I've got a job interview tomorrow morning near Huntingdon Valley. I'm weighting all the options so I'll have some idea if I can take the job if they offer it to me. One of the big factors is driving. I live in South Philly and work in Center City right now; I have a fairly shot commute: 30 minutes by bus if I leave the right time in the morning. The drive to this job would be north on 95 then west on Woodhaven and Byberry, 45 minutes with minimal traffic, I believe.

Another factor I need to consider is school; I go to CCP at night, and classes start at 5:30 pm for me this fall. The classes I'm taking aren't offered this semester at the NE region center, which is very close to Huntingdon Valley. Assuming I can leave work at 4:30 pm (like I do now) how feasible is it to get to Spring Garden in less than an hour during afternoon rush time?

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Philadelphia Metblogs | Potterdelphia

There is a web dev company out there that is really cool, I did the commute from Manayunk to there for 3 years (not that company but another one close by) it wasn't THAT bad b/c I took all back roads, but coming from south philly most people would take 95 to street road I think.

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Philadelphia SEO consultants | Ringtones|Contact Lenses

I want to work for a web dev company *pleads*

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Meatwad get the honeys, see.

I so don't know anything about driving to/from HV, but I do think that a long commute mixed with a long day and classes at night can be tough. I worked in South Jersey just out of law school and enrolled in postgrad classes at Temple at night. The commute wasn't terrible, maybe 40 mins., but it became increasingly easy to justify not going because I was 5 or 10 mins late... I know it's hard to find work so I am not saying not to take the job, but I would err on the side of leaving more time than figuring your commute exactly. Maybe you could work something out, like a flex-time schedule, where you could come in early and leave early.

I did a 50 minute daily commmute for 3 years and it was OK.....

...but, I was well compensated, had a great opportunity to learn, and loved the job.

If it weren't for those factors, I would have never taken the job with it's lousy commute.

One thing that should make long commutes more tolerable is Satellite radio. If it had been in extistence when I had my long commute I would have definitely paid the $10/month fee.

-UC

I'm interviewing with a web dev company, possibly the same one? Right off Byberry near Masons Mill? I used to live in Tacony and had a friend in Abington, so I remember some of the back roads.

My car is old and crappy and I don't drive very often, but I think it could make the trip. I can get about 250 miles on a tank, and that's about the weekly milage, so... $30-40 gas money per week? I spend less than that a month right now. Compensation could make all the difference though, if the pay more than covers the gas.

I've been thinking about getting Sirius or XM, but it would have to be a fresh install, since my radio gets horrible reception and the cassette deck is broken. I have an FM transmitter that I use with my MP3/CD player, but it only allows you to set it to 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, and 88.7. WXPN bleeds through on everything.

Or I could just get a new car... I want a hybrid.

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Philadelphia Metblogs | Potterdelphia

Purchase a pre-owned hybrid Honda Civic
http://www.evrental.com/resale.html

Location: DC

PRICE IS ABOUT $14k

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

You could even look into the cheaper non-hybrid cars like the Toyota Matrix.

They look good, are rather inexspensive ($16K), get good gas mileage (28-36 MPG), and you can transport a decent amount in them because they are small station wagons:

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Sp...ab=2&sub=0

There has been some negative uproar about the actual MPG that hybrids get. Basically, since the MPG testing is figured out based upon emissions (of which hybrids have very little), the MPG rating for the Hybrids get skewed higher...sometimes almost 2x higher, which sucks when you sink an extra $5000 into a car because of it's stated MPG:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in620265.shtml

-UC

You can buy an old Honda CRX HF that will get almost 50mpg. Yes it runs on good ol petrol, but it gets 45+ mpg. 1988 technology too....how did they do it?!!?

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/7475.shtml

Even the regular CRX and CRX SI get high 30s.

These cars can be had for $1-3k. They are pretty damn reliable too.

If I leave Princeton, NJ at 4:30-4:45, I get to Girard in 60-75min. Takes a good 10-15 min longer when it rains. Of course, by the time I get to Woodhaven it's usually getting close to 5:30.

My first car was a CRX HF. Great car but a pain in the butt to get started from a standstill on a hill (only available with manual transmission, I believe). I think it gets the mileage because, IIRC, it only has 62 HP.

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