Relocating a family to Denver - ASAP

[jiannarene]

Whoops. That's what I meant. Sorry. Our original thought had been to move the entire family to Colorado all at once and live in a motel until we found work and a place to live but that obviously won't work with my son needing to go to school.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Is there any way either you or your husband can move out to Denver alone (whoever you think will have an easier chance getting a job), get established, and then bring the rest of the family along?

If I had five mouths to feed, and had to move somewhere, where I had the best chances of getting a decent job as fast as possible-- I wouldn't choose Denver. I'd choose a place like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City-- big cities with growing economies (at least right up until last year), low cost of living, and relatively low unemployment rates for cities of that size. Maybe even the Washington DC area-- although very high cost of living there. Compared to those places, Denver is more of a "boutique," "luxury" city, with a perpetual oversupply of overeducated labor pool, all fighting for the same limited number of job openings.

From personal experience, I would not do the bold thing above, at least if you haven't done it before -- you really find out how much you love your spouse/family in situations like that, and it led me to be a pretty unhappy David for about a month. I have now sworn off doing anything of the like ever again.

I totally, 100% agree with the second paragraph. Jobs, housing, and cost-of-living are things that really need to be looked at hard when starting out/over.

[GlassPipe]

Are jobs there really that scarce? That's surprising given the number of job postings on craigslist alone. We're considering Denver as well, I'll have unemployment up until next summer, but I'd prefer to be able to have a job. We're thinking of doing the sight-unseen crazy move too. We've got a friend in Loveland who'll check out houses for us before we make some appointments to see them, but we'd only stay with her for a day or two until we chose a place that would take us.

[vegaspilgrim]

There are job postings-- and probably a heck of a lot more than many other states, especially places like Michigan and Nevada. However, there's still an absolutely enormous amount of people applying to each and every job opening. As they say, YMMV, but in my experience employers then will choose to interview way too many people and end up forgetting who most of the candidates were by the time all the rounds are done. They'll interview 15 people for one position, then a week later post another ad, and interview 20 more. It's like you have to be an absolute perfect candidate-- neither a bit underqualified nor "overqualified"-- which can hurt your chances of getting the job just as bad as not being experienced/educated enough. Of course, it's probably like this everywhere right now, not just Denver.

[formercalifornian]

I think job availability really depends on the type of work you are seeking. Some sectors are hiring, while others are stagnant.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Katiana

You do not have to establish any kind of "residency" to attend K-12 schools in CO, other than to have a residence in the state. You will need to present a lease, a utility bill, or something of the kind to show you live where you say you do. There is no requirement to have lived in CO for a certain length of time to attend the K-12 schools.

I was surprised to have to show a lease or deed for our house when registering for school. A utility bill wasn't enough. That's Douglas County. Not sure about anyplace else.

[BabyBoomers2]

When we moved to the Denver area in 2002, we had no jobs lined up or place to live.........BUT, it was just wife and I! We had some money saved up and good credit. Stayed three weeks at a nice Holiday Inn that was in Englewood and was fairly cheap each week. Due to our credit/financial status and wife's small business, we had no problem getting an apartment. Wife got a good job first, in Accounting, after only being there for 1 month.......but that was in summer of 2002, not now!
Yes, California (Southern) is expensive, we met and lived there for some years. But, the Denver area isn't as cheap as some folks think it is. If people have the income, Denver metro can be very affordable.......we had the income back then!
You folks do what you think is right, but with three small kids and moving to a new area.......just please be careful where you live! And, the job situation there is NOT that great at all! The Colorado Governor just signed a Bill to extend unemployment benefits........unemployment rate is that bad!
Oh, one other thing.......remember, Denver metro does/can start getting rather cold and snowy by the end of October! If you haven't lived in that "winter weather" before, get ready to! It's not real bad, but is bad enough sometimes!!
Good Luck!!