I'm in the process of trying to find a new place to live. I currently live in Hollywood, which - in good traffic - is about 40 minutes away the Edmunds homebase here in Santa Monica. One of the neighborhoods I'm considering relocating to is the San Fernando valley. It's a move that would likely add at least 20 minutes to my commute...
I spent this weekend checking out some places in that area. I was behind the wheel of our long-term Civic.
My goal during this weekend's fact-finding mission wasn't just to eyeball prospective apartments. I wanted to test-drive the drive. I wanted to see how bearable the slog to and from the valley would be, and get a sense of what traffic is like in the belly of my prospective new 'hood. I wanted to experience things at their worst, so the first leg of my expedition began during rush hour on Friday afternoon.
The Civic is usually a fun car to drive. With its muscular, responsive engine, the experience behind the wheel is akin to that of piloting a compact rocketship. But our cheerful little stick-shift hauler didn't impart quite as many smiles and giggles on the valley's clogged freeways and equally clogged surface streets. In fact, it was a drag. I found myself growing irritated at having to deal with manual shifting in stop-and-go traffic. I found myself growing irritated, period.
After giving it some thought over the weekend, I decided against moving to the valley. A commute that sucks the joy out of the Civic Si is not the commute for me.
Warren Clarke
Content Editor, Edmunds.com
My goal during this weekend's fact-finding mission wasn't just to eyeball prospective apartments. I wanted to test-drive the drive. I wanted to see how bearable the slog to and from the valley would be, and get a sense of what traffic is like in the belly of my prospective new 'hood. I wanted to experience things at their worst, so the first leg of my expedition began during rush hour on Friday afternoon.
The Civic is usually a fun car to drive. With its muscular, responsive engine, the experience behind the wheel is akin to that of piloting a compact rocketship. But our cheerful little stick-shift hauler didn't impart quite as many smiles and giggles on the valley's clogged freeways and equally clogged surface streets. In fact, it was a drag. I found myself growing irritated at having to deal with manual shifting in stop-and-go traffic. I found myself growing irritated, period.
After giving it some thought over the weekend, I decided against moving to the valley. A commute that sucks the joy out of the Civic Si is not the commute for me.
Warren Clarke
Content Editor, Edmunds.com
Add a comment