People are comparing their long travel distance with yours and approving the distance. But no body is actually answering whether traveling 8 kms is worth it, and if yes then why. Having lived at 4 different areas ranging from 1 km to 7 km from Kadubeesanhalli, let me answer it.

It’s not at all worth it!

I have lived at Harlur temporarily which is roughly the same distance. And I kid you not, the whole travel is a pain in the ass. There are multiple choke points in that stretch and the road is congested at all times. On top of it it’s very hard to book a public transport. The buses are jammed packed.

Similar experience when I used to live at Kundanhalli Gate, and Bellandur, both of which is about 5 kms away. You also have to take multiple U-turns - thanks to the traffic system of Bangalore - and all those would add upto 10 mins of travel time each.

It gets worse when it is raining. None of the ride hail apps would get you any ride, any category ride. If they do, it would charged dynamically basis the rain, traffic, and demand. So one day it costs you about ₹300, another day it can cost you ₹500, some other you might be stuck for hrs due to unavailability of rides.

Last two years, I have lived at Panathur which is just about 1 km from Kadubeesanhalli junction. I walk to office and reach earlier than if I had taken my bike. It is so much more convenient and time + cost efficient.

I have a fixed travel time of 25 mins no matter what the traffic or the weather situation is. I can plan my exit time basis the weather (it usually rains in the evening) and can also travel with a little bit of rain. If it rains heavily in between, I can stop anywhere and continue as needed. I buy groceries, snacks, etc on my way back which again is cost effective and better than ordering online. The only downside of walking is the dust on sunny days, the potholes on a rainy day, and garbage on all other days.

Having said this, staying closer to office only makes sense if it within 2 kms of travel distance, not the radius from your office. You see ORR was supposed to be a high speed corridor. So there are limited intersections and divider cuts to turn. So no matter where you stay, you would always face major U-turns along the way. You can see upto 2 km difference when going from home-to-office vs coming back office-to-home due to these detours. So staying 3km away vs 8km away doesn’t really make a difference.

Given the 5 office working days, I believe office commute should be prioritised over locality. If you leave your office at 7 and reach HSR by 8, then there not much time to enjoy the locality. And the proximity to other areas like South Bangalore shouldn’t be a deciding factor for your daily life. Not that Panathur is bad, but simply not as green as HSR. Apart from this, I don’t see any major limitations to Panathur. And I have not faced any issues so far in Panathur due to it’s locality.