No Job, Gotta Move Anyway--but Where (Denver, Pueblo: violent crime, house, find a job)

[MontanaAsh]

Almost a year ago, I lost my PR/writing/editing job here in Montana and thought it would take 3 months, maybe 6 max, to get back into my field. Thanks to Montana's economy and lack of options, I can't find work and have turned my sights out of state.

After about 150 applications and almost as many rejections, it's clear that I can't expect to compete with local jobseekers elsewhere while I'm still marooned here in Montana, with my little savings draining away by the minute. I've put my house on the market with intent to move in the next 2 months to a place where I can hopefully find PR, communication, writing and editing work.

Thanks to job posting sites online, I've spotted and applied for quite a few opportunities in the Denver area, and elsewhere in Colorado. I've also found and sought PR/writing jobs in Oregon, esp. Portland and at Oregon State U. and U. of Oregon, with a scant few also cropping up in Arizona, New Mexico and places far afield like South Carolina and West Virginia. True: places like Seattle and DC have these jobs listed aplenty, but I'm a small-town Westerner with no interest in huge city problems, crowds, nonstop traffic, violent crime problems and the like.

To keep sane, I have to have some open spaces and a community sized so I can do more with my life than ride in my car, work, shop and repeat. And, thanks to growing up in Libby, Mont., I have asbestos-related health problems that would be aggravated by living in an area with heavy air pollution.

While the job application process continues and I await results (and anticipate further rejections until I'm there, on the ground and ready to hire locally), I am seeking feedback opinions on where I should go. Where would I find the best chances for work combined with a non-urban (no big cities, nothing over about 150,000 or so population, hopefully less) life with a reasonable cost of living (in other words, housing prices, food, gas and taxes that don't exceed what the average person can expect to earn at the jobs available there)?

I'd like to live in sunshine, which is what makes Oregon, esp. Portland, look pretty bleak--if I could even find work there (I have applied from Portland down to Corvallis and Ashland for work; but just like in the Denver market, I'm up against stiff local competition with highly educated folks desperate for the same jobs I want, so I doubt they'll pick the Montana applicant who probably would ask for moving expenses).

In all, the "Don't move until you get a job" philosophy hasn't worked and will end up bankrupting me, so in what direction should I point the truck and hope for the best?

[Count David]

I don't think you should be asking this in the Denver forum, to be honest. Denver is a metropolitan area of 3 million, and while you may find a job here, this is not the kind of place you described as the kind you want to live in.

Within Colorado, I would suggest Greeley, Pueblo, and Grand Junction. Cheyenne, Casper, and Laramie, if you would consider Wyoming.

[Mike from back east]

Your other thread covered a lot of options, or lack thereof, for jobs and living in rural Colorado. Lets not repeat that here, but focus on the job.

If you can't find work in Montana, or in rural Colorado, and if the Denver metro area is not acceptable to you, then IMO you need to look in other states.

You may want to consider Cheyenne or Laramie, WY, close enough to be Colorado but should have clean air and lower cost of living.

[MontanaAsh]

I thought I'd posted on the Colorado forum, not just Denver. I am trying to get feedback on the jobs that might be out there, with the parameters I'm looking for. Perhaps you could delete the whole post and I'll try again on a more appropriate forum, not just a Denver forum.

[Mike from back east]

It's okay here, that's where most of the jobs will be, and most of the people who can advise you are found.

I can move it anywhere you wish me to do so.

I assume you've looked at the jobs on Craigslist for various cities / regions and what about the national boards like Monster?