PART 3: The expense of commuting for homeowners, renters, employers, and taxpayers: A recent article by Philippa Maister entitled “Employees Moving Further and Further Away From Workplace” highlights another growing problem for homeowners and renters. The mean distance to work rose from 10 miles in 2019 to 27 miles at the end of 2023. The share of workers living more than 50 miles from their employer rose from .8 percent to 5.5 percent and for workers hired since the pandemic (March 2020), the mean distance has risen from 19 miles to 35 miles. As companies pressure workers to work from office locations vs. remote locations in order to shore up the deteriorating value of older office properties, they are loading significant monthly costs onto those commuting workers. Millennials and the highest paid earners are most likely to live farthest away.
A March 2024 Salt Lake Tribune article entitled “Priced-out Workers: Park City wrestles with affordable housing” by Paighten Harkins reports that in my hometown there are an estimated 8,500 residents. About 11,000 workers commute to the city everyday and about 8,000 of them make less than $40,000 a year and live outside the county. Just 3 of the Fire District’s 115 employees live in town (all 3 in affordable housing units) and only about 20 live in the county. Only12 percent of city employees live in town. Since 2000, the percentage of owner-occupied residences has decreased by 7 percent as homeowners choose to be landlords who can earn lucrative short-term rentals. The result is nightmare traffic, loss of worker productivity and intense pressure on employers to increase workers wages. As the city looks forward to it’s second Winter Olympics in 2034, taxpayers can expect traffic solutions and other infrastructure expense to increase the tax burden for residents and businesses.