I would say the opposite is true actually. I mean no one purposefully wants a long commute, but to get the kind of living situation they want, lots of people will happily accept one.
In fact, people who move here from bigger cities often want a big plot of land (<1 acre) and want to live on the edge of town. Going back to my earlier comment about working in other cities and living in Fort Worth, that's still possible here- there are areas in the city limits that are still rural, still empty land. Where I work on the west side of town, a lot of people who come here from bigger cities are tired of city life and want a quiet place in the country. Living out near Weatherford suits them fine.
Alternately, some people come from cities where an 8 mile commute took almost an hour. So driving an hour from, for instance, the northern fringes of Fort Worth, to their job in Frisco, is a very attractive option. One of the reasons why DFW is growing so fast is that there is still unlimited space to sprawl; in other cities the sprawl has played out. The American dream for a lot of people is a place out in the country, away from big city hassles. Their job may be in the city but they don't have to live there. And with virtual commuting, some people only have to go into the office one or two days a week anyway.
Obviously I don't prefer that- when I moved last year, I moved closer into the city. But the statement that "People generally prefer to work close to where they live rather than far away from where they live" isn't, in my experience with coworkers, generally true.
But that's the problem with sprawl; seemingly overnight, what was open land away from the city, becomes strip centers, apartments, subdivisions and (although not so much in Fort Worth) corporate campuses and high rise buildings -SEE Frisco or even North Fort Worth . It's all just horrible unsustainable sprawl.
I haven't worked in Fort Worth for almost 25 years. I've worked in downtown Dallas, Richardson and now Las Colinas, Living in east Fort Worth, the commute was never that bad. I live near Magnolia Avenue now and the commute to Las Colinas isn't horrible. I would still love being closer to work, but I love living in the city. However, I probably would have moved if it wasn't for being able to work from home at least 3 days a week. NOW rumor is that our Las Colinas office is going to merge with our Plano office. Basically it's too pricey to have offices in three hot office spots; Victory Park, Las Colinas and Plano Legacy West. If you've never seen the Plano Legacy area, it is very impressive out there and I will probably move.
Do I really want to move at my age (53) ?..no. But Fort Worth simply lacks the types of jobs and pay that the Dallas area offers. And to me, the commute time ain't worth it to keep me in Fort Worth.