Giving up so much time, so early in the morning, just to get a free carpark does sound crazy (although I'm sure the price of carparking is crazier) and certainly not a great way to be living.
I think that one thing to be aware of is that in moving to somewhere quieter and cheaper you will very likely be trading in the easy availability of jobs. This is the great problem many face.
I would hate to have to move to a city or even large town to find work, but where I am has little opportunity for the sort of jobs I can and would do. These days I don't want to just settle. Working from home would be ideal. This has been my trade-off. Lifestyle for fewer career prospects.
My advice would be that unless you have an end goal in mind and keep grinding away with the status quo until you reach it, then some sort of change would likely be better. Decide what you really want to be doing, and work out how to get it. Don't listen to negative people. Act as if you already have your goal, and be open to opportunities knocking. The path may not be straight, it may be quite crooked, but it will still get you there. :)
Thanks for the advice, that's actually really helpful. So true that we need to work out what we really want. We might end up with a hybrid type of living. Potentially somewhere in a smaller town with a big enough section for me to have the garden and space, but somewhere near enough to a good job too. He's a city boy and I'm a country girl so we will probably end up somewhere in between the two!
I agree that it's insane the way he's living now. He's been doing this commute for almost 3 years now. He's definitely ready for a change.