Nearly everyone with a job does it: The alarm goes off, the coffee is brewed and thousands of local residents make their way to work each day on congested highways.

And numbers show that daily commute is getting longer for most of us, with more than a quarter of Americans now working outside their home counties.

That’s also the case in Hall and surrounding areas, where many workers face lengthy drives each day, the price they pay for a good job and a home in their chosen locales.

Sunday, we’ll take a close look at commuting patterns in our area and how long-term trends have changed over the years. And we’ll profile a handful of local workers who find different ways to get to work each morning.

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