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Im a california native, looking to relocate. Ive narrowed my search down to UT, CO, and OR. I have visited both UT and OR and plan to visit CO soon. But I would love to get the prespective from the locals, which I think would tell me what I cant learn from a visit and a travel guide.
I want to be close enough to the city to get a job and have a short commute, but prefer to be outside the city in a suburb thats feels safe and has less traffic. Ive gotten sick of CA enternal summers, and would like to see some pretty fall colors, maybe a little rain and snow. Im not looking for north dakota drastic winters, but a change in seasons would be nice. Even though I love east coast style, Ive ruled out such places due to humidity or very cold winters. But my ideal charm is a cape code style. Even though I plan to rent for a year first to make sure its the right area for me, I would like to spend no more than $350K on 2 or 3 bedroom home. Thats something that is hard to find in CA or NY but seems doable in other states.
To help find the best place for me I will tell you a little bit about me. Im a vegetarian, loving volunteering with animals, 32 and single, italian, female. I have tattoos. I love hiking and camping (only when there is no mosquitoes .... I really hate them). My goal is to move to a place thats affordable enough and has a good enough job market to get a small house with a small yard and be able to get a dog (I only have a cat now due to apartment living). Im really friendly. Go to church.. non denominational. Im republican but not at all politically pushy. I have 15+ years experience working in sales, data entry, and customer service office jobs, and will just be looking for a basic office job. Jobs here pay $15 to $20 an hour but rent is also $1700 for a one bedroom. So Im hoping the cost of living will translate to be better outside CA. Its very hard to build a savings here even on $20/hr because its such an expensive place to live. It would be nice to afford a place without roommates in my 30s.
I drove through OR and it was pretty. Didnt like that I couldnt pump my own gas. Saw an overwhelming amount of homeless people in some parts. I really disliked portland. Lots of homeless and the people really freaked me out. Maybe Im just not used to the vibe but I felt like the most modest and professional looking person there. When in CA its usually the opposite. Usually Im the "tattooed one" in the office. But I fell in love with Lake Oswego, even though its out of my price range. I loved the small town feel when walking around on the cobblestone and past the store fronts. I also was fond of Tigard. I looked at some homes there that were in my price range. But I dont know much about the job market. I also would not be opposed to living closer to the CA border but Ive been told places like medford have high crime and drug issues. Not sure how true it is. I always live in a suburb in close commuting distance to a city so I dont usually deal with crime and drug issues.
When I flew to UT it was spring and there was snow on the ground. It was pretty and cold and I got lost driving around because there is a lot of open space and residential. There was a lot of druggies in salt lake but there is also a lot of Mormons so maybe that evens it out. I really loved Sandy. I went to the movie theater there and out to dinner and it seemed very suburban. I looked at an apartment in Sandy and it was very nice and affordable. Once again I dont know what the job market is like there. But the girls working at the apartment told me its not hard to find work. They were very laid back about what I would need to move in. They said they didnt need UT paystubs and would use old CA paystubs. The people seemed nice. The mall seemed decent. There was a 3 story forever 21 I did some shopping at.
Now I havent visited CO yet. Its a place Im very excited about but also imtimidated by. It would be awesome to explore denver and maybe work there but I dont think I would live there because of the traffic and I just prefer safe suburbs to urban. Also I believe CO has the most snow. Or at least snows for the most amount of time during the year. Now I hate being hot so it might be nice to have a cold winter, especially since you still get sunshine during snow season. But Im freaked out of the idea of driving in a huge amount of snow. Ive driven in snow before, but only small amounts. Also Im a huge outdoors person so Im excited for the opportunities CO can offer, but was also told anywhere with water and anywhere green during summer will get me attacked by mosquitoes. That might be a dealbreaker. I want to enjoy the outdoors and not be defending my blood everytime I go for a walk or hike or camp. Maybe you can tell me more on that. Im thinking something by lone tree as far as a suburb to rent in. I looked at the mall there and its stunning. What a great place to get a weekend job and make some extra cash. It looks like the bellevue mall in WA...lovely. Maybe Parker? My main concern is a small place to live in a safe area with a short commute to work.
I'd pass on Oregon if I were you. It isn't cheap, you don't like Portland (which is where the jobs are, mostly, even if you don't live there), you don't like seeing homeless people and you don't like not pumping your own gas.
I'd pass on Oregon if I were you. It isn't cheap, you don't like Portland (which is where the jobs are, mostly, even if you don't live there), you don't like seeing homeless people and you don't like not pumping your own gas.
Try Utah. It's tidier.
I heard Colorado has similar problems with the economy being in Denver and Denver having homeless and then like Portland, has a big pot culture. OP doesn't seem to be into that but I'm not sure.
I agree Utah sounds best. Or a conservative pot-free part of Colorado.
I would not call UT totally conservative since it elected a gay mayor. But it did look clean enough when I visited. There will be homeless in any big city just like if you came here to Los Angeles. CA is a wonderful place to live if you can afford to and if you like an enternal summer, but I would never want to live by skid row with homeless lined up along the streets in tents and crack dealers slanging at night. If you're a suburb girl like myself you simply avoid the bad areas, but that doesnt mean the whole state is a no go. Portland just had an overwhelming amount of homeless. More than I have ever seen. But maybe Bend would not be that way. Tigard was lovely. Im sure it has its good spots. In regards to the pot smoking, which is now also legal in CA and several other states, I dont smoke weed but Im not bothered by those who do. As long as Im safe or in an area that makes me feel safe and can afford a home and hold a job, Im happy. I dont really judge others as long as its not hurting my safety or affecting my job.
To help find the best place for me I will tell you a little bit about me. Im a vegetarian, loving volunteering with animals, 32 and single, italian, female. I have tattoos. I love hiking and camping (only when there is no mosquitoes .... I really hate them). My goal is to move to a place thats affordable enough and has a good enough job market to get a small house with a small yard and be able to get a dog (I only have a cat now due to apartment living). Im really friendly. Go to church.. non denominational. Im republican but not at all politically pushy. I have 15+ years experience working in sales, data entry, and customer service office jobs, and will just be looking for a basic office job. Jobs here pay $15 to $20 an hour but rent is also $1700 for a one bedroom. So Im hoping the cost of living will translate to be better outside CA. Its very hard to build a savings here even on $20/hr because its such an expensive place to live. It would be nice to afford a place without roommates in my 30s.
I heard Colorado has similar problems with the economy being in Denver and Denver having homeless and then like Portland, has a big pot culture. OP doesn't seem to be into that but I'm not sure.
I agree Utah sounds best. Or a conservative pot-free part of Colorado.
SLC also has a huge homeless population and some sketchy parks downtown. Once you get out of "downtown SLC", the rest of the valley (and state) is very conservative and very suburban.
If the OP likes suburban living with family values, she should be happy in Sandy.
Well Ive been looking at stats and colorado springs seems nice, low unemployment and affordable homes (affordable compared to CA- of course it all depends how much jobs pay over there). It says 10 degrees is the winter temp which is pretty dang cold. The coldest winter Ive had was in WA state when it snowed a little and that was a big adjustment. The funny thing is that even tho its about 10 degrees colder than say north salt lake, it actually has less snow. My big thing about co springs is all the military. Since my ex husband and my ex fiance were both military and we broke uo becsuse they both cheated... and my best friends husband is military and was cheating on her too. And my dad was military and cheated on my mom. All those long seperations the military causes. Its not healthy for relationships. I prefer to meet someone not in the military this time. Suburbs of denver seem to be less military based and slightly warmer. Should I not consider there?
I was looking at north salt lake because of the average age, other young people like myself. Unemployment was low and home cost was decent also. Just seems like a lot of snow to learn to drive. About twice the amount of CO springs. Even though its about 10 degrees warmer. Also it looks like earthquakes there were significantly higher- much higher chance of them happening. Being someone who was in a huge earthquake in CA that made my home crumble previously, I pay attention to the natural disasters. CO springs seemed safe on the natural disaster scale.
Hmm, not sure where your looking that says 10* is our average winter temp. Our weather here is very variable and we tend to be, on average, 10-20* warmer than Denver. Our temps this November have been hanging around in the 70s. That is unusually warm as we are typically in the 40-50*s. The variability of our weather means we can have a storm blow through and have a week of 10* days, but then the storm cell moves out and we are hanging out back in the 40-50*s. You are just as likely to wear flip flops and shorts in February as you are to wear snow boots and a ski jacket in March. BTW, March-May our our snowiest and rainiest months. Where the storms originate from really dictates how much snow we get. Pikes Peak has a huge influence on weather here. Most storms come from the northwest and our geography deflects them east of us and we get minimal snow in COS proper. However, we do get the occasional southwest storm coming up from Baja that stalls a low pressure cell over Albuquerque and then will dump loads of snow on us. These don't happen that often though.
COS does have a lot of military bases here. We can't discount that. Military here is a balance between Air Force and Army, which have distinctly different deployment rates. Military also do not constitute a majority of the population here despite how many bases there are. If you run the numbers on it, it could be argued that males in the military only make up 10% of the dating age bracket of the population in El Paso County. Interesting read on it here: //www.city-data.com/forum/color...es-single.html In any case,you are going to run into lying, egostical, cheating slime balls any place you live. It shouldn't be too hard to avoid, even with our military population.
Natural disaster wise, yes we do tend to be somewhat safer than other places. However, we do have our own issues you will want to look into before buying a house. Things like landslides, flash floods, and mine subsidence would be things to consider. However, like above, easy to avoid if you put in a little effort.
Is COS the end all be all for everyone, nope, far from it. But you may want to peel back some more layers on your analysis onion before you write it off.
I can't discount the I-15 corridor through Utah either. Provo, Orem, and Ogden all seem pretty nice on the visits I've made there. My sister lived in Park City for a while and I always enjoyed my visits there and into the metro area. I-15 through SLC is awesome compared to I-25 through COS. The spring bloom of biting black flies on the shores of the Great Salt Lake though is awful bad though. There will be periods you won't want to go out there.
Eastern Oregon may be more like Utah and Colorado that what you find from Portland to the coast. Pendleton, Hermiston, and the Tri-Cities in Washington or Walla Walla may be areas you want to look at as well.
Thanks TCHP for the info. I got my weather info from city data. It was saying 10 was the average low... but still pretty damn low! I lived in olympia wa and also dallas tx. Ive moved around and looked at different places, especially to see if I can convert from my ca weather. Dallas was beautiful as far as the city goes, nice affordable apartments, clean streets, well run businesses. But Im not a fan of 6 months of humidity, and ants so big they bite and leave welts. Insects and weather are huge to me. Because those 2 things limit my time outdoors. And being outside is everything to me. I love to hike and camp. Black biting flys sound like a dealerbreaker!!
Also when I was in WA it snowed a small amount and was 17 degrees. To me that was very cold, being from the land of 80 to 90 degrees. So Im not sure about those 10 degree days. I didnt see any homeless in dallas and the streets were clean, something I value and makes me feel safer. In WA there were homeless and people selling drugs on the city streets. Made me want to steer clear. What is the city like in colorado springs as far as safety and clean streets?? Is the area maintained? I know I could looks at some statistics but that doesnt always tell you the whole story. What would you say about the general job market? For anyone with decent experience looking for a basic office job. Would they get hired in a reasonable amount of time and be paid enough to support themself as a single person?? In Temecula CA you can apply for jobz until you wear you computer out and not get hired anywhere. Or get crazy job offers, like working minimum wage, from 1am to 5am. Awful!
COS does have a homeless population, as would any metro of half a million. How visible they are depends on where you live. Homeless people tend to congregate around sources of water. There are limited free flowing water sources on Cos, so they do seem more prominent in the downtown and west side areas. These areas also tend to be the more liberal areas in town that attract younger residents, so its kind of toss up of what you will tolerate. There also are some very nice, newer apartment and condo complexes in this area, but most places tend to be older and can range in age from the 1890s to now
The fastest growing areas tend to be north and east of the city. This means they also have the newest housing, shopping, etc. They also tend to be more expensive as a result and tend to get more weather than the more central areas of town. Just last night we had a light snow through the area. The school district in the northern part of the county had a delay today while all the others did not. This also demonstrates our weather variability. Wednesday we set a record high in the upper 70s. Thursday we have wind and snow flurries. You will need to be flexible in wardrobe, driving, and weather tolerance to live here. By mid-western standards, our winters are very mild. By CA standards, we will have periods of cold and intense cold. Our low humidity % means when it is cold, it is not the bone numbing cold that you will get at lower elevations, so its easy to bundle up against it.
Jobs, you will need to do some searching on the link I gave you. With your background I would think $10-15 an hour in achievable. We do have enough service, manufacturing, and technology here to have a need for skilled admin work. The link I gave you access to more of the smaller local companies than a site like Indeed or Monster. We still have some fairly large corporations that are tough to break into because of the electronic process, but smaller local companies will still give you some face to face time. A by product of the military infrastructure here is that we have a number of call centers and conferencing companies using telecommunications, so there are opportunities in that area as well.
Rents here are rising due to pressure form the Denver market. While not as expensive as Denver, we are increasing at greater percentages. However, purchasing homes is still a relative bargain compared to the Denver market.
Something that may or may not be a factor compared to Oregon is Colorado, as well as Utah, are more isolated. A day long drive from Denver/COS will put you in Salt Lake City, Kansas City, or Phoenix. In Salt Lake City you can reach Boise. By contrast, a day long drive in Oregon can put you in Seattle, Vancouver, northern CA, or Reno NV or any number of places along the coast. However, you can find plenty of things to do along CO's front range areas year round so you may not have the need to go someplace else for something interesting to do.
Other considerations here, it is dry. Very dry. Dryer than California dry. Great for your hair, not so great for your skin and sinuses. That also means if we don't get regular showers in the summer, things can dry out and turn brown. I bring this because there seems to be some sharp divisions on this from most CA transplants I meet. To some, we are just like CA, to others, we aren't as lush and green. Of course, to me, the green parts of CA are due to irrigation and if we used water here like some places in CA does, then we would be equally green. So your mileage may vary. The same will apply to eastern Oregon and most of Utah.
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