Living in a small town is nice. However, commuting more than an hour each way can really grind a person down. IMO, it is intrinsically beneficial to live and work as close together as possible. Time spent commuting is, for the most part, wasted time. Sure you can fill it with this and that, but given a choice, I would prefer have the time back to spend as I would choose.

I believe that many convince themselves that their commute is 'me' time where they can catch up on reading, etc. But given a choice, I bet all would rather be somewhere else.

Commuting is expense from more than a monetary point of view.