POLL: Is Living Close to Work Worth Paying Extra Rent?
Last week, the Village Voice posted a video featuring recent Madison, Wisconsin transplant Grayson Altenberg, a chef at the Lincoln Center restaurant paying $1,100/month for a 100-square-foot apartment. Though the rent seems pretty ridiculous for a space that has you hanging your shoes right above your pillow, Altenberg says that the main reason he’s shelling over a grand in cash for the space is that when it came down to signing, “commuting an hour-and-a-half or walking five minutes to work” was a no-brainer. While there’s no arguing that a short commute is the ideal—especially with train service as bad as it is—is it really worth not just paying a premium rent, but giving up a humane amount of space?
