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So here I am, a single Caucasian male attorney under 45 in Florida looking to get out of law and of Florida within the next month. I am looking towards either towards:
Orange County/San Bernardino/Inland Empire (Fullerton specifically which seems to have a Metro towards LA and is centrally located within OC really close to San Bernardino and IE)
OR
Denver (within 25 miles of the center, Arvarda, Littleton, Aurora perhaps)
I've listed the pros and cons as I see it for both Denver and OC.
PROS - OC
Many amenities
Conventions and festivals galore
Networking events
Disney and other parks within driving distance
Mountains within a further driving distance
Beaches
Venice Beach
Single women (unverified)
LA and nightlife in driving distance
Metro Line by Fullerton
Many educational programs
Great weather with no humidity
420
Progressive politics
Job opportunities
Diversity
Latin culture not in your face as in Florida
Cheap and good food
Inn & Out animal style burgers
CONS - OC
Bad traffic
Expensive gas
Expensive real estate/rentals
Conservative voters
Extreme parking enforcement
Car culture
PROS - Denver
Cooler weather than Florida
Snow after so many years
420
Not a lot of traffic
Less expensive real estate/rentals
New projects at DIA and Downtown bringing economic opportunity
Great city for introverts
Gas is cheap
Souper Salad and a few other interesting food choices
Good downtown public transportation
CONS - Denver
Blizzards can be terrible to drive in
Small city means less amenities
Not many festivals and events as in larger states
Too much sports culture as I'm not a football fan
Less cultural and ethnic diversity
Less geographic diversity
Car culture
It might seem like OC has more positive qualities but that's cause it's just larger and less concentrated than the Denver area. I really don't have a preference and that is why I can't decide. Both urban areas offer exciting & welcome options that are sorely lacking in Florida.
I am also looking for work in either Denver or OC in a law office as a legal assistant towards a contract negotiator track, in a hotel front desk towards management track, in human resources or as a bank compliance officer.
Two completely different places in my opinion with two different personality traits involved generally speaking. Do you like a more laidback, natural, less congested and friendly environment (Denver) or do you tend more toward the opposite (Orange County)? Sounds cut and dried but in actuality it really is that simple.
Two completely different places in my opinion with two different personality traits involved generally speaking. Do you like a more laidback, natural, less congested and friendly environment (Denver) or do you tend more toward the opposite (Orange County)? Sounds cut and dried but in actuality it really is that simple.
Kyle, have you ever even lived or spent a considerable amount of time in Orange County?
Although congested, Orange County is a pretty laid-back, friendly place compared to many upscale suburban areas in the U.S. It's also a very naturally and aesthetically beautiful place with some of the best weather on the North American continent.
Snow in Denver is fair game from October to May. It doesn't know snow in Orange County. In fact, the mercury rarely dips below freezing in most of the county, both by the coast and further inland.
Denver is the most isolated major city in the U.S. OTOH, Orange County has L.A. to the north and S.D. to the south and is located in a state with nearly 40 million residents, making "isolated" the last word I would use to describe O.C. FWIW, there are still more people who live in California than all of the other Western states combined--must be something in the water.
Oh, yeah, can't forget--opposite Orange County's mountains is the Pacific Ocean whereas opposite Denver's mountains is flat, barred, scorched prairie and miles upon miles of nothingness. Yeah, I'm all set.
So here I am, a single Caucasian male attorney under 45 in Florida looking to get out of law and of Florida within the next month. I am looking towards either towards:
Orange County/San Bernardino/Inland Empire (Fullerton specifically which seems to have a Metro towards LA and is centrally located within OC really close to San Bernardino and IE)
OR
Denver (within 25 miles of the center, Arvarda, Littleton, Aurora perhaps)
I've listed the pros and cons as I see it for both Denver and OC.
PROS - OC
Many amenities
Conventions and festivals galore
Networking events
Disney and other parks within driving distance
Mountains within a further driving distance
Beaches
Venice Beach
Single women (unverified)
LA and nightlife in driving distance
Metro Line by Fullerton
Many educational programs
Great weather with no humidity
420
Progressive politics
Job opportunities
Diversity
Latin culture not in your face as in Florida
Cheap and good food
Inn & Out animal style burgers
CONS - OC
Bad traffic
Expensive gas
Expensive real estate/rentals
Conservative voters
Extreme parking enforcement
Car culture
PROS - Denver
Cooler weather than Florida
Snow after so many years
420
Not a lot of traffic
Less expensive real estate/rentals
New projects at DIA and Downtown bringing economic opportunity
Great city for introverts
Gas is cheap
Souper Salad and a few other interesting food choices
Good downtown public transportation
CONS - Denver
Blizzards can be terrible to drive in
Small city means less amenities
Not many festivals and events as in larger states
Too much sports culture as I'm not a football fan
Less cultural and ethnic diversity
Less geographic diversity
Car culture
It might seem like OC has more positive qualities but that's cause it's just larger and less concentrated than the Denver area. I really don't have a preference and that is why I can't decide. Both urban areas offer exciting & welcome options that are sorely lacking in Florida.
I am also looking for work in either Denver or OC in a law office as a legal assistant towards a contract negotiator track, in a hotel front desk towards management track, in human resources or as a bank compliance officer.
Thanks for your responses!
So a con of OC is conservative voting? You do realize that a good chunk of LA is pretty liberal, right? Some of the other areas are not so conservative... and then you still would get all of your pros.
I do understand why you want the IE. Cheaper but some of the places in the Inland Empire are not so safe, so I'd look into them. Also more conservative in general. Maybe closer to LA would suit you more than those three, as LA has a vast amount of different places for different people.
So here I am, a single Caucasian male attorney under 45 in Florida looking to get out of law and of Florida within the next month. I am looking towards either towards:
Orange County/San Bernardino/Inland Empire (Fullerton specifically which seems to have a Metro towards LA and is centrally located within OC really close to San Bernardino and IE)
OR
Denver (within 25 miles of the center, Arvarda, Littleton, Aurora perhaps)
I've listed the pros and cons as I see it for both Denver and OC.
PROS - OC
Many amenities
Conventions and festivals galore
Networking events
Disney and other parks within driving distance
Mountains within a further driving distance
Beaches
Venice Beach
Single women (unverified)
LA and nightlife in driving distance
Metro Line by Fullerton
Many educational programs
Great weather with no humidity
420
Progressive politics
Job opportunities
Diversity
Latin culture not in your face as in Florida
Cheap and good food
Inn & Out animal style burgers
CONS - OC
Bad traffic
Expensive gas
Expensive real estate/rentals
Conservative voters
Extreme parking enforcement
Car culture
PROS - Denver
Cooler weather than Florida
Snow after so many years
420
Not a lot of traffic
Less expensive real estate/rentals
New projects at DIA and Downtown bringing economic opportunity
Great city for introverts
Gas is cheap
Souper Salad and a few other interesting food choices
Good downtown public transportation
CONS - Denver
Blizzards can be terrible to drive in
Small city means less amenities
Not many festivals and events as in larger states
Too much sports culture as I'm not a football fan
Less cultural and ethnic diversity
Less geographic diversity
Car culture
It might seem like OC has more positive qualities but that's cause it's just larger and less concentrated than the Denver area. I really don't have a preference and that is why I can't decide. Both urban areas offer exciting & welcome options that are sorely lacking in Florida.
I am also looking for work in either Denver or OC in a law office as a legal assistant towards a contract negotiator track, in a hotel front desk towards management track, in human resources or as a bank compliance officer.
Thanks for your responses!
OK, as someone who moved from central Orange County to central Denver 9 years ago, I'll give you my 2 cents
Culturally speaking, I don't see much difference. Both are laid back, large Hispanic (primarily Mexican) populations, Denver has fewer Asians, Denver has more Black people. Accent is the same. Both places are great if you like being outdoors, both have low humidity and summer in Denver is very similar to summer in Fullerton (few bugs, not sticky humid, cool nights, but hot enough during the day for hitting the pool). Denver is definitely the more liberal place and obviously 420 friendly I wouldn't say OC is "progressive" at all. It's one of the most conservative places in California, if that's important to you.
While in Fullerton, you have more cultural ammenities available in the overall metro area, in Denver, you'll have easier access to the cultural ammenities. Meaning, it's not a 90 min. drive in crawling traffic to get to the symphony or a museum. BUT, Denver traffic certainly can and does suck. It's not like you can speed around the metro area at the posted speed limits all the time. My 17 mi. commute to work takes 45 min. on a good day, and Friday afternoons is about an hour and 10 to get home, in good weather.
Blizzards? I've experienced one in my 9 years here. It doesn't snow and blizzard half the year in Denver. Winter is actually quite dry in Denver and snows tend to be in the dusting to 4" category, and melt within a few days. Having a foot or more snow on the ground in Denver is not common.
I think Denver has plenty of festivals. The only one I ever attend is the Puerto Rican festival, because it's near my house. There's a huge gay Pridefest every June, Taste of Colorado, 420 smokeout, Oktoberfest, and I don't know what else. There didn't seem to be much in the way of festivals in OC, from what I recall.
Sports culture... yeah, that's Denver. I'm not into sports, so I ignore it. But I wouldn't call Denver a "small city". To me, Colorado Springs is a small city. Denver metro area is at or near 3 million people.
OC's main plus, to me, is the weather in winter. I just don't like cold weather at all. Otherwise, Denver has everything I had in OC. I'd like to move back to California someday, but would prefer living in L.A. or San Diego over OC. OC just feels like you're buried in the 'burbs, too far away from the things you really want to do (like decent nightlife). Denver has decent nightlife that's much easier to get at. Also great skiing an hour away, if that's your thing. The mountains look similar in both places, althought Denver's are snow-capped half the year.
Glad to see a few replies. I see the poll results thus far are 8-4 in favor of Denver. I am still though quite befuddled as to where to go. So many reasons to go to either location, and so many reasons not to. For example, I like mild weather in OC but in Denver I welcome the snow and cold weather after so many years in muggy miserable FL.
Looks like Denver is likely at this point due to the high housing costs, but Southern CA has more jobs. I am looking to go for a couple of months to either Denver or Fullerton and just see if I can make it.
Glad to see a few replies. I see the poll results thus far are 8-4 in favor of Denver. I am still though quite befuddled as to where to go. So many reasons to go to either location, and so many reasons not to. For example, I like mild weather in OC but in Denver I welcome the snow and cold weather after so many years in muggy miserable FL.
Looks like Denver is likely at this point due to the high housing costs, but Southern CA has more jobs. I am looking to go for a couple of months to either Denver or Fullerton and just see if I can make it.
The weather in OC will still be a HUGE improvement over FL since it's rarely hot (rarely gets over 90) and isn't humid.
I think jobs depends on what field you're in. I'm pretty sure unemployment is lower in Denver than OC right now.
Glad to see a few replies. I see the poll results thus far are 8-4 in favor of Denver. I am still though quite befuddled as to where to go. So many reasons to go to either location, and so many reasons not to. For example, I like mild weather in OC but in Denver I welcome the snow and cold weather after so many years in muggy miserable FL.
Looks like Denver is likely at this point due to the high housing costs, but Southern CA has more jobs. I am looking to go for a couple of months to either Denver or Fullerton and just see if I can make it.
Orange County has a much more robust, diversified economy than Denver. There are more corporate HQ's and regional offices in OC, so more opportunities for corporate growth.
And if you to move to OC, you can really do much better than Fullerton.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovinDecatur
Denver for sure. Move somewhere with some soul.
LOL, I lived in Georgia for six months and detested it--pervasive ghetto mentality/culture (e.g., Ebonics abound, even in business settings), absolutely horrible weather (i.e., ice storms, tornadoes, oppressive humidity, occasional snow, etc.), unhealthy populace (e.g., lots of overweight/obese people, smokers abound, fast-food culture, no seemed to really care about fitness and organic/healthy eating/living, etc.), and so forth.
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I wouldn't say OC is "progressive" at all. It's one of the most conservative places in California, if that's important to you. 
