those of you with partners that commute or you commute

**babynomad** · 12-10-2011 10:10

Not sure if this is the right section but i really need some help from those of you with partners who / or you ,commuting around one and a half hours + a day.

I live in sydney , the eastern suburbs. We pay $670 a WEEK for a run down 2 bedroom tiny house with small yard. We are close to wonderful things such as parks ect.... I have a boy of 8 months and a boy who is 2.5 and at the end of year is seeing a pediatrician as he maybe on the autism spectrum. He can be wonderful but also a huge handful when out and about and he really enjoys open spaces , running and also staying home with his toys and brother.In this house you can hear next door recharge the ipod so you can imagine what else we hear!

Anyhow, my husband and i have finally been able to save a deposit and the bank will let us borrow up to $600,000 which we don't really want to as it would be hard to pay anything except interest. So we are looking at moving out and finding a house with a garden .

So ,the advice i need is what is the commute like for you , for example I want to move to leura , blue mountains, its more ME..... I love the mountains , love the air, im a bit of a hippie and we could get a decent garden for around $400,000. Im then thinking of getting a very cheap bachelor apartment in sydney as an investment to keep for years and sell at retirement . I thought my husband could use it to stay overnight in sydney 2 nights a week.

I would like to know how bad is a commute of up to 2 hrs, do you have a different relationship with your husband/ partner? Does you or your partner resent it or happy on the weekend to see the kids happy and in fresh air?

I dont have any help in sydney and the friends I made have either moved or moving eventually.

I cannot stand the idea of living with two noisy boys in a tiny art deco apartment being quiet all the time so my husband can walk to work.Also paying close to $600,000!

Any advice appreciated especially from those who live in the mountains or wollindilly area like picton.

Thanks xxxxxxxx

**Berrie** · 12-10-2011 10:58

Is the commute 2 hours each way or total? My DP commutes an hour each way and says that he wouldn't be able to deal with it if it was over an hour.

**over excited** · 12-10-2011 11:10

I live in Melbourne and my DH and I choose to live close to the Dandenong mountains and the yarra valley for a few reasons, firstly my mum & dad live 5 mins away from us and I’m very close with my mum, my younger brother lives 10 mins up the road with his g/f, DH parents live 20 mins away and his brother and SIL live 10 mins up the road. Secondly we could get a nice house and a big block of land that we could pay off sooner and still have enough money to go overseas on holidays at least once a year and support my handbag fetish lol, and lastly I’m the same I love the mountains and the open space its amazing. DH works close to home and leaves around 8am and is home by 4 - 4.30 on the other hand I work in the city and it’s a 3 hour round trip for me everyday! I cant say I enjoy it, but it worth it to live where we do. Our first baby is due in March and although we can afford to buy a 4 b/r appt in the city there is no way I would want to, I want to bring our baby up near the mountains and have room to run around!

**babynomad** · 12-10-2011 11:10

It could be two hrs each way...... depends on traffic

**Berrie** · 12-10-2011 11:27

That's a really long way, how does your DH feel about it?

**babynomad** · 12-10-2011 11:28

I also need to take into account that my oldest son is a huge tantrum/ screaming at the top of his lungs type of kid. The neighbours in our tiny rental hate us!!! Its awful telling him to be quiet all the time. I get out for a couple of hrs a day to help him run it off but its not the same as a garden.

**babynomad** · 12-10-2011 11:30

Originally Posted by Berrie

That's a really long way, how does your DH feel about it?

not happy , but not happy about tiny apartment in city either. Its a hard choice, this would be our first home and we would want to live in it for at least 5 years, we don't want to make a mistake.

Thanks !

**NancyBlackett** · 12-10-2011 11:33

Two hours in traffic from the mountains to the city each day would be very stressful. However, if he can get a train it might make it easier for him. It's still a long time but he wouldn't have the added stress of being behind the wheel for it. He could read or catch up on emails or even sleep.

**danielle13** · 12-10-2011 11:59

We don't live in the blue mountains, but we did move from Maroubra to the Central Coast 2.5 years ago, and wouldn't even consider moving back.
DP is on the train 3 hours a day (he works in Chatswood), but even when we were living in Maroubra it took him an hour each way working in the city.
He does get a bit tired of the travel, but the difference in lifestyle is worth it.
We were paying $380 a week for a TINY 2 bedroom unit with shared yard. We now pay $300 for a large 2 bedroom house with huge yard that backs onto the Bouddi National Park, so it's like we have a 1000 acre tree filled yard.
The way rent has skyrocketed in Sydney we'd likely be paying around $550 now for the place we did live in, so that's a pretty good indication of the difference in rent. The lifestyle is so much better. Slower pace, no traffic, friendlier people.

My suggestion would be to rent in the mountains first, to get a taste of the commuting life. That way if you aren't completely sold on it you're not locked in like you would be if you were to buy.

**felicita** · 12-10-2011 12:46

I used to commute from Blaxland (in the Blue Mountains) to the city. I have done it by train and by motorbike.

By train, some friends I've had from a little further up the mountains have wished they could stop at Blaxland, and are heartily sick of the trip by the time they get to Springwood/Faulconbridge. Most of that time we were commuting to St Leonards, so about 1.5 or 2 hours travel (plus walking/buses to and from the stations at each end of the trip). So any further is probably only for the dedicated commuter. Many/Most people sleep on the train. I got so good at catching up on sleep that I can now hardly manage to stay awake on a train. I never had any trouble waking up in time for my stop, except for that once when I was blotto.
I did Blaxland-St Leonards for 4 years of uni, and Blaxland-Central for a few months when I was working. Then I moved to the city.

By motorbike, the last 10 kms on Parramatta Rd (from the end of the M4 in to the city) usually takes 30 minutes. That is with using the bus lanes that start around the Stanmore/Leichhardt area (buses, taxis, hire cars, motorbikes and bicycles are allowed to use bus lanes.) The entire 60 km commute usually took about 1.5 hours.
After moving back to the mountains (I love it here), I did Blaxland-Camperdown for a few months while I was working, and then for another 2 or so years when I went back to uni.

By car it would take a little longer. Coming from Leura you should add an extra 40-60 minutes. Now there's also roadworks on the highway at Hazelbrook, Lawson and Wentworth Falls which you would need to drive through. My observation of the completed Leura roadworks is that they took at least 10 years (1995-2004) so it's anyone's guess how long the current sets of roadworks will take.

If it rains at all anywhere on your route then there'll be a car accident which will increase your travel time by at least 15 minutes. If there's a major accident then double the commute time.

I stopped doing that commute in 2007 and don't plan to ever have to do it regularly again. The traffic might be worse now, I don't know.

p.s. even with increasing petrol prices, I found motorbike to be so much cheaper than public transport.