OT: House in Ann Arbor, commuting to a Detroit proper office good or pita idea?
February 28th, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^
I did A2 to Livonia a lot and it sucked. It's only doable with flexible working hours, IMO. If you have to be on the road during rush hours you'll want to blow your brains out.
February 28th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
I'm really surprised at the 'pita' sentiment in the vast majority of responses. I live in the Burns Park area of downtown A2 and drive to Dearborn for my commute; it's pretty much a breeze. Regardless of time of day, traffic is rarely at a standstill (for accidents only) on I-94. Without any traffic, I can do it in less than a half-hour. Driving at normal rush hour times, I average 35 minutes, so not at all bad. And it's so easy; no switching highways or anything - just jump on 94 and get off at my exit - done. I know that Detroit's another 5-10 miles or more depending on where you're going, but my commute is roughly 80% of what you'd be doing and I consider it very easy. Especially considering the housing options between A2 and Detroit, uhhhhh, I think I'll choose Ann Arbor :)
This is all relative to the fact that I spent 8 yrs after graduation working in the Northern VA/DC area which is an absolute nightmare. Southeast MI is nothing compared to that, no matter where or for how long you drive in the Detroit area. It's all relative but I really don't think it's that bad. Live where you WANT to live, not where you can save a few minutes in the car each day. That's what the MGoPodcasts are for! Best of luck.
I also have a neighbor who's been commuting to the RenCen for over a decade and he doesn't seem to mind it though we haven't talked at length about it. Another person above commented how 94 is like a scene from Mad Max and though traffic moves along just fine, even at rush hour, he is very correct. Half the vehicles are trucks hauling trash or scrap metal, littering the highway and cracking windshields as it blows out of the trailers. A shocking number of cars are falling apart and shaking violently; driving on donut spare tires; missing entire body panels; you get the idea. That whole 94 corridor between A2 and Detroit is very industrial and not very well-off unfortunately, so yeah, the driving experience does often remind me of Mad Max as well. But hey, it moves along pretty well! Just keep your head on a swivel for scrap metal and car parts!