NJ town gets unique commuting honor

I’ve known so many people who had been productive and successful working at home and then their companies changed policy. Work in the office, or else.

My brother was one of them. He was a troubleshooter for tool-and-die software, working with clients over the phone. For years, he did from home exactly what he did in the office. Just as productive, but suddenly had a daily 3-hour round-trip commute, and it was killing him. When the company refused to let him even work two days a week from home, he decided to retire.

I’ve heard this story a number of times, and it’s sad that things couldn’t find a middle ground.

That’s where hybrid workers come in.

A hybrid worker is one that splits work time between a traditional office and a remote location. It's not five days a week in the office, and it's not quite working from home.

International Workplace Group is an international company that serves as that middle ground, providing workspaces, meeting rooms, virtual setups, and everything a worker might need to serve a company without ungodly daily commutes successfully.

They just did a ranking of commuter towns that were best for these hybrid-type workers, and it was called the Commuter Town Index.

The Top 5

The best towns were:

5️⃣ Mission Bend, Texas

4️⃣ Indian Creek, Illinois

3️⃣ Westmont, California

2️⃣ Abington, Pennsylvania

1️⃣ Edison, New Jersey

That’s right, the best town for this type of hybrid worker is right here in New Jersey.

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Why Edison is No. 1

According to mycentraljersey.com, what tipped the scales so far in the Middlesex County town’s favor was the number of coworking and flexible work options, which include 111 International Workplace Group locations in or near Edison.

Also, location, location, location.

The suburban town is about 30 minutes from New York City and has access to major highways and NJ Transit rail service. It also did well on a walkability score. All of these matter for this type of hybrid work.

“Technology and the embrace of AI are rapidly reshaping how we work and where we live, turning commuter towns into vibrant hubs for working and living," said International Workplace Group’s CEO Mark Dixon.

If only my brother could have used something like this.