Over at the New York Times’ Economix blog, Catherine Rampell digs up an unexpected chart showing that Americans enjoy some of the shortest commutes in the developed world. As much as we might hate our grinding trips to the office, we have it easy compared to Italy or Japan: But why is this? Isn’t the conventional wisdom that Americans have brutally long, soul-crushing commutes? Part of the trick here is that “average commute times” can obscure a lot of variation. Looking through the most recent census data , the basic pattern in the United States seems to be that people who live in big cities have longer commutes, and people who live in small towns and rural areas can get to work more rapidly. New York City and Washington have average commutes of about 34 minutes, which is near the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. By contrast, Decatur, Ill., sports an average commute time of less than 17 minutes. Great Falls, Mont.? Just 14 minutes. Read full article > >

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Americans have some of the quickest commutes in the developed world

Over at the New York Times’ Economix blog, Catherine Rampell digs up an unexpected chart showing that Americans enjoy some of the shortest commutes in the developed world. As much as we might hate our grinding trips to the office, we have it easy compared to Italy or Japan: But why is this? Isn’t the conventional wisdom that Americans have brutally long, soul-crushing commutes? Part of the trick here is that “average commute times” can obscure a lot of variation. Looking through the most recent census data , the basic pattern in the United States seems to be that people who live in big cities have longer commutes, and people who live in small towns and rural areas can get to work more rapidly. New York City and Washington have average commutes of about 34 minutes, which is near the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. By contrast, Decatur, Ill., sports an average commute time of less than 17 minutes. Great Falls, Mont.? Just 14 minutes. Read full article > >

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Americans have some of the quickest commutes in the developed world

The New York Times called the writing “old and hoary,” Slate called the show “tedious,” and Roger Ebert said it was the worst Oscars he’d ever seen, but the show itself got off easy compared to co-host James Franco.