Our Failed Commuting Experiment

Originally posted on Substack May 31, 2023

I expect we’ll be discussing remote work, in-office, shared office spaces plenty here. Those topics are hawt, hot, hawt!

I’m not sure if I’m personally ahead of the curve on this or behind or going full circle?

About 20 years ago I was commuting from Guelph to Waterloo every day. I carpooled and did my best to make it work but I quit eventually and commuting was a key contributing factor.

For me, it wasn’t simply about the time spent driving. It’s not that simple for me. I got to the point where I hated NOT spending time in the community I actually lived in.

On weekends, I felt like a visitor in my city. I didn’t know the person making my coffee Saturday morning, yet I was besties with the barista in Waterloo. If I needed to purchase a birthday gift, I ran out at lunch and bought it from a small shop near my office. I got to know the people who owned my favourite lunch spots, again near my office.

I was investing the majority of my energy, time and even money into a community I drove to 5 days a week. I was jealous of the experience people were having, who lived AND worked in my city. I was outside of the inside jokes. I missed the good band Tuesday night last week. I wasn’t at that breakfast when Steve spilled his coffee on a dog.

Back then I used to say, fictionally, that if we could ‘close’ the borders to my city so that everyone who lived here had to actually work here, we would punch above our weight. Part of our challenge is that some of our smartest, more engaging folks leave town everyday and invest in other cities.

I eventually quit my job and started working from home full time. A few months into making that transition, way the f$*k back in 2006, I wrote the following about commuting.....

I’ve always felt commuting will eventually be viewed as a failed experiment. To me, we’ve been dabbling in the past century with a new model based around commuting. The way I’m able to work today is really a step backwards to a model that’s existed far longer than todays. I think we’re seeing the beginnings of undoing a mistake we made. It may take a few more decades still but I think our larger companies will eventually come ‘back to the farm’ as well.

Faster trains isn’t the answer.

Remote work isn’t the answer.

Commuting is most certainly not the answer!

In fact, I’m not sure we even know what the questions are yet.....