Itch to Move to Colorado....Where though? (Denver: month to, home sales)

[StealthRabbit]

1) Co Springs
2) Grand J
3) Various rural MID sized locales (Football /good school spirit)
4) Ft Collins

(I grew up 28 yrs in Loveland / Ft Collins / Estes Park, been gone for 25+ but visit several x/yr and have many friends there and in Co Springs)

[FootballGuy]

Thanks for everyone's input. We are very excited to visit. The Grand Junction/Palisades area sounds perfect for us, but the job situation seems slim since they have a recall button on their district website. Are things looking to approve anytime soon? Were they just overstaffed or was it state wide budget cuts?

[FootballGuy]

Does Colorado have a Teacher Placement Service like Kentucky's Website: apps.kde.state.ky.us/keps/job_search/index.cfm ?

[PokerMunkee]

Colorado Springs is right next to the foothills, easy access to hiking and bike trails. Cheap cost of living. Don't rule it out. Check out Woodland Park, it's a small town feel and we love it (population 7,500). 1.5hr easy drive to Breckenridge and not going through busy busy I70. Easy 1.5hr drive to Buena Vista for world class rafting. 20min drive to Colorado Springs for big city stuff. 1.5hr drive to Denver for really big city stuff.

My wife is a RN in Colorado Springs on a cardiac floor at Memorial (going to be University of Colorado Health). She is per diem and makes around $33/hour with 7 years experience.

Not sure about teaching jobs in WP School District or the COS Districts.

[GSXRScott]

Originally Posted by FootballGuy

We are looking for a good school system with a strong football tradition for me

I would say that you're probably not going find the football tradition that exists in the midwest (particularly Ohio, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas) if that's where you're coming from. Bronco's fans are pretty militant but other than that most people spend their fall and winter weekends out and about skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, dirtbiking, going to street fairs etc rather than sitting around indoors watching football. Not saying football tradition doesnt exist in CO, just saying the environment and level of enthusiasm doesnt exist in CO, or anywhere else out west for that matter, to the degree that it does in those states I just mentioned.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

In teaching and nursing, the Eastern Plains towns probably have more openings than the rest of rural Colorado. No disrespect for the Eastern Plains--I personally like it out there--but it is not exactly what most outsiders think of when Colorado is mentioned. Thus, it has a harder time attracting people. Also, teaching salaries, in particular, tend to be lower in the rural areas like eastern Colorado, and that also turns a lot of people off.

Can you verify that there are more nursing jobs on the Eastern Plains? Seriously, a lot of people out there go to Denver if there's much of anything wrong with them.

Originally Posted by FootballGuy

We are definitely in the preliminary stages and I like to plan ahead. We are visiting as soon as possible, just want to map out a night or two in more than one places. We want a good feel for all that Colorado has to offer. We don't want to just hit up the tourist towns. We want to visit where it is worth living at. We are leaning towards staying east of the rockies so we can travel to family in the winter months if needed.


So far we are hearing from family, friends and websites these places:


Fort Collins - refreshing college town
Loveland - similiar to fort collins. Anything Else?
Louisville - top place to live
Castle Rock - top place to live
La Junta - plains area
Brighton?
Lafayette?
Longmont?

DH and I live in Louisville, our daughter lives in Castle Rock. Both a little overhyped, but nice places to live. Louisville is Boulder Valley SD (Monarch HS), and there is a small hospital, Avista, here. I'm not sure about the HS in Castle Rock; there is no hospital, though one is planned. Lafayette is the town east of Louisville, also a nice place.

I am an RN. Nursing job availability depends on what kind of nursing job you're looking for. I think it's easier to find one in the hospital setting than public health, outpt., etc. I am constantly hearing about how difficult it is to get a teaching job.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Can you verify that there are more nursing jobs on the Eastern Plains? Seriously, a lot of people out there go to Denver if there's much of anything wrong with them.

No doubt, rural hospitals and medical are struggling in rural Colorado. Getting specialized care has always meant going to the Front Range. There are still some nursing openings in rural Colorado, but, unfortunately, pay scales are much less than on the Front Range. I know several rural Colorado hospitals that now use "circuit" nurses--those folks working all over the state.

Unlike most states, Colorado is producing more than enough nursing grads from its own schools to supply whatever demand there is. I know a number of people with active nursing licenses that work in other fields these days. All of that said, the job market for nurses in rural Colorado has held up better than most any other career field.

If there is one thing that people dreaming about living in some idyllic place in rural Colorado get into their heads, it is that job competition is fierce, the economy is rough (and likely to stay that way), living costs are generally very high compared to local incomes, and job security is often almost non-existent--no matter what the career field or job experience level.

[CosmicWizard]

jazzlover wrote: and job security is often almost non-existent--no matter what the career field or job experience level

I can vouch for that. Even though I worked in a thriving industry ( health insurance ) as a programmer-analyst with lots of experience, when the company restructured departments, my position was cut and I've been unemployed since the beginning of June. Job security is mostly just a myth these days.

[wanneroo]

Job security has always been a myth, it's just that when the economy is good and growing, it's far easier to get a new job or switch to another. Or likely a company will have a better chance of staying in business and hence keeping people employed.

What is going on right now is just like the Great Depression where the government constantly imposed new programs, taxes and regulations on business that swallowed up investment income and increased expenses on business. Everyone I talk to who owns a business is now constantly trying to keep up with all that and worried about what comes next. There are very few businesses I know of where the owners feel secure from month to month. Banks don't want to lend, people are scared of what comes next so they don't spend and they horde what they can. Money has stopped flowing through the economy and with good reason.

[:)>]

This is starting to get a little one sided. I just want to post again to let the OP that it's not all doom and gloom. I'm not sure exactly where the other folks are talking about but Denver and north, in the "I25 corridor," there are new business opening and new house construction is resuming all around us. Banks are being more careful with their screening but they are loaning and interest rates are at historic lows. Used home sales, even in the 1/2 million dollar range (a notoriously slow range) are solidly up. Car sales of new and used cars (and prices too) are very high.

It is not all doom and gloom. There are solid signs of recovery. Yes, many wish things would get better faster but they are getting better.