Had Enough ....

Yes ... I am having a bad week.
Keep reading and you'll know why.

Okay, so weather has been pretty bad lately.
However, checkout these commuting times from this morning with semi-icy conditions:

Home to Hwy 404 - 7 minutes (5km)
Hwy 404 & Stouffville Road to Hwy 404 & 16 Ave. - 20 minutes (9km)
Hwy 404 & 16 Ave. to Hwy 401 & Yonge Street - 10 minutes (17km)
Hwy 401 & Yonge Street to Yonge & Eglinton - 15 minutes (5km)

Yes, the 5 km drive to Yonge & Eglinton seems long but this is in Toronto, that's expected. However, the traffic between Stouffville Road & 16 Ave is insanely horrible on Hwy 404.

For some dumb reason, surburbians forget how to drive on this stretch of road. There are no stoplights, no accidents, no curves, no parked cars, no left turns, no right turns and 3 lanes going southbound. Just cars exiting the highway and entering the highway (only at the right side). The worse thing is that it won't get any better with the increased homes being delivered close to Hwy 404 at the Elgin Mills and Major Mackenzie exits over the next couple of years.

On a good day (which hasn't been that often), the commute takes about 40 minutes. So that's 12 minutes quicker than today. This is usually via Leslie Street to Major Mackenzie before merging onto Hwy 404. But consider that the commute from Hwy 404 & 16 Ave. to Yonge & Eglinton was only 25 minutes today ! On a good day, it can be done in 20 minutes. That is certainly ideal. Hell, that's even quicker than it takes some people to get to work via the TTC.

I have tried to be positive over the past couple of weeks but I am definitely convinced after this morning that if we want to live in the suburbs, it will have to be close to Hwy 404 & 16th Ave. Only thing we will have to give up is the size and type of our home. No more detached 2157 sq ft. home. It'll probably be a smaller townhouse since the Hwy 404 & 16th Ave. area has quite a reputation. The only other person to convince is Janny. Any volunteers want to help? :P

The weather is also worse up where we are:
-if Toronto gets 5 cm of snow, we get 10cm
-the temperature is always one to two degrees lower than Toronto
-the amount of snow that stays is significantly more in Richmond Hill (just check out the picture of our house below, I have yet to see a Toronto house with this much snow on it)

So for all those who are even considering to move north of 16th Ave, think many times about it because I've been trying hard to accept the commute. If you work 9-5 from Monday to Friday, then from a practical point of view, it just doesn't make much sense. So what if you can get a nice big house. At what cost? In a study I read, dealing with traffic stress will shorten a person's lifespan by a couple of years, thus, from my point of view, a person will have less time to enjoy their nice big house. Sorta defeats the point, ehh? Also, we spend less time at home on the weekdays because we leave early and arrive home late in order to avoid the busy rush hour times. Every other weekend, Janny is home late on Fridays and gone for most of Saturday due to classes. Thus, how much time is actually spent enjoying our home together? Not much if you ask me.