Like most things in life, it's a tradeoff. My best drive time to downtown is about 35 minutes. My best travel time by train/metro is about an hour. I did that for about a year and a half, and it wasn't awful, but due to transit times, I barely saw my kids.

You have options: move. I was once burdened with traffic on the 405 every day and it was a nightmare. Had to pay an extra hundred or two in rent to live on the west side (of LA). Freeing up three hours a day of commuting (to walk in the sunshine) was definitely worth it.

or better office parks can be built in less congested areas instead. Like this one - http://domainofficesaustin.com/ - where you can work/rent/shop/eat/starbucking/buytesla. Instead of trying to squeeze one more soul into densely packed city.

Assuming where he works has a train/metro. Especially in the US, this is often unfeasible

the calculus can change when you have kids. Then you're faced with living in a good school district (unless you can afford private school). Good school districts don't always line up with downtown cores - at least they're still lagging our shift in housing preference in many areas.