Best City in CO for Entry Level Jobs? (Denver, Colorado Springs: employment, college)

[orangerobot]

To Bluescreen73:

No worries. =)

So in Fort Collins jobs might get pretty rough for us considering all the college students. Good to know, maybe we'll go ahead and try out Denver. What about the nicer areas there?


To Jazzlover:

Do you believe we should be looking at a different state? We cannot stay with parents or anyone else we know, so getting out on our own is really the only option for us. Do you have any other ideas of what we might do different from are plans now? Thanks for the advice.

[orangerobot]

Update!

We are focusing on Longmont and Loveland now. Any good info for people in our situation regarding those two? Would also still like to know any ideal areas for us in the Denver area. We're really thankful for the help!

[bproven]

Originally Posted by orangerobot

Update!

We are focusing on Longmont and Loveland now. Any good info for people in our situation regarding those two? Would also still like to know any ideal areas for us in the Denver area. We're really thankful for the help!

If you are looking at Loveland, then you should limit your job search to no further south than Longmont. You do NOT want to be commuting to Denver from Loveland. That would be daily PITA. If you are looking at Longmont than you MIGHT be able to swing N. Denver (and Boulder) job markets and maybe Loveland (not FC). Loveland/FC are pretty much the same job market.

I don't think things are that bad, but do heed jazz's advice it could get worse (and probably will). Of course I don't think you will be sheltered from our current economic issues any place in the US. The big industries that are prime to fall IMO would be anything related to tourism, construction - IT is big here, and it might do OK. Unfortunately, you are looking for a job at a bad time - bad timing indeed (pun intended). I won't discourage you, but you may want to live very cheap at the start (rent for sure) and be liquid in case you need to move for some reason.

Your best bet would be to find a job before you get here - hopefully that is an option.

EDIT: BTW I didn't mean to suggest looking for a job now is your fault (at all). It is just unfortunate that you have to now. Whatever your decision, I hope it works out for you and best of luck. If you make it to CO, let me be the first to welcome you

[jazzlover]

oranegrobot,

I don't know where you live now, but it can be very difficult relocating to someplace where you have no family, no friends, no work connections--and then trying to find a job there. If you already have a job in hand, that's another matter--but, if not, it's usually very, very rough.

There is no real good place to be right now if you're young, inexperienced, and just entering the workforce. I don't say that to be derogatory--it's just the facts of life these days. I lived it over three decades ago, graduating from college in the middle of the worst recession the country had seen in a couple of decades. It wasn't fun.

The list of places I would avoid: Arizona, Nevada, and much of California. Nevada and Arizona, especially, bought big time into the "bubble"--and both are overreliant on construction and recreation to shore up their economy. I'm not much on California, but even with all the bad that may be said about it, at least California still has a very large and diversified economy with some industry. But it also has millions of people now competing for a shrinking economic pie. At the other end of the country, I put Florida in the same class as Nevada and Arizona--overbuilt and overreliant on construction, tourism and retirees.

I think we will see that some of the Midwestern cities--especially the smaller cities--may be the most stable during the period ahead. They did not go crazy with the bubble the way the "sandbox" states did (and I include Colorado at least partly on that list of states that went crazy with speculation); and much of the Midwest tends to have more diversified economies that include some industry. The exception to the Midwest being good are the industrial Midwest cities reliant on the auto and RV industry. They're up that certain creek without a paddle and will stay there.

All of that said, if you can possibly stay where you have family, friends, and a local "network"--and get a job there (and those very family, friends, and people with whom to network are often one's biggest help in finding a job),then, by all means, do that. It's not very fun, glamorous, or "adventuresome," but just surviving this economic environment will probably be as much or more "adventure" than most folks will be able to handle.

[orangerobot]

Thanks for the advice. =)

It is unfortunate but hopefully we'll learn something out of it and come out stronger in the end.

Needless to say, we'll be living as cheap as possible!

[vegaspilgrim]

Orangerobot, where do you live now? And why Colorado? Have you actually ever been to Colorado before? Where and when?

[orangerobot]

To Jazzlover:

While it would be nice to stay with my Husbands family members, it really isn't an option. They can't afford us to live with them and we get laid off for not being members of the church here. If I had anyone to network with I would definitely stay. The problem is that I'm in a town where everyone is a certain religion that my Husband and I are not and there is no tolerance for outsiders. I simply can't make friends here because of that.

As far as my parents go, they have a lot of rules we don't want to go by if we lived with them. They are not simple rules for roommates, but rules that would control where we work, how long we work, what we are to do in life and in the future.

We know it will be difficult, but it seems like the only option for us is to move and be on our own, unless we want my parents to control our lives or to pretend we're part of a religion we don't believe in.

I'm not trying to say your not right, because you are. We just have a very tough situation. :P

We were actually thinking about California or Arizona until we found out how nasty it is in those areas right now!

But anyway, hopefully we can pull through like you did when you went through a recession. =)

[orangerobot]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Orangerobot, where do you live now? And why Colorado? Have you actually ever been to Colorado before? Where and when?

I live in Rexburg, Idaho. Colorado because it has the lowest unemployment rate we've seen so far and since the weather is similar to where we live now, we know we'll enjoy it. We also love the Rockies. I've only been in the Denver airport which was a year ago and I once went somewhere there when I was a child. I have no clue where...

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by orangerobot

I live in Rexburg, Idaho. Colorado because it has the lowest unemployment rate we've seen so far and since the weather is similar to where we live now, we know we'll enjoy it. We also love the Rockies. I've only been in the Denver airport which was a year ago and I once went somewhere there when I was a child. I have no clue where...

Rexburg eh? Never been to Idaho but since ya mentioned church and Rexburg, it's a safe bet it's the Mormon Church, but that's neither here nor now.

If you're looking for an area with low unemployment and a low cost of living, you might be better suited checking out Texas. The Texas economy was adding jobs up until November of 2008 (long after the rest of the country started shedding jobs) and housing here is dirt cheap compared to Colorado.

The downside is that it's definitely warm here in the summer and the scenery doesn't even come close to matching Colorado.

[orangerobot]

No Mormons? No problem! (They are very kind people, I'll give them that.)

I lived in Houston, Texas almost my whole life. Being an outdoorsy girl, the weather depressed me to the point I would cry when the summer months rolled around.

Pretty over dramatic, but now all I have is a lot of bad memories. Except Austin. Love the hill country!