Is Colorado a good place to live? (Colorado Springs, Aurora: credit, job market)

[MF2x]

I am from Minnesota, and my family and I are seriously considering moving to another state. The primary reason we want to move is to find a job. I understand that the economy is bad just about wherever you go, but some areas are worse than others. We are interested in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee. I heard a lot of bad things about Florida. Arizona appears to have more crime, and I haven’t heard much about Kentucky or Tennessee either way. If anyone could offer their input on the above states, that would be helpful. However, I am most interested in Colorado, and according to CNN Money, in a study from November 2008; Colorado was ranked at #23 with a 5.8% unemployment rate, ahead of the other five states I listed. Not only that, but Fort Collins was ranked #1 in 2007 and #2 in 2008 on their list of the best places to live, though I’m looking at other areas besides Fort Collins. I can only assume that the job market has only gotten worse since then, but for those of you who live in Colorado, how well do you think the economy is doing? Do you think it would be a good place to move?

[CosmicWizard]

Cololrado would be a good place to live ( eventually ), but I wouldn't attempt a move right now. Be patient and let this economical s*itstorm blow over. Unless I had a cash reserve to hold me over for a year or two, I wouldn't attempt a relocation in an economy like this. Hunker down where you are, especially if you have a job there. Let me be clear that I'm not trying to kill your dream or steer you away from Colorado. Just saying that the timing ain't so great for undertaking a relocation.

[Jerry Bckr]

I've been out here for 35 years, and one of the first things I was told was that Colorado's economy ran counter to the rest of the country. When we were doing poorly, the rest of the country was doing better, and vise versa. In those 35 years, I've seen this happen. This was evident when we started having our foreclousre mess in 2003 wile the rest of the country was booming. Well, now we're coming out of it, while other parts of the country are still searching for their bottomes. So I'm not encouraging to rush out here, but by historical standards, we should have better job opportunities here before other parts of the country will.

[CosmicWizard]

Jerry Bckr wrote:

Well, now we're coming out of it, while other parts of the country are still searching for their bottomes.

That might be the case for the front range, but not so on the western slope.

[MF2x]

Well, if we do move, it probably won't be until early next year. By then, the economy should be a little better. But anyway, we're looking at Aurora, Greeley and Northglenn. Do you have any thoughts on these locations?

[Josseppie]

One word: YES! but not Colorado Springs. Just joking Springs residents its a great place....

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by MF2x

Well, if we do move, it probably won't be until early next year. By then, the economy should be a little better. But anyway, we're looking at Aurora, Greeley and Northglenn. Do you have any thoughts on these locations?

The economy will not improve by next year.

We'll most certainly be in much worse shape, as we print more money (inflation), debt increases exponentially, unemployment rises, and tax revenue drops while at the same time government spending increases.

Oh, and the continual collapse of the credit market. Forgot that.

Good luck

[80skeys]

Here on the Western slope they say the economy has slowed down. It seems to be evident as my wife is looking for a job and tells me there's not much going on in the newspapers.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by MF2x

Well, if we do move, it probably won't be until early next year. By then, the economy should be a little better. But anyway, we're looking at Aurora, Greeley and Northglenn. Do you have any thoughts on these locations?

I would come out and look at the metro area as a whole (Aurora, Northglenn), Northern Colorado as a whole (Greeley, Ft. Collins [which you mentioned in another post], and the western slope if you're interested in that area. In the metro area in particular, you may find one place that really clicks with you. Don't set your sights on any one particular town.

[CosmicWizard]

Katiana wrote:

I would come out and look at the metro area as a whole (Aurora, Northglenn), Northern Colorado as a whole (Greeley, Ft. Collins [which you mentioned in another post], and the western slope if you're interested in that area. In the metro area in particular, you may find one place that really clicks with you. Don't set your sights on any one particular town.

Words of wisdom indeed!

I know it's somewaht challenging, but keep your mind as open as possible. Based on the experience of my cross country move 3 years ago, some of the places that seemed so good from internet research, were disappointing in person. Vice versa too, some of the places that had little appeal via online research, were very impressive in person. Nothing beats spending time in a place to get a feel for it. Remeber that everything you read online and/or in a brochure is someone elses opinion, based on their own prejudices and preferences. Same thing holds trrue for personal messages. Be especially wary of information provided by long term residents, because they have a natural tendency to base their information on a comparison between NOW and the good old days. If they don't like the changes, their opinions are likely to be rather pessimistic ( some of the pessimism is a ploy to keep outsiders away from Colorado ). You'll be making your own comparisons between where you currently live, and your potential new location in Colorado. That's the only comparison that realy counts!