The 21st century is emerging as the “century of the super-commuter,” he wrote back in 2012. Between 2002 and 2009, eight of the 10 largest metro areas in the US showed growth in super-commuters, Moss found. A separate study by Apartment List found that the number of US-based super commuters grew by 45% between 2010 and 2019, more than three times the rate of overall labor growth.
Now, Moss says “distributed work is more feasible” for people like Kaminsky, who can’t afford the city yet but still want a well-paying job. The 2020 college graduate said he sees super commuting as a temporary measure until he has a financial cushion that allows him to afford New York rent; a typical one-bedroom runs $4,095 a month today—20% more than just three years ago.
“I have been here for almost half a year. [I’d rather] take another year to build more substantial savings [instead of] move to New York as early as I can and blow a large chunk of savings, which feels like going in a downward spiral,” he said.
Her “amazing” friends and the city’s euphoric energy make it a hassle, she adds, but that’s probably because she’s only in the office two days a week. “I know what I signed up for,” he said. “But I’m not going to do this five days a week.”
But super commuting is not without its aggravations
There’s something to be said for a commute that doesn’t involve driving, which has three workers. Psychologists refer to people’s time in transit as a liminal space, a time when they can detach and recover from work without taking on a role at home. This disappeared during the pandemic, leading to a blurring of roles and increased worker stress. Just ask Crandall, who says he has a “relaxing” trip, which allows him to read a bunch of books and watch movies on his iPad.
But the pandemic has ruined the experience for him. One would think the super-hybrid commute would be easier to manage than the five days he’s familiar with, but it’s worse for Crandall after missing a commute during a long-distance job.
“I haven’t commuted in almost three years, and I know how much my life has been disrupted,” she said, admitting that she was sick on days when she felt she couldn’t cope. “I tried to get in on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday just to get it done. But now I hit Wednesday night and I’m done. It doesn’t help that their trains are running late because NJTransit is adding stops during the pandemic, reducing express service.
Travel in the evening like in the morning. As every super-commuter points out, a five-minute conversation with the boss at the end of the day can mean an extra 40 minutes to get home. “Then it’s all day long,” Crandall said, adding that these are just a few of the benefits of traveling. “The price. It’s horrible, especially when you’re dealing with some of these horrible transit agencies.
Vennard describes having to “force himself” out of the office with minutes to spare. If he’s local, he’ll probably leave when he’s done. “I don’t have the luxury of just sitting at a desk until I’m ready. I’m always looking at the clock.” Impromptu drinks or bonding after hours “doesn’t happen for me,” she adds.
But his biggest problem was that he was worried that something was going to happen at home, and he couldn’t get there in two hours. It hasn’t happened yet, he said, but the double thought of returning-which has been done for non-emergency needs and has meant up to five hours of transit in a day-remains a constant concern.
“But it’s a worthwhile trade,” he said. “Now I look out the window and I have a big green lawn and a pond in my backyard.”
Play for the community
Any commute beyond 20 minutes “really affects” life, well-being, happiness, and satisfaction, Florida, the Toronto professor, said. “In my mind, long journeys – especially by car – are very destructive. That’s when a lot of people get lost.”
But, he admits, “We need community; we need each other.”
Moss, the NYU professor, has a similar mindset. He believes that the office remains important, even with the slog and stress of super-travel and the flexibility we enjoy in the remote working world. “We’re underrating the desire for human contact,” he said. “There’s more information conveyed through your eyes and smile than anything you can capture on Zoom, which doesn’t allow for bonding.”
Just ask Vennard. While he said he “hated” the commute, he was more productive, a better informed manager, and felt his work was more valuable when he was in the building.
And, even for five hours a day, Crandall admits it’s a choice he’s constantly making. He didn’t think he would enjoy living in the city, and the ride was mostly passive. While he recently browsed home listings in several North Jersey towns that would make his commute easier, he said the real estate market has become unaffordable. Realizing that such far-fetched arrangements wouldn’t fly in her industry, she had no hope of going any further.
Three years out of college, Kaminsky insists he won’t stick around with Vennard and Crandall. His parents always worked in Fairfield County; he laughs that he’s a proud first-generation super commuter.
“But I’m not jaded yet,” he said. “Super-commuting is a ritual. Being physically in Manhattan is a big motivator.
And by the way, he added, millions of people have been doing this every day for years. “It sounds crazy, but now I don’t think twice about it.”