One way I measure the state health of the economy here is to eyeball commute patterns. Lately, I’ve noticed that traffic on I-5 is starting to get heavier both mornings and evenings. But that doesn’t explain this interesting study recently conducted by ApartmentList.com.
The study found that the number of San Diego super commuters — workers who drive 90 minutes or more each way each day to their job — has fallen by 44% since 2019. The local decline is part of a nationwide trend.
The report estimates that the number of super commuters in the United States has fallen by 1.5 million since 2019. This decline is largely due to the rise of remote work, which took off during the COVID-19 crisis of 2001-22.
From 2019 to 2021 the number of super commuters in the San Diego metro area fell 44%, while the number of remote workers rose 181%, the study found.
Nationally, commute times have fallen the fastest for high-income workers, highlighting that throughout the pandemic it has been higher-paying jobs that have more easily transitioned to remote work.
The advent of remote work has its benefits, including reduced traffic congestion and lower emissions. It has also improved the quality of life for many workers, who no longer have to waste hours commuting each day.
ApartmentList’s findings suggest that the rise of remote work is having a significant impact on the way Americans work and live. As more jobs become remote, the number of super commuters will likely continue to decline.
In San Diego, the report said there are 20,726 super commuters, down from a peak of 37,012 just before the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The metro-wide super commuter rate stands at 1.3%, compared to 2% nationally.
The national rankings are led by Stockton, which hugs the periphery of the San Francisco Bay Area. Despite a 30% reduction in that metro area’s super commuter population from 2019 to 2021, Stockton’s super commuting rate of 7.4% is still far higher than any other area in the United States, exemplifying the acute housing affordability crisis in the Bay Area.
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One reason why people drive long distances is the cost of housing, and the amount of living space one gets for their money. Apartment rental website Rentcafe conducted a recent survey of 200 U.S. cities to find out just how much space renters can expect for a $1,500-a-month budget. Sadly, San Diego County came in far down the list when compared to other parts of the country, especially in the great flyover region of the Midwest.
For that now modest monthly budget of $1,500, most cities in the county offer between 450 and 550 square feet, with Escondido providing the best value at 570 square feet. That’s about the size of a modest studio apartment.
Meanwhile, renters in San Diego proper can expect to give up more than 100 square feet for the same budget, with a meager 449 square feet available at that price.
On average, Chula Vista and Oceanside apartments offered 541 and 512 square feet for a budget of $1,500.
Nationwide? RentCafe found that you can get the most for your rent dollars in Wichita, KS, where a renter can get as much space as a three-bedroom, maybe even a four-bedroom rental. Wichita, by the way, ranked as one of the cities with the lowest cost of living in the U.S.
At the other end of the list, the survey found that a budget of $1,500 will only get 243 square feet of space in Manhattan, where the average rent is $4,600 a month for about 745 square feet of space.
The survey says the average rent in San Diego is $2,900 a month, though Zillow, another residential real estate web hub, said the average rent is almost $3,300 a month, according to its latest survey.
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The Small Business Administration‘s San Diego office has named Miriam Torres Baltys, a small business loan officer at CDC Small Business Finance, as Financial Services Champion of the Year. The award recognizes her efforts to increase the availability of accounting and financial services to small businesses.
According to a news release, Torres Baltys is dedicated to advocating for her clients’ access to capital and has received praise for her knowledge and expertise in the field. She helps small business owners in the region, including those in San Diego, obtain loans of up to $350,000.
Among the small business owners that Torres Baltys has helped recently include an entrepreneur in San Diego who needed funding to start up a Brazilian cachaca distilling and distribution company but had no collateral to qualify for traditional. lending
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Sudberry Properties, the master developer of the Civita urban village in Mission Valley, says that high-end grocer Jimbo’s Naturally! has leased 25,000 square feet of space in The Row at Civita, a 20-acre gathering area at the heart of the 230-acre community.
Sudberry says it will develop the building located at the intersection of Civita Boulevard and Qualcomm Way with construction starting in early 2025. Jimbo’s is anticipated to open in Civita during the second half of 2026.
Civita is surrounded by extensive shopping, dining, entertainment, educational opportunities, employment centers, top healthcare providers, and nearby outdoor activities.
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California Coast Credit Union has opened what it calls a financial wellness center at the Logan Heights Community Development Corp. The credit union says the goal of the center is to provide financial education and coaching to residents and small businesses in the neighborhood.
At a reception held on May 10, state Sen. Steve Padilla said he recognized the center’s importance in a community that has a dearth of financial institutions. The center aims to provide accessible and no-cost financial resources to the neighborhood’s 80,000 residents to help them reach financial health.
In 2016, The federal government declared the neighborhood one of 22 federally designated Promise Zones in the United States. The 6.4 square-mile zone spans from East Village and Barrio Logan east to Encanto.
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Solana Beach-based Scientist.com, an online marketplace where pharmaceutical companies can quickly source projects for almost every stage of their research, has acquired Labs Explorer, a French network connecting European research labs, scientific professionals and start-ups.
According to a news release, Scientist.com’s acquisition allows Labs Explorer customers to access that company’s extensive network of more than 5,000 research suppliers and inventory of 15 million products.
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.
