Extreme Commuter = The New American Dream?

A couple of days ago I read this article about Extreme Commuter on Yahoo. It was very funny because just the day before, I was toying with the idea of buying a house in Tracy, CA. For my non-California friend, Mike, who reads my blog, Tracy is only a measly 60 miles from San Jose, where I work. To put things into perspective for my non-US resident friend, Helen (if she ever come around to reading my blog again), the average speed limit on a US freeway is 60 miles per hour; meaning, if my driveway IS the entrance of the freeway and I travel at exactly the speed limit and my company locates right NEXT to the freeway exit, it'll still take me a solid hour to work. But that's just not realistic expectation when so many Siliconians has figured out the same thing that I did – the only way to afford a house AND to go to work in the Silicon Valley is to move to Tracy, or any other nearby area. To put things into perspective for all, I've been advised that the commute from Tracy to San Jose is 2 hours, 1.5 if you are VERY lucky.

 

And I am almost willing to do that. It's the American dream, right? To have a REAL house? A small to minimal backyard, no conjoining walls with your neighbors. Heck, that's not even a choosing criteria anymore. I'd be more than happy to have one of those gorgeous condos right next to my apartment complex. Went browsing for the "fun" of it, $1.2 million. Ugh. This is not even about if its WORTH the money. This is about, we DON'T have $1.2 million. As my realist husband had put it, I don't think we even make enough a month to cover that mortgage. Speaking of being realistic.

 

Ah, but I missed those days when Hubby and I could just shop around (houses) for the fun of it. Knowing that if we saw something we really like, we can *realistically* afford it. A real house. A brand NEW house. Get to choose all the options – fireplace in living room, island in kitchen, separate bath and shower, room for a pool table and exercise equipment… and most importantly, don't have to worry about "that's just more stuff to lug next time we move" when we purchase additional furnitures.