If you're thinking of relocating, maybe you should check out the average commute times for people for who in or around the city you're considering. Just zoom in on the interactive map at Educated Driver and click on the city's dot for more details. People near where I live commute around 40-45 minutes a day, which seems like a big waste of time over a lifetime. However, the average commute time in L.A. or San Francisco is an hour, and 75 minutes in New York City! Now think of this map as a whole, and consider all the lost hours, the gasoline, the pollution, the traffic jams, and the stress that could be avoided if we could just live closer to our workplaces. -via Digg
My conclusion that it is flawed is best illustrated by focusing on Elko, NV. The maps says that the average round trip commute is 60 minutes. Dividing by two and generously allow for 80 miles per hour gives 40 miles one way. There is almost nothing that close to Elko. Let's assume that the distribution is severely bicameral: half the people have almost no commute and the others drive two hours per day. There would still be nothing to commute to. Reno, NV and Salt Lake City, UT are three hours away, one way.
Makes sense, because when housing gets too expensive, people are forced to live farther away. Which leads to longer commute distances.
Now my commute is about five seconds from the bed to the office desk, although I usually detour to the kitchen for coffee.