Why are the dynamics of where people settle changing so much and resulting in what is now being called "extreme commuting?" The bottom line is that there is a shortage of affordable housing near the urban office core. How can housing leaders rethink how and where to offer housing that the general public can afford?

Here is the thing:

You wake up at 6AM
You leave house at 7.30AM
You arrive at work at 9AM
You leave work at 6PM (sometimes 7PM if there’s a late meeting)
Arrive home at 8PM (or 9PM depending on above)
Play with your kids for an hour or so until bed time

Try to manage to get some dinner into your mouth as you’re falling asleep from exhaustion

If this is more or less your daily schedule, you may be an extreme commuter. As defined by the US Census Bureau, so-called extreme commute is a daily journey to/from work that takes more than 90 minutes each way (source). And if you aren’t one yet, growing chances are that you soon might be. As data shows, the number of extreme commuters is rapidly increasing. In UK for example, between 2008 and 2013 the share of extreme commuters has increased by a half, from the 6% of total commuters in 2008, to 9% in 2013 (source). In US the latest available US Census figure shows that share of extreme commuters was around 3% in 2011, (source), but it has been growing fast ever since. A recent Washington Post article (source), which follows Gallup and US Census data, suggests that between 2014 and 2015 workers with extreme commutes – 90 minutes or more – grew by the fastest rate of all commuters groups. While on other end of the spectrum, the number of workers with commutes under 10 minutes actually shrank (see exhibit below). Read More