Gridlock
Wikipedia covers the city of Toronto here. And one of the major issues is gridlock. Which I know about all too well. For seven years now, I have been waking up in the dark to drive downtown to avoid the gridlock. There is no hope on the return drive. The roads in Toronto start to clog at around 2pm and stay clogged until around 7pm.
I spend roughly 2 hours a day or more in a car. I don’t get enough sleep because of waking up so early in the morning. The commute is stressful. And I have pretty much had enough of it.
My oldest son heads out to university in the fall. And that may be the appropriate time for us to re-evaluate our current location. There is a lot to be said for where we live now however it too is starting to show the same signs of overpopulation. I live with gridlock during the week and when I get home on the weekend, the local roads are almost as bad in certain areas of our community. If we have any errands to run on a Saturday then we have to get out early. And forget about finding a table at a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday evening.
So we are thinking about moving closer to work. Ideally, close enough that I do not need to use a car to get back and forth. Even getting 1 hour back each day from the commute would allow me an extra thirty 8-hour days a year with my family. As much as I like my car, I am getting a bit tired of spending more time with it then with my family at home.
I am a stranger to you, but visit your blog every now and then through the grapevine of other blogs I read.
I wanted to comment on this one because I feel that you are making a great choice in considering this option! I am sure your family will thank you for making more time for them. At the end of the day, those special people are the things that matter most…….I doubt you would ever regret it.
I understand the idea behind living in the city so you do not have to drive to work, but it seems like an unusual solution to the problem of overpopulation. Quite a tough decision to make, God bless you with a lot of wisdom.
Hello Nan,
Thank you for dropping by the blog. I appreciate it. And thank you for your comments.
Hi Steve,
I doubt that moving closer to work will solve the overpopulation issue. It will, however, definitely solve my gridlock issue.
Unfortunately, with all of the building going on here as well as areas north of the GTA, the traffic gridlock will become much, much worse. And I do not see enough political action on this front.
We will re-evaluate our own situation and see what makes sense. With the two oldest in university, and the youngest quite mobile, the next two years would be the best window of opportunity to make such a move. We’ll see what happens.