The trials and tribulations of driving to work in Dallas

For most of the past 20 years, I have worked at home -- no commuting, no traffic jams, no road rage. That changed in January, when I started teaching the wine class at the Cordon Bleu. I'm in the car every morning from Monday to Friday, driving between Lovers and Abrams and Webbs Chapel and LBJ.

And it isn't much fun.

But, given my lack of experience with commuting, I didn't plan on writing about it. Until I saw this, from one of our regular visitors to Back Talk, Aren Cambre.

Commuting is for the birds. Even though this commute is moderate by modern standards, it was 220% more miles and 150% more time than my regular drive to work. And because it is on a freeway, I get to experience maddening random slowdowns as traffic unpredictably oscillates between freeflow and congestion. And yes, this happens even with good following distances and right lane travel, Steve Blow!

And Aren didn't mention one of my favorite sights -- someone trying to back up on the entrance to LBJ at Webbs Chapel, driving in reverse the wrong way down the ramp. I was laughing so hard I almost had to pull over and stop driving.

One reason why so many of us enjoy living here is that we don't have the hellacious commutes that suburbanites do. I wonder, sometimes, if the people downtown know this. You look at their plans for the city, whether it's the Trinity toll road or some other traffic-inspired solution to a problem caused by traffic and urban sprawl, and it seems as if their priority is getting people from the suburbs to Dallas. Or, as my old pal Schutze called us, the congestion Whore of Babylon.

This seems, as Aren can attest, a backward way of looking at the problem.

Comments

[Aren Cambre]

You're going to find this strange, but I do believe we need to accomodate the "congestion whores"/suburb commuters. While their value system causes them to make different choices than me, they are not unreasonable, and they are valued participants in our economy.

So keep widening the roads!

I wish Schutze would stop his tired song about the park. How many times do I need to repeat that it's a glorified drainage ditch? Who cares if a road consumes a sliver?

[JKR]

Jeff you need to learn to go the back way. My company recently moved from its 50 year home at Greenville and University to Spring Valley and the Tollway.

I used to buy gas once per month and had little stress. People didn't believe me when I said my vehicle only had 55,000 miles on it after 11 years.

I refuse to get on LBJ (at all costs). Hillcrest up to Spring Valley, that is my saving grace. Also a willingness to stay late until the traffic lets up..

How do people live that way? Two hours from Frisclosure to Downtown -- are they crazy (I ask rhetorically)?

[Aaron K.]

Hear hear. I don't believe I've posted here before, but I too live here to avoid traffic and increase walkability. Sadly, I still have a bit of a commute to work, but other than that, I can walk to everything I need.

Here's to hoping I can work from home in the future.