While we cannot tell you every place in the U.S. where the commute times for dentists are growing and shrinking, this session CAN share with you how to determine the aspects of a site that are getting longer and shorter.In Part 3, we are going to discuss the places with the longest commuteVIDEO s and those places with the shortest commutes.
There is a growing trend in wanting to bike or walk to work, grocery shopping, and for all other services. Perhaps the early fascination with the private car made travel more enjoyable. It was even romantic. But at present, people say that they want to stay closer to their neighborhoods even when they have a car in the garage. The concept of being able to "walk" the neighborhood.
But what about the doctor’s commute? Walking 15 minutes to your office from home, being able to come home for lunch, and essentially doing away with the commute through increasing traffic times seems like a pipe dream but there are environments that are changing this. Demographers say that this is a trend that is gaining momentum. Not only is it good for the environment and health. It is good for the soul according to the Heavenly Life Analysis of US Census Bureau American community survey five-year estimates, as of 2017. About 9% of U.S. workers have this kind of commute. A study conducted by the University of West of England Bristol found that the longer commutes are going to have increasingly serious ramifications of a person's well-being. I am sure the authors of this study have a keen grasp of the obvious. According to staffing professional, Robert Half, which found that nearly one in four American workers of quit a job because of their commute. Based upon our observations, dentists are even more likely to want to adjust their locations as commute time increases. But they are not sure that it can be done. “All the good local places have been taken,” one Client told us. That is not entirely true. City planners and urban developers are helping to reinvent what is possible.
It goes with saying that not all locations are equally difficult when it comes to commute times. Nevertheless, we find that the 10 cities with the longest commutes are the ones that are posing the greatest danger to professional practices. Let’s consider these “long commute” locations in order.
10. Naperville Illinois
A suburb of Chicago, Naperville of offers a great deal in terms of the quality of life for his residence but with a population commuting 2+ hours round-trip per week per day this place is a remarkable burden upon people in their lifestyles. This is a trend that encourages people to rethink where they are living. Of course, the recent Arctic Blast didn’t help.
9. Yonkers New York
Data show that more than 20% of its population the travel is 2+ hours round-trip per day. About 63.3% travel by private car. Public transportation takes in 27.5% but Yonkers is also suffering from an increase in its public transportation hours making it a less and less viable option. There was a time that the ideal was to live in Yonkers and commute to New York City. It seems that dream is dead.
8. Marino Valley California. Marino Valley is in the "inland empire" on the eastern edge of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area the attraction to this area has been affordable housing for the middle class. There has been quite a controversy on finding affordable housing in Greater L.A. and those places that could offer it are becoming scarce. Even worse, this commute is getting longer by the year. Dental practices are having to consider greatly expending their hours of operation to accommodate for this trend.
7. Chicagoland. The average commute time in Chicagoland is 69.2 minutes. The commute by private vehicle is 57.1% of the total. With public transportation it is much longer and increasing. Once again, it is not simply a matter of private vehicles providing a worse option. It is the increase in public transportation time that is making it unbearable.
6. Santa Clarita, California
The Santa Clarita Valley, home of Magic Mountain, is located 35 miles north of Los Angeles. But it's population sizes has gone beyond with the capacities of the roads. Nearly one in five residents spent twice that amount of one hour in commute traveling to and from their jobs. Granted, as a former resident of Newhall, I can testify that the quality of life is terrific but unless it develops a more diverse employment base, residents will have to look for alternatives. On the other hand, it is a terrific place for dentists to live.
5. Newark New Jersey
The average commute time in Newark is 71 minutes average round-trip. Newark is New Jersey's most populous city with 285,000 residents in 2017. Chronic public transportation problems increasing the commute to New York City during the day are bad but the increasing rail closures are adding the danger of “undependability” to the commute, making cautious travelers have to increase when they initiate their travel. This has the effect of making the use of New Jersey Rail even less convenient. Lane closures on the highways have the same effect.
4. Corona California
Like Marino Valley, Corona is on the outskirts of Los Angeles metropolitan area. 90.7% travel by car. Unfortunately, the percentage of commuters who have a 2+ hour round-trip per day is 23.6%.
3. Jersey City, NJ.
A very large percentage of Jersey City residents depend upon public transportation ( 48.5%). One should assume that was such a large public transportation sector, but things might be fairly inconsistent. Unfortunately the real system in New Jersey has suffered major catastrophes. The commute time, if anything, is increasing. If it is possible, we strongly advocate for living close to the practice in most of the state of New Jersey.
2. New York, New York.
This city represents the longest average commute of 81.6 minutes the population commuting 2+ hours per day is 26.1%
1. Palmdale California has the longest commute in the nation.
The average round-trip commute to Palmdale is 85.4 minutes. Almost all of this is done by private vehicle. The reason the most residents in Palmdale give for wanting to have a home there is the potential to actually own a home and have a quality of life on the weekends. Unfortunately Palmdale is increasingly difficult as a destination for middle-class workers.
There is a trend to actually reduce the length of one's commute. While this hardly a reason to move to one of these locations, it is interesting to note that these locations typically have a favorable rating from residents as expressed in work-stress. What you SHOULD be seeking is a community that has the physical layout like the following ten cities. That can serve as a template for a place where the short commute and walking distance is possible.
10. Those cities that have the shortest commute in the United States are number ten is Boise Idaho. The average round-trip commute is 36.8 minutes. About 88.0% take a private vehicle to work.
9. Tallahassee Florida. The commute time here is 36.8 minutes round-trip. Granted, Tallahassee and the others on this list tend to be somewhat smaller towns. Nevertheless, the commutes center around unemployment hub. Located in Florida Panhandle, the city is just an hour from the coast and adjacent a national Forest and wildlife preserves.
8. Syracuse New York
Syracuse does not really offer much in the way of public transportation beyond buses. That is why 73.7% of residence in this community take a private car. But it should also be noted that 11.3% have the option to walk to work.
7. Lincoln Nebraska
Even though Lincoln covers 94.3 mi.², it's unlikely that the commute is going to be extremely difficult because of the low population density of just 2,900 people per square mile it seems that there's a happy balance between distance in city center.
6. Wichita, Kansas
The population commuting 2+ hours round-trip per day is only 2.1% almost everyone who does this, is doing so in a private vehicle it is partly because Wichita Kansas has such a distributed population, but the commute is so low. Only about one in 50 Wichita residents have to commute more than two hours during the day.
5. Eugene Oregon
Eugene has a very small geographic footprint of 43.7 mi.² which makes biking and walking viable options for most people. It certainly does not hurt that the weather seems to support people who don't mind being outside.
4. Amarillo, Texas
This community is located in the Texas Panhandle. It has the highest percentage of car commuters of any city in the nation. The city’s large footprint in that cycling and walking aren't necessarily a great idea. With that being said, residents are willing to brave the heat to get outside and stretch their legs.
3. Springfield Missouri
The average round-trip commute is 35.4 minutes. For anyone who is been to Springfield, it is worth noting that the weather can be unpredictable to say the least and winters can be cold, summers can be hot, and there is a 17 inch average snowfall annually. Nevertheless, for those who like the four seasons, this is a place that has some serious potential.
2. Sioux Falls, South Dakota with almost no public transportation options, residents of Sioux Falls use their cars 92.7% of the time.
1.. Lubbock
Lubbock has the lowest average round-trip commute time of any large community. At 32.8 minutes, it is very easy to get from one side of the community to the other without effort.
Once again, the reason that I included these two lists is to give you and idea of where there are growing and even shrinking commutes and the types of places where this is possible.
--
For more demographic information and to find your perfect place to put a practice, got to www.DoctorDemographics.com . VIDEO VIDEO For Free Copy of General Dentist Site Selection Handbook: www.DentistSiteSelection.com