My workplace is full of long-distance commuters. I know two brothers who have been with the company for almost ten years, and their daily commute takes whopping 2.5 hours. It strikes me as utterly insane.

People we hire out of college are especially bad at making decisions on where to live. Just like the couple in the story, they grossly underestimate the true cost of commuting. As a result, most of them live 40-50 minutes away, on the basis that they are closer to the beach or to the more hip areas of the county.