I also don't understand the concept of a commute being "wasted hours out of your life". Maybe back in the 70s you were stuck with reading the paper, reading a book - but now? Movies, podcasts, unlimited books on a kindle, episodes, play games - take a laptop, learn a language (if you can get a seat).
I think my only proviso to the above, having written it down, is that you'd need to be able to more-or-less guarantee that you'd get a seat - over an hour commute, standing up all the way? No thanks.