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To live downtown or not, that’s the question
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When I proposed dinner with an old high school classmate, he told me any restaurant in Xujiahui would be his preferred option as he had to take Metro Line 9 afterward.
We met at a tea restaurant near the Grand Gateway 66 mall and he told me that while both his home and office were also in Xujiahui, the family stayed with his in-laws, near a Metro Line 9 stop, during the week.
“My family lives with my parents-in-law as my son’s school is near their house,” he explained. “Otherwise, I’d have to get up much earlier and drive my son to school and then go to my office,” he said. “And you know Wuzhong Road is always jammed.”
So instead of enduring gridlock frustrations, my friend could now walk with his son to school and then take the Metro to work. A home-to-office journey that previously took more than an hour had been halved.
“You made a wise decision,” I told him.
A survey released two weeks ago by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences revealed that more than 50 percent of respondents took on average less than 30 minutes to travel to work.
But nearly 10 percent of the interviewees took more than an hour or even two hours to get to their workplace, the poll of 1,720 people found.
Of course, many commuters favor living further out as they get more for their yuan when buying a home.
A colleague lives in outlying Qingpu District although our newsroom is in downtown Jing’an. Although he usually spends three hours a day on his commute, he told me he’d rather travel longer and have a spacious suburban dwelling than squeeze into a downtown attic for the same price within walking distance of the office.
Result of compromise
I can’t say my colleague’s decision is not as wise as my former classmate’s. Actually, the reason behind the two options is the same — it’s the result of a compromise. Or like an old Chinese saying: “You can’t have both fish and bear’s paw” which means, “You can’t sell the cow and drink the milk.”
Compromise for me was giving up jogging as a healthier option for getting to work in exchange of a faster — but more risky — mode of transport.
I live about 3 kilometers from my office but weekday gridlock makes taking the bus my last resort. A cab driver may be able to circumnavigate the jams, but a daily taxi is quite expensive. Meanwhile, there is no direct Metro link.
Narrowed down to the choices of walking, running or riding a scooter, the two-wheeled electric option won. It takes me around 10 minutes to get to work but I pay the price in having to dodge cars on a daily basis.
It cannot be denied that our city has accelerated to improve its infrastructure, especially the Metro network. In the near future, Metro trains may take us to almost every corner of Shanghai. But the journey between People’s Square and Hangtou Town in Pudong New Area will still be quite long.
And despite the improved network, there will always be limitations. And that’s why we have to make our own decisions.
The survey illustrates this. It found that nearly 70 percent of respondents living in the city outskirts get to work within 30 minutes, which means they choose to work nearby.
That’s another kind of compromise. There may be fewer job opportunities, and perhaps lower pay, but the commute’s none too arduous.
People of different ages and different backgrounds will make their own choices. The reality may not be the best solution, but at least they have options.
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