This story appeared in the November 2000 issue of Delaware Today.Weekday Warriors -- Long-distance commuting allows the lifestyle perks of coastal living, and a good job too
By Terry Plowman
You've thought about living at the beach, haven't you? All it takes is one of those gorgeous Sunday afternoons by the ocean, when you're facing that trip back north. Wouldn't it be great if you never had to leave?
But unless you work in retail, restaurants or real estate, it's tough to find a job in the resort area -- and even harder to find a job with the high pay and benefits of your job in Kent or New Castle County.
But some beach-lovers have found the solution: long-distance commuting. Those willing to give up a couple hours a day can keep the sand between their toes.
Dianne Pringle faced the beach job dilemma almost 20 years ago. An avid beach-goer, she found that most jobs in the resort area required her to work six or seven days a week during the tourist season, leaving little time to enjoy the sandy attraction that enticed her and her husband, Bruce, to Dewey Beach.
Despite some concern about the 50-minute commute to Dover, Pringle took a job with the state Division of Motor Vehicles in 1981. The job provided the regular weekday work hours, weekends off and, even better, two years after she started the state created a van pool program. The program, called Fleet Link, operates 30 vans statewide, two of which serve coastal Sussex.
The program provides vans, fuel and vehicle maintenance to groups of state employees, who split a monthly fee of about $400. Depending on the number of commuters in a pool, the cost can be as low as $30 a month per member ? far cheaper than the cost of solo commuting.
But savings seem to be a secondary benefit for van pool members. For many the commute is one of the most pleasant parts of their day.Especially for those who don't share driving chores, the commute provides time to relax, read the paper, converse, or even nap. Long-lasting friendships have formed, and members socialize during and outside the commute. "We have a jolly old time sometimes," Pringle says.
Many commuters value the opportunity to wind down during the ride home. One joked that the trip from Dover allowed time for his blood pressure to go down. Pringle says that when one van pooler moved to Dover, the others were sure he would have to drive around for a half hour after work to catch up on relaxation.Solo commuters
Unlike van poolers, solo drivers enjoy other aspects of commuting. They relish the routine and the freedom ? down to choosing the radio station or adjusting the temperature. And though they praise the afternoon ride as a cushion between the stress of work and the pleasure of home, the morning ride allows them to exercise their "Type P" personalities -- they are productive, even while driving.
Tom Draper, owner of WBOC-TV and Delmarva Online, says he considers his car an extension of his Salisbury, Md., office. Like almost every solo commuter interviewed for this story, Draper spends much of his drive time on his cell phone. He talks to his employees, confers with customers, makes plans and sorts the many irons he has in the fire.
Draper keeps a large pad next to him so he can make notes, but he admits that writing and talking on the phone while driving may not be the safest way to get to work. Fortunately for Draper -- and other motorists, for that matter -- he has cut his Rehoboth-to-Salisbury commute from five days a week to two. He works at an office in coastal Sussex the other three days.
Other solo commuters are productive in less active ways. Mike Mahaffie, a manager with Delaware's Office of State Planning Coordination in Dover, jokes about "commuter zen," a relaxed state that allows solutions to bubble up from the subconscious. Mahaffie achieves this state of relaxed productivity mostly by listening to National Public Radio during his drive from Lewes to Dover.
Whatever the value of the commute -- productivity, relaxation, pleasant company -- it would hardly be worth it if not for the attractions of coastal living: the casual pace, the small-town feel of Lewes and Rehoboth, and the natural surroundings of beach, bay and woodlands.
Those attractions, as well as the good reputation of the Cape Henlopen School District, made Frederick H. "Fritz" Schranck realize he was commuting in the wrong direction. A deputy attorney general who works in Dover, Schranck had been commuting south from Wilmington every day when he and his wife, Susan, realized that they could take advantage of the Rehoboth-area property they had bought as an investment. "I figured if I had to make the commute, why not make it from the beach?" Schranck says.
Family affairs
Tom Reale commutes from Angola to New Castle County three days a week. His wife Jean commutes to work in Dover. They had planned to retire to coastal Sussex, but loved the lifestyle too much to wait. "I threw away my three-piece suits when I moved (from Chester County, Pa.). As much as possible, I wear shoes with no socks," he says with a laugh. "And I've been known to take off on a Monday or Friday to go fishing."
Long-distance commuting is a family affair for other Lewes area couples too. Kevin and Lynn Hickey say they trade their long drives for the quality of life in Lewes. Kevin drives about an hour-and-a-half to Elkton, Md., several times a week for his job with W.L. Gore & Associates and travels out of state the rest of the work week. Lynn, a health-care systems analyst, works at various distant hospitals as her changing contracts demand. They say the travel is worth it. The pace, the people, the weather and the natural surroundings make Lewes the "perfect little town," says Lynn.
Cindy and Dave Small, and their son, Trey, of Lewes, took family commuting to the extreme for about six months last year when all three hit the road for jobs in Dover. Trey, 22, has since moved closer to his workplace, but Cindy continues to commute to her job with Chesapeake Utilities and Dave to his job with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
The Smalls echoed what all the commuters said about their willingness to travel so far to work: the jobs they enjoy aren't available in coastal Sussex. Both Cindy and Dave have risen to management positions that are rare at the beach.
Far from simply enduring long-distance commuting, most generally enjoy it, except for two factors: inclement weather and Friday afternoon traffic during the tourist season.
Sometimes state van poolers brave snowy or icy roads because they leave the Rehoboth area before officials decide to close state agencies. If state offices close, they have to tackle the slippery roads again on the way home. Winter weather isn't the only problem -- Cindy Small recalls a trip home this summer, when it took three hours to get from Dover to Lewes because of floods on Route 1. When the weather is bad, some commuters stay home to work via computer.
All the commuters mentioned that "weekend warriors" cause a slower homeward trip on summer Friday afternoons. But the commuters just grin and bear it, probably because they understand why everyone wants to get to the beach.
In the end, this story isn't about the commute, it's about what's on either end of it: an attractive job and a pleasant lifestyle.
John Gorecki says it best. Although he drives between Rehoboth Beach and Wilmington three days a week and often to Dover on other days, Gorecki enjoys his job with EdiS Company Construction Managers. "It's the best construction company in the state, and they treat me very well."
But even better is what he can do before he sets off for that great job. Gorecki often stops by the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk for a brisk pre-dawn walk. He can breathe fresh ocean air and see the skyline warming toward the sunrise.
What's the value of that little lifestyle perk?
"It's priceless," Gorecki says.
Sidebar: How many coastal commuters are there?
There are no current statistics on how many people commute to work from coastal Sussex -- the only available data are based on the 1990 census and include the entire county. But even those dated statistics are interesting. They show that more than 10,000 Sussex Countians were working outside the county -- some in other counties and some out of state.
More than 3,500 Sussex County residents reported commuting times of 45 minutes or more, compared to the county's average commute of 18 minutes or less. More than 1,300 said they traveled an hour or more.
Though no one knows how many people have jobs far from their homes in coastal Sussex, all the commuters interviewed for this story said one thing was sure: northbound traffic on Route 1 during the work day "rush hour" has noticeably increased in recent years.
Salisbury, Md., and Dover aren't major urban centers, but they are Delmarva's hubs of commerce and government. As long as they remain home to many corporate headquarters and official agencies, offering job opportunities not found in the resort areas, the number of those willing to make the daily trek is likely to increase along with the population.