Not all commutes are long. Mine was about 30 minutes by train and I used that time to clear my head and prepare myself for work. On the way back I used it as a way to relax and switch off.

My parents met at work and I've made friends at previous position and remained friends with them. I also think that being in close proximity is important to me. For example people around the world travel home for the holidays instead of using a webcam. Since the cost and time of that travel is significant must there be a reason why it's important.

What a dystopic world we live in when "work" is not also a source of pleasurable socialization.

I spend far more hours at work than I have for socializing outside of work, with or without commutes.

Socializing is an important part of building relationships. No developer is an island, with remote work I have much weaker relationships with my coworkers and we collaborate a decent amount less. It's much, much harder to figure out what other teams are working on/stuck on. Generally everyone is just more silo'd, and I don't think that's good for productivity, growth, or my mental health. In the office I'd end up learning new things constantly talking in the hall or at lunch. Now I rarely talk to coworkers about non work things which means we also end up talking about work less.