(144sq meter house, living on my own, 7 minutes to work, yeah I even drive cause why not, 10 minutes from work to gym, another 10 home, total travel = ~30 minutes per day).
However, in reality, I just moved from a 1600 sq foot house to a 3200 sq foot house. Commute is 40 minutes, best-case, each way in and out of West Houston.
Your lifestyle, great as it is for a single guy working hard, is going to hit a brick wall if you meet a woman who wants children, a big house, to live in a good school district etc.
Well, generally they don't go to the gym, they eat microwave meals or have their partner cook, and read on the train.
My current commute is just under 1h each way, but that includes 20 minutes of walking, and as such feels fairly leisurely. Long ago it was 1h45 each way, on the underground; that was gruelling.
Driving is just infinitely more convenient if the roads you're using are not congested.
TLDR: Health benefits of cycling are believed to significantly outweigh health risks on average.
When I worked CBD jobs I always made the trade off of living space to commute time. Years later you forget your small place but the hours of commuting in packed trains leaves a tear in your soul.
It takes a real commitment to anti-hoarding and ruthless effiency to live in a small place.