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I currently live in Edwards- about 25 minutes from Vail. I relocated from another state about a year ago and this is just not the area for me. I moved here for a job. This time, I'm thinking I need to find some areas I want to live in first, and then look around for jobs in those specific areas. I'm looking at moving to Denver. I've always lived near a city before this and I miss it a lot- where I live now is WAY too small. I have no idea where to start looking though. So...
1. I'm a special education teacher. I have two years experience (so I'm not that expensive to hire) and a pretty good resume and excellent references. From what I've heard, it won't be *that* difficult for me to find a job in Denver- but the school systems are so big I'm not even sure where to start applying, or if there are any schools to stay away from, etc.
2. I want to be very close to some good nightlife. I'm in my early 20's and love to go out. I'm looking for somewhere that would be good to meet other social people my age. I enjoy spending time with my coworkers now, but most of them are a lot older than me, so I'm looking for somewhere where I could meet other young professionals my age that are still in to the nightlife scene. Vail has a few fun places, but even with it being 25 minutes away and no affordable taxi service or anything...it's really inconvenient. The "young professional" age group around here is also close to non-existent, at least from what I've found...and I've heard that Denver is supposedly one of the best cities for young professionals.
3. I will admit although I do love the gym and fitness, I am NOT an outdoorsy person. That's another big reason I don't like it up here in the mountains. I knew coming here that people would be interested in skiing, snowboarding, hiking, etc. but I did not realize it was a life-consuming obsession for every single person. I enjoy skiing occasionally for something different to do, but I feel like I have to apologize for not loving the outdoorsy stuff as much as everyone else- people always say, " But you live in the mountains!" Every one I've met up here, even casually, seems consumed by a need to ski, snowboard, raft, etc. every free second. I'm assuming that moving to the city, I'd meet a lot more diverse people with more interests, right?
4. I'm currently paying about 1,100 a month for rent/utilities. This is about the most I can afford on my salary- I've looked up the salaries in the Denver area and it looks like it would be pretty comprable to what I make here. I don't have a roommate now and would really like to have my own place in Denver as well. I don't need anything fancy, just something that is clean and safe.
Any suggestions for specific areas to look at would be great! Thanks!
Last edited by harrison21; 12-05-2011 at 11:51 PM..
Job first.
Then decide where to live.
Commuting is how you will waste the most time and money during your life. Waste as little as possible.
Once you ask us about specific locations, we will chime in.
Job first.
Then decide where to live.
Commuting is how you will waste the most time and money during your life. Waste as little as possible.
Once you ask us about specific locations, we will chime in.
The issue is I don't know where to apply for jobs, because I don't know where I want to live. So I'm asking what would be specific areas to look in. I agree, I don't want a long commute. I'm not going to go rent an apartment or anything and then try to find a job...I will get the job before I actually move, but need to know what areas to look in first. I took a job out here without knowing the area first, and it was the completely wrong decision. The job is great, but I hate the area. I'm fixing that mistake now by finding specific areas I know I'd want to live in, and then looking for jobs in those specific areas. Looking at some of the Denver school district websites, they've already got mid-year openings for special ed teachers, so I can imagine there will be even more jobs when they're actually hiring for next year. I'm not saying I'm going to walk in anywhere and get a job, but I do think I'll have a lot of options and I want to make sure I'm looking in the right areas. When I got my job up here, I was given less than 24 hours to accept or decline the offer. That's not enough time to decide if I want to live in an area I haven't researched- not to mention, I don't want to put myself through the long application/interview process only to find out later that I'd never want to live in that area anyway.
You need to figure out whether you want to live in a rural area (sounds like that didn't work out), a small city, a big city, or a REALLY big city. If it is Denver, you need to expand your job search to the entire metro area. As a job seeker you do not have the luxury of being able to pinpoint exactly which location within the metro area you will work in. Need to cast the net wide, then see what you catch.
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Originally Posted by harrison21
2. I want to be very close to some good nightlife. I'm in my early 20's and love to go out. I'm looking for somewhere that would be good to meet other social people my age. I enjoy spending time with my coworkers now, but most of them are a lot older than me, so I'm looking for somewhere where I could meet other young professionals my age that are still in to the nightlife scene. Vail has a few fun places, but even with it being 25 minutes away and no affordable taxi service or anything...it's really inconvenient. The "young professional" age group around here is also close to non-existent, at least from what I've found...and I've heard that Denver is supposedly one of the best cities for young professionals.
Where did you hear that? Night life/ "young professionals" scene in Denver is adequate, there are options and it's much better than it used to be, but certainly not one of the best. Not even close. Denver is a third-tier city. Best would be New York (bar none) followed by Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles.
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3. I will admit although I do love the gym and fitness, I am NOT an outdoorsy person. That's another big reason I don't like it up here in the mountains. I knew coming here that people would be interested in skiing, snowboarding, hiking, etc. but I did not realize it was a life-consuming obsession for every single person. I enjoy skiing occasionally for something different to do, but I feel like I have to apologize for not loving the outdoorsy stuff as much as everyone else- people always say, " But you live in the mountains!" Every one I've met up here, even casually, seems consumed by a need to ski, snowboard, raft, etc. every free second. I'm assuming that moving to the city, I'd meet a lot more diverse people with more interests, right?
If you're NOT an outdoorsy person, why would you move to Denver, unless if it's for family or career specific reasons? Outdoorsy things is a huge part of the culture here. I would look at moving to another state.
VERY expensive cost of living and VERY competitive, but the Washington DC area has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, it has one of the best young professionals scenes in the nation, and it's not an outdoors oriented environment like out west. You should look into it.
Vegaspilgrim, you're right there would be better places than Denver. I have to go where the job market is though. I'm not sure why, but for some reason the job market for teachers (especially since I teach special ed) is extremely good in Colorado when compared to other places. That's how I was able to find a job out here so easily before. I'm originally from Cincinnati. In all honesty, I'd like to go back. It's not a huge city, but it's a city. So no, I don't have to be at the biggest cities in the country- in fact that might be almost "too" city for me. In regards to the size of Denver, I think it's perfect. Rural life is just not for me (yes, I would consider Edwards rural- there are things to do but they're all tourist traps), but I'm not sure New York City life is either. There are literally thousands of teachers applying for the same job in Cincinnati- that's not an exaggeration at all. It's downright impossible to find a job- people are laying off, not hiring. Even getting your resume looked at for a position is almost impossible. If I did land a position, there are overwhelming chances that it would be cut the next year. I sent out hundreds and hundreds of resumes all over Ohio, applied for every job I saw, regardless of location, and come end of July when hope of finding anything for the coming year is pretty much gone, someone told me the market was really good in Colorado. I couldn't sleep one night so I started looking at some online applications and filled one out. I realized later I'd made some errors on it, yet I got a call for an interview the next day. The principal called back and offered me the job about 20 minutes later. I later found out only 15 other people even applied for the job. I had no prospect of even being a substitute teacher in Oho (waiting lists are hundreds of candidates long, even for subbing), would have had to live with my parents had I stayed, and I figured I had to start somewhere, so I took the job and moved out here. Now I want to move, but I also need to be employed. It's a long and expensive process to apply for teaching licenses in other states, and I'm already licensed here. With so many applicants, many out-of-state places aren't willing to even give your resume a second glance if you're not already licensed in their state. Other than Alaska (which I'd work at Mcdonalds before moving to), I don't know of anywhere near a city that has as good of a job market as Denver. I don't want to be worried about losing my job year after year either. So, I figured I'm going to have to stay in Colorado for awhile, but I could at least find a better place in Colorado than here. Denver seemed like the best choice.
I find your comments about the outdoorsy stuff interesting though. I would just assume that people in the city would have more diverse interests. Is it really true that they don't? I'm glad I asked, I guess. Up here, it's literally every single person on the mountain all weekend, every weekend. It is absolutely necessary to get up at 7 am on saturday and sunday to be on the mountain before the tourists . Deadly blizzards are exciting because it means more powder for the slopes. People live and breathe skiing/snowboarding and don't do or talk about anything else for fun. When the ski season is over, it's all hiking, rafting, climbing, and whining that ski season is over. It's just not an attitude I'll ever understand. I'm supposed to be excited that I saw 11 car wrecks in my 10 minute commute (yes, that happened last year and is pretty frequent) because people don't even think about not driving in terrible weather, because "you live in the mountains! You love snow! Fresh powder!" I just can't imagine people in a city acting like that with so many other things around them to do. Like I said, I think skiing on occasion is fun. I don't mind a hike every once in awhile if it's a good workout. I can have fun on a camping trip. However, these things are not a life consuming obsession for me like they seem to be for everyone I meet up here. I'm also not fond of 8 months of winter- I've read on these forums just searching around that people keep complaining that the snow melts too quickly in Denver, which would be a huge positive for me.
Oh, and as for the young professionals comment, there have been several articles lately about how Denver has experienced the largest population growth in the "young professional" demographic in the country. Up here, anyone my age is basically a ski bum and only here for the season.
Well, of course everybody in the Vail Valley is a ski bum... that's the whole reason people live there-- that's the whole local economy of the mountain resort towns. Yeah, Denver is a big city with a diversity of people and things to do, but compared to pretty much any other city of comparable size, Denver is probably the most outdoors sports oriented. Denver is chock full of people who would love to live right where you're living if they could... but they have to live on the front range in order to have a career. If you really don't give a hoot about the mountains, and just want a big/semi big, low cost of living city, why not live in a place like Dallas or Oklahoma City?
What kind of "young professionals" scene are looking for in particular? Are you asking about dating by chance? Straight? Gay? I find, as a 26 y/o single professional, straight male, the dating scene in this town sucks royally-- and I'm actually considering moving somewhere else for this reason alone. Ever heard of "Menver"? It's a combination of a few things-- people here tend to get married at a young age (especially compared to the east and west coasts), people that grew up here tend to have narrow cliques among their circle of friends and aren't all that friendly towards outsiders (the friendliest people in CO are the transplants IMO, not the natives), and the male-female ratio, especially among people in their 20's and 30's, is severely skewed. Denver seems to attract more single males than single females in terms of people that move here. I also have a personal belief, but I do not have any data to back this up, it's just a hunch from personal observations, that Denver has a higher than average lesbian population than most cities. Or at least women who give the appearance of so. Gay male population appears to be about average for a city of this size. Of course, compared to any mountain town, the ratios here will probably seem like paradise in comparison.
Now, if you're just looking for a great bar hopping scene, don't mind mainly socializing with other guys, really enjoy beer (a lot of local microbreweries-- you will definitely become a beer snob living here, if you aren't already) & sports, then Denver is just your kind of place. We have an enormous amount of bars in downtown, LoDo, Capitol Hill and some of the neighborhoods around downtown. If you're looking for more of an intellectual/artistic/cosmopolitan vibe then you might find Denver a bit lacking.
I'm not sure why you think the job market is so great here-- there are numerous threads of other people here on this forum looking for teaching work that have the exact opposite opinion. Or is special needs education a more in demand field than teaching in general?
1. I have taught for several years and in a few districts around the metro area. Two of the better districts to work for are Cherry Creek (eastern Arapahoe County) and Boulder Valley (southern Boulder County). These districts also have fared cuts in budget better than most others, but are on opposite sides of the metro area. Douglas County and Jeffco seem to have some of the bigger budget problems. There is not a job in Denver Public Schools that I would take. Ever. And, yes Vegas, SPED teachers are an exception to the lousy job market.
2. I wouldn't worry about dating, as your profession will have you surrounded by women (and some of them will even be young and single).
3. Many people here are outdoorsy, but in a more city sense. They will ride their bikes, run on the trails, take their dogs for walks, and maybe take the occasional hike in the mountains or possibly camp or ski, but it is not the obsession that it is in the mountains.
I agree with vegaspilgrim. If you grew up in Cincinnati and liked it enough to want to go back, why are you focused on Denver - a city very different than Cincinnati? What about St. Louis? Or Baltimore? I liked living in Nashville, which is not too far from your home.
Thank you for the information- I'm actually female, haha. I guess the username is confusing (it's a place). As for dating, I find that there are lots of opportunities up here, being that it does seem that there are so many more men than women, but again- pretty much anyone my age is a ski bum. I do notice that people seem to get married young. I'm 24. I have four co-workers who are just a year or two older than me and they're engaged/married. None of my friends from home are married- that's something that was weird for me when I moved here.
JBP- I'd only want to move back to Cincinnati because that's where I grew up, not because I think Cincinnati is such a fantastic place in general. There's something to be said about being around the friends who have known you your whole life. I miss how practical and down to earth people are. I honestly didn't realize I was such a city person until I moved up here and realized I missed it so much. Honestly, I would not have guessed that about myself- but I guess it's good I've found that out! I got so sick of hearing "oh that's in Denver" when I'd ask where things were when I moved up here. I've lived in other places than Cincinnati (temporarily) but I've never been this far from a city before. In this economy, you can't just take your pick of the best locations- you have to go where the job is. I actually LOVE st. louis and have tried to look for jobs there, but unfortunatley the market is about the same as Cincinnati. Vegas, yes the job market is very good for special ed specifically in CO. I have not quite figured out why there is such a lack of special ed teachers here. I think someone told me that in CO you have to go to grad school to get a special ed degree (they don't offer it in undergrad?) In Ohio most colleges are encouraging their teacher candidates to get a dual major in special ed to make themselves more marketable, so the market is just totally saturated. My dad is a teacher and when his school had an opening for special ed a few years ago, they literally got more than 4,000 applicants. It may not be quite that bad everywhere, but that's pretty typical around most "cinncinnati like" places I would live. As I said before, there were only 15 applicants for the job I have now and my boss was talking about how she couldn't believe that many people (as in thinking it was a big number) applied. I was actually flying home once and ended up sitting on the plane next to a woman who works in special ed. administration for DPS. It was at the very beginning of last year, so I wasn't thinking of moving yet, but she'd even told me if I ever got tired of the mountains "we need you so badly- look me up if you're ever looking for a job."
I've heard bad things about DPS, but then I've also heard there are good schools within the system, so that's why I was asking if there were any specific ones to look for or stay away from. The school I work in now has about half extremely low SES students and half extremely high SES students, so I have experience in dealing with challenges in both populations. I have heard that Cherry Creek is a good district.
Last edited by harrison21; 12-10-2011 at 01:59 AM..
1. You should easily be able to find some type of work as a special ed teacher. What matters most is the experience you have on that resume. I'm in law enforcement and I can not say how fortunate I was to obtain an internship back in NY (yes im from NY). I wasn't able to find work out that way because the area I lived in had very small police forces (maybe 30 officers). Turnover rate was not high at all, threw an app towards Wheat Ridge PD and was hired (even though I was still living in NY).
2. Ummmmmm this is tricky since you are female.. I honestly think the night life sucks here. Well, maybe "sucks" is a little harsh but it doesnt appeal to me at all. Coming from upstate NY I thought the night life was much better there. Bars were open til 4am, bar patrons were a lot friendlier, (coming from a guy) the bar scenes were much better in NY and there was a lot more vibe... Denver is below average for night life in my opinion. Its a great place for microbrews but for night life I dont enjoy it from a male standpoint. And I should probably list that I'm a 24y/o male. Back in NY I was able to land dates pretty easily or at least strike convos a lot better back there. Out here it seems that most people I meet are "transplants" rather than "natives".
3. I feel somewhat similar about the outdoors. I dont need to be in the mountains every weekend. I enjoy snowboarding and the occasional hike but its not something I need. When you come to the city you will notice that people are active. Lots of cyclists, runners, people walking their dogs or spending time at the local parks. Summers are really fun down at West Wash Park just because of all the volleyball games, football games, cycling, bbq'ing, dog walking, rollerblading, etc. Like previously stated, in the city its a lot more "city recreational fun" compared to your "mountain fun".
4. I live in Cap Hill and after utilities I pay roughly $650 a month for a 500sq ft 1br apartment. My salary is pretty low but if I land my transfer job to Douglas County I will most likely either move to a downtown area (if I have a roomie) or towards West Wash Park if Im still alone... If you want to live in the actual downtown I'd expect around $1100 before utilities for something efficient.. If you can get a roomie you can can look to spend around $800-$900 for downtown (at least from what i've seen).
Shoot me a message on here if you want to get together if you come into Denver! I moved here about 7 months ago so I'm more than open to meet someone!
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Night life/ "young professionals" scene in Denver is adequate, there are options and it's much better than it used to be, but certainly not one of the best. Not even close. Denver is a third-tier city. Best would be New York (bar none) followed by Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles.
