For years, I’ve ranted from time to time in this space about the
high cost of building the Bay Area’s economic engine around
commuting.
Any of us who’ve earned a living as road warriors know the
costs.
For years, I’ve ranted from time to time in this space about the high cost of building the Bay Area’s economic engine around commuting.
Any of us who’ve earned a living as road warriors know the costs.
There’s the time spent isolated from careers, communities and family while sitting in cars. And the cars themselves create a host of expensive problems, from clogging highways ever in need of expansion to fouling the air.
Commuting robs people of their time and communities of their energy.
“Yeah, but what’re you gonna do?” has pretty much summed up the reaction to my ranting.
So it was with considerable pleasure this week that I read a package of stories in the San Francisco Chronicle addressing the subject. And guess what?
Commute drive times are diminishing across the Bay Area.
That’s right. People are spending precious fewer minutes in their iron cages.
In Santa Clara County, the average commute was 23.7 minutes in 2004, down 6 percent from 2000, according to a report released by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The drop in Alameda County was even greater, down 8 percent to 27.5 minutes.
Of course, part of the reason stems from the economic turmoil following the dot-com bust that occurred during that period.
But the primary reason, according to the report’s primary author, Elisa Barbour, is that jobs are moving to the suburbs.
That can only be greeted as wonderful news in our suburban communities. The new trend is for employers to move where the employees are, and as a result, city-to-suburb commuting increased more than any other type during that period.
We have much to offer business: a ready pool of experienced workers, comparatively affordable land, good highway infrastructure, and a bureaucratic process that’s more business friendly.
Urban workers used to paying hundreds of dollars a month just to park are finding what we already know to be true: that life’s pretty good out here in the hinterlands.
In other news
I’ve talked to several people who’ve recently paid visits to Panoche Valley via county road J1, Panoche Road. This rural ribbon of crumbling asphalt leaves Highway 25 at Paicines. The only services available along the road are at the Panoche Inn, where people are inclined to stop for a visit with Larry Lopez, the proprietor. It’s a good place with what may be the county’s best sandwiches and cold sodas and beer. There are usually a few dogs lounging around, enjoying the air conditioning.
The Panoche Inn is the beginning and end of the business strip in Panoche Valley. If that sounds like an unlikely destination, think again.
The valley offers an ever-rarer commodity in California – the chance to lose yourself in vastness. Right now the place is cloaked in vibrant green. Some years, spring paints those hills with broad swaths of color as wildflowers burst into bloom.
It’s a nationally known destination for birders, because the valley attracts large numbers of rare wintering birds as well as birds associated with desert climates.
And about the climate: now through early April is the best time to go, because summers in Panoche Valley are dry (the area often receives less than 6 inches of rain per year) and frequently furnace-like.
Right now, when scattered clouds allow light and shadow to play across those hills, is the time to see it for yourself.
Mark Paxton is publisher of The Pinnacle. His e-mail address is
mp*****@pi**********.com
.
