And the person with the closest commute is always the boss.
I've been really interested in the concept of “worker alienation” recently, and I think this ties into it. Even if you're highly skilled in your field, not being paid enough to live close to where you spend 1/3 of your day can get to you.
It's similar to a person who works for a company that manufactures or sells products that they can't afford (A person at a jewelry store or a factory worker making luxury cars who are paid minimum wage, for example).
I can't help but think that this is a business strategy to fuck over workers. Get the office in the exclusive/expensive neighborhood, and take that out of potential payroll money. Would these companies be able to pay more if they were in a small town?
Aside from my first job at a local supermarket (Dime a dozen business), I've never been paid enough to actually afford to live where I work.
If I'm lucky my commute is only a half hour away. Most of the time it's about an hour away. The kicker is when there's a company in my area hiring and I apply I never hear back; the only ones I do hear from are usually in the next city over. Come to think of it, in white collar jobs I don't know of many underlings who are like “Yeah, I live 5 minutes down the road walking.” Everyone always has a wild commute story.