Glad you picked this up.
My husband commutes by train to DC from Balt. Granted we are about 5 min from Penn Station. But his commute is just over an hour each way (and that's if MARC functions like it should but that's a whole nother can o' worms).
We bought where we could afford. There weren't any jobs that paid enough in Baltimore to live here (and save and not be house poor) thus the commute.
Now, he doesn't hate his commute but it can be tiring. He gets to work from home 2 days a week, but many of our neighbors commute on the same train and it is a big stress in their lives. I can honestly say that it will affect one of our neighbors decision to move soon.
As for us, we will likely stay here for at least another 3-5 years, but a shorter commute will be a major factor in our next house.
To be fair, we've had worse commute. Before we moved here we lived in Oakland Ca and commuted to San Fran for same reasons (we were renters though). That commute was worse.

A long time ago I used to commute 1 hour each way to work. I swore I would never go back to that. Since that time I've always had about a 5 minute commute. It is a big difference from a lifestyle perspective. I don't know how to price on it.

But given the home prices in this area I'm forced to consider commuting again (or wait the market out). I work in Howard County, and I want to live close to where I work, but the housing prices are just too high for me. Prices in Baltimore have dropped enough to where I'm starting to consider that area.

I actually think Howard County will be one of the last places to fall. From what I can tell, people seem to commute out of that county to work. Eventually the price difference between Howard and Baltimore/DC is going to have an effect. There's got to be a local economist somewhere that's got a ratio of average home prices in those areas, and can use that ratio to determine where the buyers will go.

I wonder what kind of future effect commuting will have on the suburbs ... if prices become more affordable in the city. Wasn't part of the bubble forcing people away from the city, due to over-pricing? I remember people buying 2-3 hours away from NYC during this time & enduring "Extreme Commutes" I guess Baltimore, though, will still suffer from high taxes, to make up for drops in prices. However, here's an old article from 2004, a reminder of the bubble years & 'Driving 'til you qualify':
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-11-29-commute_x.htm

Lesley tells us: "We bought where we could afford. There weren't any jobs that paid enough in Baltimore to live here (and save and not be house poor) thus the commute."

Lesley you sort of have that backwards... or at least as it has traditionally worked out.

People with (good paying or not) jobs in DC have elected to live in the Baltimore region and save on housing costs for a very very long time. All along the commuter rail lines communities have developed with this very thing in mind.

The key to it obviously is to live close enough to one of those train stations that getting there (and home) isn't onerous.

jfg: I also have chosen jobs (and moved once too) to accommodate an easy commute. But with the increase in the raw number of cars per road mile it is harder than ever to avoid commute stress wherever you are.

whirrp: overall costs to live in the City (vs the counties) isn't likely to change anytime soon any more than it has for the last 30 years. The City simply can't afford to do it short of such a dramatic (draconian) change in the macro economy.

MrRational:
I'm not quite sure I understand. How is what we've done (living in Baltimore close to Penn station, commuting to DC for work) different than what you're saying? What I wrote originally does read a little convoluted.

Lesley, the way I read his comment was that the typical (or perhaps stereotypical) Baltimore-to-Washington commuter had the D.C. job first and went looking for a less-pricey place to buy a house -- as opposed to someone getting the D.C. job to ~afford~ the Baltimore house.

Did I understand you correctly, MrRational?

But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says. … If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest prodigality, since, as he elsewhere tells us, lost time is never found again …

The Way to Wealth - Benjamin Franklin

Lesley... Jaime explained my point well.
===

Not that they apply in this discussion but it is important to remind many that the poor among us have routinely endured hours long commutes including uncomfortable transfer layovers in all sorts of weather in order to earn their small wage... because they had very little choice in the matter.
===

A further thought on the merits of enduring the inconvenience of the longer commute is distinguishing the straight economic (and therefore elastic) vs the largely ego based (and therefore inelastic) factors that go into the decision.

There are a few jobs that objectively just don't exist outside the confines of the district, there are some higher level jobs presumably achieved through advanced education and/or specific and rare experience, and then there are the lower level grunt jobs one needs to pass through in order to ever qualify for advancement.

That said... how many of the people on those commuter trains every morning really couldn't do almost as well working in B'more (even Lesley's husband).

So... allowing that the first 30 minutes portal to portal) is unavoidable...And allowing that the dollar costs of that train to DC are comparable to auto fuel and parking costs commuting to some other closer location...

(Finally my Q): How many thousands in home price save (lower mortgage?) or how many more SF of space in their home (quality of life?) does it take to justify enduring that longer commute?

And if the decision isn't based on the economics alone to be frank with yourselves about to what degree it isn't.
===

I probably should have had more coffee before writing this ;)

Jamie, MrRational,
Gotcha. Husband did have job first- we moved here as renters in B-more and looked around MD to see where we could afford to buy and what suited our tastes.

We did calculate the financial effect of commuting. Working from home days a week really helps sanity and budget. My job is a 3 minute walk from my house so that's not an issue for me.

My husband gets some compensation from his job towards commuting. It seems that the most desirable jobs include some combination of pay, work from home (healthcare of course) and commuting $.

I live in Harford & take the train to DC. MARC? Not in the morning, not with it's knack for breaking down etc. For local stations north of Baltimore, Amtrak honors weekly and monthly MARC tickets on *some* morning and evening trains. Makes for roughly an 60-75 minute ride, depending on where you board (Edgewood, Aberdeen). Monthly ticket is pricey, but Uncle Sam boosted the tax free transit benefit level to $230/mo, which covers all or most of the cost associated with a monthly ticket.

whirrrp - I live in the suburbs and it's not because of the city's high taxes - I live there because baltimore is not a safe place to be. When the Mayor let's grove of kids run around the harbor beating up people - It's not a place I want to raise my family

We moved to Baltimore two years go for my wife to work at Hopkins. I've been commuting to DC since then. At least in my case, the extra money (such that it is) isn't worth the soul-sucking experience of two hours a day on the train. I've been looking for a Baltimore job for two years. Doesn't help that I work in media and the only paper in town now employs Jamie and ten other reporters.

Good luck, eaton -- media workers everywhere feel your pain.

Eaton - Yuk! My heart goes out to you.

Any plans to relocate halfway?