Relocating from Ohio (Durango, Manitou Springs, Akron: home, job market, good schools)

[sqishy]

My husband and I are looking to relocate from Marysville, Ohio. It wouldn't happen for another 2 to 3 years while I am getting my Master's. We like Marysville because it is a small town feel but growing fast. Although, there are not many local restaurants or bars, mostly chains and we hate that. We are thinking about Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina.

I am getting my Master's in Higher Education (Academic Advisor specifically) so I would be looking for towns with a college nearby. He is a cook. We are very laid back, open-minded and love nature. We like living away from town. Right now we live on the outskirts and like that we don't live almost on top of people and can see the stars clearly.

Climate is a big issue. We hate Ohio winters- too much snow and verry cold. It is very gloomy. We love the sun and love the changing of the seasons. Fall is our favorite, not too hot, not too cold.

The town would have to be family friendly- we will be starting a family around the time we would be moving. Zoo's, hospitals, good schools, safer than most places would be ideal.

I have been doing some research, mostly for Colorado, and there seems to be good things about Durango, Co and Manitou Springs, Co. But still have a vague view of them. Culture-wise mostly. Are there festivals, like music or food, heritage stuff. Here we have Irish fest, CommFest (AKA Community Fest=local bands, local food, local retail that are hand made, women walking around topless with painted breasts because it's legal in Columbus lol.), Hamburger Fest in Akron, for example.

What are some suggestions? Other state suggestions are welcomed too.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by sqishy

women walking around topless with painted breasts

And you want to leave this wondrous place? Sounds fantastic. Perhaps I'll start hanging out on the Ohio forums.

Seriously though, you'll probably need to move whereever you can find a job in your chosen field. There aren't going to be so many openings that you can just choose where you want to live. A lot of times jobs like that are filled internally. Aren't most academic advisors regular professors or instructors who just do it on the side?

[jazzlover]

Outside of Colorado's metro areas--which I suspect you would not like if you think a place like Marysville is growing too fast--you will find the lack of available jobs, low salaries, and high living costs a real disappointment. Durango is great example of a place that suffers from all three.

I will get flamed for this, but young people need to get realistic about what is possible. The "American Dream" of an idyllic setting (like Colorado in some people's eyes), great job, nice house, fancy cars, cute family, secure retirement, etc. is GONE--everywhere. If a young person today can achieve maybe threee of those in their lifetime, they will be fortunate. Want to live in an expensive paradise? Then maybe you have to can the idea of having kids--for good. Want a high-paying job with a secure retirement? Then you may have to live in some hell-hole to get it.

It's unfortunate for those starting out in their careers and adult lives right now that several decades of living beyond our means, excess population growth, and diminishing resources--all aggrevated by a severe lack of ethics and leadership when it is needed the most--is coming to head right when these folks are trying to get their start in the world, but that is the way it is. They just happen to be the generation that's going to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

People need to think long and hard to priortize what they want, because the days of "having it all"--if they ever were really possible (and they really weren't, we just lied to ourselves that they were)--are gone forever.

PS--The just-grown children of several native and long-time rural Colorado residents I know are now living and working--you guessed it--in Ohio, because that is where they could actually find a decent-paying job in communities with a reasonable cost of living--things they couldn't find in their home towns in Colorado. That should tell you something.

[CosmicWizard]

sqishy wrote:

What are some suggestions? Other state suggestions are welcomed too.

Your best bet is likely to be in one of the midwestern states where the unemployment rate and the cost of living are lower. Consider the State of Virginia also ( Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Roanoke ).

[Ziasforever]

What about New England? The unemployment rate there is much lower than the national average. I suppose the job market could be 'stagnant' there too.

[Mike from back east]

Durango is rather pricey by most standards, but lovely. There are nearby areas like Bayfield that may be more affordable.

Manitou Springs (MS) is more affordable, as is much of the greater COLO SPGS area. The town of MS sits at the foot of Pike Peak and has a lot of festivals, like the fruit cake toss each January, the bed races, Margi Gras, and many more. MS is only 5 miles west of COLO SPGS which means you don't have to live in MS to enjoy all their zany goings-on.


Mardi Gras Parade in MS



Tons of Mardi Gras pix are at this link.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I will get flamed for this, but young people need to get realistic about what is possible. The "American Dream" of an idyllic setting (like Colorado in some people's eyes), great job, nice house, fancy cars, cute family, secure retirement, etc. is GONE--everywhere. If a young person today can achieve maybe threee of those in their lifetime, they will be fortunate. Want to live in an expensive paradise? Then maybe you have to can the idea of having kids--for good. Want a high-paying job with a secure retirement? Then you may have to live in some hell-hole to get it.

Not to worry Jazz, we have a plan to fix all that:


YouTube - soylent green - the scene

[brightdoglover]

New England is very expensive, overall, and the unemployment isn't so much lower than national, in fact, in Mass. alone, it's officially 9.6 percent. Rhode Island is in really bad shape. In the Boston area, there is some movement in the job market, but the jobs are largely very high-credentialed (and high pay) and draw people from all over for relocation, in addition to the 200,000-some college students in the metro area. I think there are some very good reasons to live in some parts of New England but a great job market isn't one of them unless you have fairly specific skills (technology, higher ed, etc.)
I gather unemployment isn't so high in northern Virginia, in the D.C. axis (and cost of living is accordingly higher). As anywhere, where the cost of living is lower (hill country) the job availability is also poor, specifically Charlottesville.
No magic bullets nowhere, I'm afraid.