Why do you live 50 miles from work? That’s nobody’s fault but your own.
Well, in my case I live 15 miles from work. The cost in the difference in housing will off-set my commute to the tune of $800/month or more. That's just for the house on a lot.
I have 1/2 an acre inside the city limits where I live. To get that same amount of room in the city where I work would cost me more than $300,000 more. I chose elbow room over commute. I can buy a lot of gas for the difference.
Given how much people switch jobs (by their choice or the company’s), it wouldn’t make sense to try to live near work in all cases.
My parents live in the suburbs of Chicago and both have jobs in the suburbs. But they both commute 40 to 50 miles each way. 2 different suburbs.
Not everyone with this problem lives out in the exurbs.