There is quite a lot of middle ground between working from home and a four hour daily commute. I was at a similar crossroads a few years back, but my total commute was closer to 50 minutes and the 60% bump in pay was well worth it for me. At the end of the day, it's a personal decision that is highly dependent on circumstances and preferences.
What I will say is that there are certainly advantages to being in a shared space with collaborators for a scheduled bracket of time on a regular basis. I haven't yet found a remote-working setup that can properly mimic these advantages. Certainly some make a praiseworthy attempt -- but some of my team's most productive days have been kicked off with a brief hallway conversation that resulted in alignment/commitment that would have taken far longer if attempted remotely.
What I will say is that there are certainly advantages to being in a shared space with collaborators for a scheduled bracket of time on a regular basis. I haven't yet found a remote-working setup that can properly mimic these advantages. Certainly some make a praiseworthy attempt -- but some of my team's most productive days have been kicked off with a brief hallway conversation that resulted in alignment/commitment that would have taken far longer if attempted remotely.