Why choosing to locate so that you can get to your job matters

According to the Washington Post, Washington Hospital Center fired a bunch of nurses who were unable to get to work during the recent snowstorms. See "D.C. hospital fires 11 nurses, 5 staffers for snowstorm absences."

Yes, it was probably just an excuse to show that management is management, and it sucks, especially for the people who were fired, appears arbitrary and capricious, etc.

But, if the terms of your employment provide very little wiggle room if you can't make it to work, you ought to live close to work, not far away from it, or in an area where you don't think you can make it out if it snows heavily.

This is a personal form of "transportation planning" "for contingencies." In transportation planning, this is called the jobs-housing balance, although it doesn't usually refer to getting to work during weather events.

Before the widespread use of the personally owned automobile, most people lived close to where they worked, and either walked or took public transit.

Walking to work, 1916. Photographer: Bain News Service. Location unknown.