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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Fun Monday - # 44 - Where Do I Live ?

Pamela at The Dust Will Wait is our gracious hostess this week. Her assignment is:


Show me in pictures or tell me in words what defines the place where you live.

She wants to leave the interpretation open to include any possibility.


I live in Prince William County, VA. I live on property that used to be part of the Rippon Lodge estate. I live on Gatehouse Terrace. To read all about that - go here.


OK, so I live in eastern Prince William County. Along the I-95 corrider. The exit I take to get home is Rippon Landing. If you go the other way - Dale City. I live (basically) at the end of Dale Boulevard.

With that said ...

As reported on the news, in the paper ... earlier this week.

Linton Hall, Va. Home To Longest Commute

LINTON HALL, Va. (WUSA) -- A fast-growing Prince William County, Va. community is home to a dubious distinction: the longest average commute in the United States. People living in Linton Hall, also called Bristow by some people, commute an average of 46.3 minutes one-way each workday. The national average is 25.1 minutes.

Bristow / Linton Hall is in the western part of the county.

Three other communities in the Washington area make the top 12 longest daily commutes in the nation. Drivers in Fort Washington, Md. have the eighth-longest average commute in the nation with a 42.5 minute one-way drive. People living in Clinton, Md. rank 11th on the list, clocking in at 41.7 minutes. Dale City, Va. commuters rank 12th, at 41.3 minutes. The rest of the top 12 list is made up of communities in New Jersey, California, and Florida.


The information for these commute times comes from the Census Bureau, looking at survey responses over the last three years. The Census Bureau is examining data down to exact streets, the first detailed research of its kind. The Census Bureau promises this will be an annual list to be published.


No pictures - you can't very well take pictures when you are driving on the very congested interstate. In the morning ... In the evening ... not even when it isn't rush hour !

Take into consideration that the news is reporting on the "average" . Some people commute 10 minutes - others an hour or more. I live 12 miles from where I work - on average, it takes 45 minutes during rush hour - either way. And I don't drive on the interstate.

Heaven forbid if it rains, or snows or freezes - sometimes all it takes is sunshine - the commute gets extended ...

Note: Prince William County is in Northern Virginia- about 25 miles south of Washington, DC. (the part of the county where I live) Linton Hall (western end) is somewhat rural with no "big" businesses out that way. I deal with I-95 - they have to suffer I-66.

Don't forget to visit Pamela to find out about the "special place" where others live.

8 comments:

Pamela said...

That is just toooo long - commuting that far. My SIL in Seattle area does 1 1/2 hours some days. That just takes away too much time from the day. I guess it gives one opportunity to listen to the news and lots of music, or books on cd.

Molly said...

You have reminded me that I should be grteful for my 6 minute drive to work.

Hootin Anni said...

I'm soooooooooooo glad I'm retired! I used to have that kind of commute in the Denver Colorado suburbs. And then even in Tucson while driving to the shopping centers. I couldn't put up with that ever again. LOL

My Fun Monday is posted, I do hope you can stop by!

Anonymous said...

OMG - you and me both! I used to ride VRE when I lived in Va, and I remember the Rippon Landing stop - it meant that I was about halfway home :-)

I also heard that news report, about Linton Hall/that general area having the longest commute. Bah. Good thoughts to you!

I said to Pamela that the trouble with this area is that we rarely get enough snow to really shut everything down. We get just enough so that the traffic is an ugly mess, but we're still expected to get out and get to work. (I have loved these last few days though! Come on, spring!)

Anonymous said...

egads - that is way too long. I used to commute 30 minutes when I lived in Portland. Hated it.

Jill said...

its not uncommon in the midwest for people to commute an hour to work each day.

Sayre said...

I used to live about 15 miles from work and it took me about 30-40 minutes. Then I started shifting my hours and found the traffic wasn't so bad. I still do that - I go in at 9:15 and leave at 5:15 or later - and most everyone has gone ahead of me.

Faye said...

What do you do to keep your temper and sanity? After a while I'd say the radio gets on your last nerve, but still necessary to try to avoid some traffic snarls.

I remember getting all huffy because my boss insisted that I live in the town where he'd hired me. After a two hour commute each dayfor about a month I decided he was right, but still huffy that he thought he could dictate where his employees lived.