Moving from Raleigh, NC to Breckenridge or Vail (Denver, Boulder: housing, jobs)

[arrowjess]

I own a small software development company and I am considering moving it from Raleigh, NC to Breckenridge or Vail, Co.

I have 12 employees all under the age of 30 all single guys and all are very liberal. I will also need to hire as our company grows probably from outside SLC mainly from California and Seattle.

My main concern is small town life and girls. :-)
I am married but my 12 employees are going to want to date.

I will also need to hire employees and I am worried that they will not want to move to a small town.

So some of my questions are:
1. I know the guy to girl ratio is pretty high, but can anyone who lives here help me with a way to sell my employees that there are some girls there?
2. What is the town like during the off season, when are the tourists are gone. Is there any night life?
3. How much of a pain is it go to go Denver for shopping. Best Buy is a very important store to everyone within the company. It is a pain to have to go into Denver for a lot of shopping needs?
4. How much of a shock would it be to move from a relatively large town to a very small town such as Vail or Breckenridge?

Thank you so much for your help.

[Bradburn1]

Both Breck and Vail are beautiful, but have you considered the cost of housing? I imagine you must have, but just in case, the average price of a house in Breck is around 800K and Vail is probably more. This is a considerable problem for attracting and keeping employees--if they can't afford a place to live their quality of life will suffer.

Have you considered Boulder/Broomfield/Denver? Those locations offer much more in the way of housing and access to geek needs (Best Buy/Bookstores with good computer section, etc.). There is a strong techie culture in the Boulder/Broomfield area, and it would be much easier to hire down here. The ski areas are only 1 1/2 hours away if skiing/snowboarding is what's drawing you to the Colorado mountains.

[arrowjess]

We have considered the cost of living. It was a big concern as well. But, that shouldn't be an issue for the employees.

The main drawl is me and the other owner of the company want to be able to ski at anytime during the ski season. If we are going to live in the cold, we want to be in the resort. Boulder would be better suited but we want to be right in the resort.

[Katiana]

Being an old married lady I have no clue about the nightlife, dating life, etc in the mountains, but I do agree with bradburn1. Most of the action in CO is in the metro Denver area. It is 88 miles and 1 1/2 hrs drive time (per MapQuest) from Vail to Golden, the farthest west of the Denver suburbs. 72 miles, 1 hr 24 min from Breck to Golden. Worse in winter. Sometimes closed in winter. Why not just locate in Golden or perhaps Genessee? There is an office park in Genessee. My DH used to work there.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

Most of the action in CO is in the metro Denver area.

Depends on what kind of "action" you're referring to. I live in Silverthorne (a little north of Breck), but am too tired after skiing to reply tonight -- will post tomorrow.

[Katiana]

I was referring to jobs. Sorry I was not more specific.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by arrowjess

1. I know the guy to girl ratio is pretty high, but can anyone who lives here help me with a way to sell my employees that there are some girls there?

No way around it -- not many women here. I'm married, but my single friends (who live here full-time as well) are pretty desperate to find someone. For guys looking to find women, the best bet is to find someone before and move here with them. Now you may be able to find guys who are more interested in the skiing than in finding women, but be prepared to lose them on powder days. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people on the TGR forums jumping at the chance to be your employees at Vail/Breck -- but as long as you're okay with powder being your employees' main priority, you'll be fine. Also, remember that you'll have to pay your employees pretty well for them to be able to afford to live up here (unless they'll all be telecommuting).

2. What is the town like during the off season, when are the tourists are gone. Is there any night life?

It is definitely quieter, but yes there is nightlife and activity in the off season. Most of the resorts are marketing themselves as year-round destinations, so the off season isn't as "off" as before. Bars and restaurants are still packed on the weekends, although with a 30-minute wait instead of a 1-hour-and-30-minute wait. There are lots of concerts and movie festivals, and street fairs every week.

3. How much of a pain is it go to go Denver for shopping. Best Buy is a very important store to everyone within the company. It is a pain to have to go into Denver for a lot of shopping needs?

Depends on what kind of shopping. For general, everyday stuff, you can get almost all of it in the high country. But if you're looking for specialty stores (e.g. Best Buy), you'll have to go to Denver or order online. There is no Best Buy here -- the closest one is in Golden (off Denver West Blvd & I-70), about 70 miles from Breck and 87 miles from Vail. From either Breck or Vail, it's about 1.5 hours to the Denver area. It's a pretty easy drive. In bad weather however, I-70 is often closed at the Eisenhower Tunnel and at Vail Pass -- although, if it's snowing that hard, you would be on the mountain skiing instead of going to shop in Denver.

4. How much of a shock would it be to move from a relatively large town to a very small town such as Vail or Breckenridge?

It really depends on the person.

As others have mentioned, you could base your office in Denver/Golden. You'll have all the amenities (girls for the guys, Best Buy, etc.). But then you'll have to make that 1-1.5-hour trek with thousands of other Front Rangers every weekend. And you won't be able to enjoy those mid-week powder days on empty mountains (even for just a few hours in the morning), or a few lunch runs. But if your employees aren't into skiing (and the cold weather), they may get bored living in the mountains after a while (especially with the lack of females), and decide to move.

[Katiana]

I would add, if you want to do mid-week skiing, as the owner of the company, I guess you could do that if you lived in Golden as well.

[arrowjess]

Thank you for all of your posts, especially Fuzz. This has been very helpful.

[dj32]

Arrowjess- i sent you a PM