Real-estate developers in Costa Rica are adjusting their offers in response to the growing traffic problems in the greater metropolitan area of San Jose (GAM), where commuters in the face hours each morning and afternoon moving to and from work.
The aim to is cut down commuting time by offering homes closer to the workplace and vice-versa, reports La República (in Spanish).
Currently, many spend up to two hours in the mornings to get to the workplace and then another two to get home. Their frustrations are clearly made known in the social media and real estate develops have taken notice.
For that, developers have begun to develop new office centers in areas closer to where potential employees live.
Each morning and afternoon more an estimate 300,000 commuters from different points of the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM) – center, east and west of the capital city, where most of the jobs are concentrated – commute to and from work, according to the Colliers real estate group.
According to Colliers, from Alajuela there are some 29,000 commuters, from Heredia 140,000, Cartago 65,000 and San Jose 95,000 contributing to the massive road congestion regardless if they use public transportation or their own vehicle, during morning and afternoon peak hours.
The curious thing is that the western sector of Escazú, Santa Ana and surroundings, where there is the greatest amount of corporate development, combined they hardly report 60,000 commuters.
According to the experts, the lack of planning is high, that is there are areas with few employees yet house a large number of work centers.
The west attracts a significant amount of talent from the other areas to ensure its daily operation. The relocation of the work centers (oficentros) closer to home would mean a great benefit for workers in terms of quality of life, and in reducing the traffic nightmare that is in the GAM.
International companies with operations in Costa Rica and in particular in the GAM have also taken notice and see being close to the talent as a bonus for their employees whose commuting would be minimal.
One such company, a European company in the medical instruments sector speaking to the Q confidentially, given they are in the midst of negotiating their starting an operation in Costa Rica, said the choice of location was influenced by the traffic conditions. In this case, the company is negotiating in Cartago, a location where there is plenty of talent for their sector and means little or no commuting.
In Costa Rican society moving to be closer to work is not an option.
