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Where there is a will, there's a way. My fiance and I moved out here from Michigan in July of 2007. I had a job already, he did not. I should add I got a teaching job in Douglas County -- with a MI address and a pending CO teaching license. Hired over the phone.
This was 2.5 years ago. A lot - and I mean a lot - has changed with the economy since then.
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We took a risk because we knew eventually, after lots of hard work and struggling, it would work out.
This is not accurate nor responsible advice to someone expecting to move here and get the job they want in a reasonable amount of time.
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If you want it bad enough, it can be done.
This is true as long as you're willing to work in a capacity you may not be wanting to do. Like take a job that's not the kind of job you want.
If I read correctly, it's not either/or- that the OP must move to Colorado immediately or forever hold her peace. If so, then there is time to wait for different conditions, or to move at a more established time, etc. It doesn't mean giving up on the whole idea. But bulling one's way through, because enough grit, etc., will work... I lived that way until my 30s. And was dead wrong more than once. I banged my head on some pretty hard walls of place and job and relocation, and it did cost me in many ways, plus, it was just me who to pay the freight.
I'm sure there are more than a few job hunters who are determined to make it work (whatever "it" is). But the numbers don't lie. All the determination in the world can't get that blood from a stone. As jazz said, water, pier, jump, etc.
Hi. I'm a stay-at-home mom of 3 young children. I've lost too many close family members within the last 5 years. I need a change of scenery desperately so that I can move on, memories lurk everywhere for me right now. I want to go to Colorado for several reasons. I have family scattered all over the state: Fort Collins, Loveland, Craig, Akron, Evergreen. I used to live there as a little girl when my father was with the Army and he worked at Fitzsimmons. I love Colorado, I've wanted to return since we moved away in 1988. I visit at least once/year.
My husband is currently in the interview process for a position in Golden. However, knowing the current market, I need a plan B. If he doesn't get a job, should I move ahead of him and rent someplace in the Denver metro area so that we have a Colorado address? Any suggestions by anyone? Has anyone else relocated by pure force of will before? Thank you for your time.
Honestly, if you want to relocate here by sheer will if necessary, you will probably be disappointed when you get here. It won't be as good as you thought it would be. I would not move ahead of your husband; if you have to sign a year's lease and he doesn't find anything, you will be apart for a long time.
My DH and I came out here on our honeymoon trip, and found jobs. However, the economy wasn't in the tank in 1980 like it is now.
Updates from the OP here! What timing everyone I just returned from a week long trip in CO visiting with family and exploring Broomfield, Westminster, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Littleton, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Applewood, Parker, and Castle Rock. Whew! Before I left for the trip, the plan was to explore in March, go back and find a rental home in May, move in June and anticipate a separation from my husband for a maximum 3 month period while he held his job in AZ. And, if the 3 months were not enough to get a CO job, he would quit his AZ job and make finding a job in CO full time.
Well...I still want to move to CO. My favorite locations in order were Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Littleton, maybe Broomfield or Westminster. However, as May/June approaches, it is becoming increasingly difficult to possibly walk away from a solid job with good benefits to who knows what. So, I know where I want to live. But, I think we'll move slower. My husband has been applying to jobs since August 2009. He averages 2 resume's out per day. We're networking as much as we can and will continue all of this hard work. I figure, if someone hires us from out of state, then it was meant to be. I'm too nervous to force the issue. I know I WILL move to Colorado someday. Hopefully soon I am a former Army Brat, so I know my kids will survive moving schools if it comes to that. I have already starting packing unnecessary decorative items and we're planning on prepping our house to rent out when the time comes. Thank you for everyone's input, I truly appreciate all of your time and consideration into this topic.
I'm too nervous to force the issue. I know I WILL move to Colorado someday. Hopefully soon
Good strategy! In my own experience, things always happen sooner, and flow more smoothly when I get out of the way and stop forcing the issue. The great psychologist Barry Stevens once wrote a book titled, You Can't Push the River...It Flows by Itself!
Take whatever small steps you can take right now to occupy your mind and get yourselves ready for the move...that will probably happen sooner than you anticipate. There is a popular saying.....When the student is ready the teacher appears. Here's a new and improved version of that ancient saying....When the movers are ready, the opportunity to move appears.
Yeah! So happy to find a recent thread that includes discussion on the current economy, job market etc!! It seems that everything I read on this site is at least a couple of years old.
My husband and I want to move to Colorado within the next year or two, for several reasons, primarily a better life for our kids. We are currently in So. Cal and this state is going to hell quickly. We are considering the Evergreen and Ken Caryl Ranch/Valley areas. Will be visiting again second week in April to see other areas we've not looked at in the past. Schools are our top priority, as well as a smaller town environment, with a real sense of community and neighborliness. Any words of advice about those issues? My husbands company will be opening an office in Denver soon and if he is lucky enough to get a transfer he can work from home so commute is not too big an issue. Kids are 1 and 5, and we are an active family. We'd like to rent for the first year to make sure we've chosen the best area for us. Totally understand the comments about different categories of movers, and that eventually the excitement of a new place turns to normal and not so exciting, we are ok with that!
Yeah! So happy to find a recent thread that includes discussion on the current economy, job market etc!! It seems that everything I read on this site is at least a couple of years old.
My husband and I want to move to Colorado within the next year or two, for several reasons, primarily a better life for our kids. We are currently in So. Cal and this state is going to hell quickly. We are considering the Evergreen and Ken Caryl Ranch/Valley areas. Will be visiting again second week in April to see other areas we've not looked at in the past. Schools are our top priority, as well as a smaller town environment, with a real sense of community and neighborliness. Any words of advice about those issues? My husbands company will be opening an office in Denver soon and if he is lucky enough to get a transfer he can work from home so commute is not too big an issue. Kids are 1 and 5, and we are an active family. We'd like to rent for the first year to make sure we've chosen the best area for us. Totally understand the comments about different categories of movers, and that eventually the excitement of a new place turns to normal and not so exciting, we are ok with that!
Any insight would be great.
Thank you!
I just laugh when I read another post about someone who just has to get out of California because it's so bad, and then figures Colorado is going to be nirvana. How long is going to take for the reality to sink in that Colorado is plunging headlong toward being another California, with the same problems, the same undesirable characteristics, and the same bad ending? Colorado is busy making the same huge mistakes--every single one of them--that California has made. People who think they will escape those problems here are epitome of the axiom, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
The days are over when people are going to have the economic means to move someplace, live there a few years (until it is trashed) and then move to the next "best place." If you're going to relocate out of some hellhole, then have the guts to "break the mold" and move somewhere that has some chance of maintaining some quality of life for the rest of your life--because, chances are, most people's next move may be their last for a long time. Unless Colorado does a complete reversal of its many failed policies and decisions--and very soon--it will not be a place that can maintain any decent quality of life for most of its residents for very long. It will just be another California--without an ocean.
I just laugh when I read another post about someone who just has to get out of California because it's so bad, and then figures Colorado is going to be nirvana. How long is going to take for the reality to sink in that Colorado is plunging headlong toward being another California, with the same problems, the same undesirable characteristics, and the same bad ending?
May or may not be true. (I personally am not the doomsdayer you are.) However, I think one reason people want to move is to get away from all the people in California. Colorado has a much smaller population. More breathing room.
I just laugh when I read another post about someone who just has to get out of California because it's so bad, and then figures Colorado is going to be nirvana. How long is going to take for the reality to sink in that Colorado is plunging headlong toward being another California, with the same problems, the same undesirable characteristics, and the same bad ending? Colorado is busy making the same huge mistakes--every single one of them--that California has made. People who think they will escape those problems here are epitome of the axiom, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
The days are over when people are going to have the economic means to move someplace, live there a few years (until it is trashed) and then move to the next "best place." If you're going to relocate out of some hellhole, then have the guts to "break the mold" and move somewhere that has some chance of maintaining some quality of life for the rest of your life--because, chances are, most people's next move may be their last for a long time. Unless Colorado does a complete reversal of its many failed policies and decisions--and very soon--it will not be a place that can maintain any decent quality of life for most of its residents for very long. It will just be another California--without an ocean.
Well that is why I have resentment towards citizens of California and New Jersey in general(not on a personal level). They have wrecked their own states with high taxes, tons of bureaucracy and public sector binging, corruption and stupid laws and then now after creating a dump, they want to move to your backyard and wreck your state.
I've seen the transformation in my lifetime of Californians coming into Colorado and making a mess of everything. I can see the state on a downward decline and it was a part of my decision to leave permanently despite my multi generational family ties and it being a "home" state as well as PA. It is very sad to me to see all this happen.
^^^I do not agree with blaming all negative change on the Californians. Culture is constantly changing. Period.
To help the poster who is plannng a job-related relocation, I would say this:
You may get your small town environment in Evergreen, I don't know about Ken Caryl ranch. Some "small town environments" (though they are all pretty much suburbia) in the general metro area are parts of Littleton, Englewood, Arvada, Golden, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Superior, and Niwot. I have probably left some out. Broomfield isn't set up like a small town, but has a good sense of community.
Don't worry too much about the schools; they are generally good in the metro area.
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I just returned from a week long trip in CO visiting with family and exploring Broomfield, Westminster, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Littleton, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Applewood, Parker, and Castle Rock. Whew! Before I left for the trip, the plan was to explore in March, go back and find a rental home in May, move in June and anticipate a separation from my husband for a maximum 3 month period while he held his job in AZ. And, if the 3 months were not enough to get a CO job, he would quit his AZ job and make finding a job in CO full time. 
