This is a question I've been struggling with for a few weeks now.
I currently pay $2700/month to live 5 miles from my office and bike to work. My brother lives with me and pays me $800/month, so my real cost is $1900/month, but for this discussion, let's go with the base rent. I can move closer and find rent for $2200 or more, not really a lot less than that, so it raises the question of whether I should move farther away or not and end up commuting by car or public transit (the latter is not very practical because I work odd and sometimes long hours that are outside transit times).
I've been watching the CL listings and have seen some similar sized apartments and homes for less than $2000/month, and the commute would probably be 20 minutes each way because of traffic.
Also is it worth it to stick solely to apartments that have laundry in-unit? Are there any figures for average cost of coin-op laundry?
The car I'd use is a Golf TDI that gets 35-50mpg (big range, I know, but it drops a lot in stop-and-go traffic).
Finally, the other factor tilting the scale towards driving, for me, is that I can find a house to rent outside of biking distance. That means I can have a vegetable garden and a dog, both of which would increase my quality of life tremendously.
The alternative is to wait for five years while I build more of the 'stache and eventually move out of this ridiculously overpriced area. I want to stay here for this little while longer because I just started the job, really enjoy the people, and am helping my brother get on his feet.
What are your thoughts?