Amazing Commuter Data Map

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

http://bigbytes.mobyus.com/commute.a...ountyType=home

The above shows the commuter patterns for Erie County. Data is awesome.

[sharky]

I don't understand commuting from here to Rochester or vice versa. I have coworkers who do it and I have to wonder why they don't move

[HipKat]

I don't understand commuting from here to Rochester or vice versa. I have coworkers who do it and I have to wonder why they don't move

Because Buffalo is better than Rochester

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

I don't understand commuting from here to Rochester or vice versa. I have coworkers who do it and I have to wonder why they don't move

A hour commute is not an abnormal thing for many parts of the US.

If you have kids in school or a dual income home where the other person makes a good living in Buffalo but could not find a similar job in Rochester...it makes sense. Especially if you live on the eastern side of Erie County.

Personally, I would rather a 60 minute commute where most of it was free of traffic than 30 minutes in traffic. Easier on the car and with podcasts the time flys.

[Linda_D]

I'm not sure what the exact relevance of the map is to commuting patterns in/around Buffalo.

• IIRC, the average commute time in the Buffalo metro is about 22-24 minutes (US census), suggesting that most commuters aren't commuting 20 miles one way, much less 50 or 100 miles unless they live in outlying counties and can't find closer jobs.
• Because of the relatively inexpensive real estate prices in Erie and surrounding counties, there's none of the "drive until you can afford a house" style suburbs surrounding Buffalo like you find around NYC or LA or Washington DC. People don't move out to the exurbs because they can't afford to live closer to the city; they move for other reasons like they want to live in the country or they want to live on/near the lakeshore.