Looks like that data only looked at 244,346 commuters inside 495. This article says there are 160,000 "super commuters" in greater Boston in 2019, and notes that number is probably much higher in 2022 due to a 19% increase in urban to suburban/rural moves nationwide.

The Globe article doesn't say how they defined a "super commuter," but the US Census Bureau defines it as a 90-minute one-way commute. Or 180 minutes both ways. Which equals 3 hours. Not quite 4 hours but way more than 45 minutes.

As someone who spent his entire life just outside 495, I can tell you anecdotally 2-hour one-way commutes are the norm.

This is a really great idea. Most office workers have been priced so far out of Boston they were commuting 4+ hours a day to the Financial District. The pandemic and remote work showed us all how unnecessary it all was. The cat's out of the bag and there's no going back to that.

I just hope they actually go through with this plan. Part of the problem with these "reports" is they never actually get implemented. But the future of downtown depends on completely re-imagining it.

>someone having a gun on them actually isn’t illegal in MA

It absolutely is illegal on a college campus. If someone has a readily visible firearm on a college campus and isn't wearing a law enforcement uniform and badge you should absolutely call 911.

It all comes back to housing. The political elite of eastern Massachusetts spent the past 20 years adding tens of thousands of highly paid tech jobs to the city, then blocked the construction of any new housing for said employees. So the highly paid tech employees took all the housing away from the working class. Now there's no one left to work all the working class jobs that keeps civilized society functioning.

Pharmacy techs make like $17/hr. Good luck qualifying for so much as a studio within 30 miles of Boston on that salary.

After seeing how badly our state legislators fucked up non-compete reform, I have zero faith they'd ever pass a pay transparency law that actually works.

$95K. A mortgage payment on a $450K condo is like $2600 a month on today's interest rates, or over half my take home pay - and that assumes 20% down. That's not even counting taxes and condo fees. Single family homes in suburbs within 30 miles of Boston is the same deal too.

My salary is good money but what kills me is being single. You need dual $100K incomes to even come close to qualifying for a mortgage on a property in the neighborhoods you mentioned.

That's what happens to cities that add tens of thousands of new jobs then blocks the construction of housing for said new workers. You can't afford a home within 30 miles of Boston on the median household income of the city. So everyone lives 30 miles away and clogs highways, causing that 30 mile commute to turn into a 2 hour drive. Except upper management who can afford a $600k condo next to the office building, and are completely bewildered at why their employees hate their commutes.

Definitely. In the Boston area the decision to move a suburban office to downtown seems guided by a desire to attract a "younger" and thus cheaper workforce.

>Workers don't want to stay at home because they can't be bothered to commute.

Nah, commute is my biggest reason for remote work. In Boston, companies insist on putting their HQs in the most expensive neighborhoods in the city, then refuse to pay enough to actually live anywhere near the office. Upper management lives in swanky condos next door, but the rest of us spend 2-4 hours driving in from 60 miles away because housing prices in Boston and immediate suburbs are completely out of control.

I mean they think banning new residential construction will stop gentrification without realizing the lack of new housing is what causes gentrification in the first place. Zoning boards aren't the smartest bunch.