Job Offers in Duluth and Palm Desert. Help me make a decision.

[cornsnicker3]

Originally Posted by frankie_dj

Hi all,

I've been interviewing at colleges pretty much all over the country since midDecember. Hiring season is more or less over for teaching jobs, and so far I got two offers: College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA and Lake Superior College in Duluth.

Both are weather extremes, I know. Duluth has advantage culture-wise , but Palm Desert is up on the weather end of things, since I don't have to be there over the summer when the 110Fs start on a regular basis (I'd catch the tail end of it in September though).

Money-wise, I got offered high $50Ks in Duluth, vs high $60Ks in PD.

I hate both weather extremes so not sure that I can decide by that. There seems to be more bearable months in Palm Desert (October to May) than Duluth (what, June to September? maybe?)

I am also single, straight, in early 40s and it'd be nice to start family soon if I can.

Help me choose!

Can you see yourself living in a hot desert climate with 6 months of hot or an almost boreal forest climate with 6 months of cold? The economics are slightly favoring Duluth because our cost of living is better, but this is gonna boil down to climate preference. Just saying it plainly, if you consider snow and cold to be bad weather that is to be tolerated rather than enjoyed, do not move to Duluth. This is a place that residents, generally speaking, "do" winter. We don't sit in our house all winter waiting for summer. We hike. We ski. We go ice skating. If that does not appeal to you, forget it.

[Meemur]

Just commenting from a teaching perspective: both sound like academic Siberia. I would be looking into how hard it is to get tenure and the whole academic quality of life in general. Schools like that tend to run young faculty through the wringer in terms of politics and extra work.

That's why I don't see either offer as that good, and if you plan on getting into administration, how likely is that in either system? A lot of places are family run, and if you're not a relative by blood or marriage, you will be given a crappy schedule with little chance for getting grants to achieve your pet projects.

You need insider information. Contact others in your field and ask some hard questions.

[chopps]

I have spent a bit of time in the desert during various parts of the year and it gets really hot during the summer. I have a friend that lives out there full-time and heads to San Diego for the summer to escape the heat. He says the area really thins out during the summertime. During the summer if you want be active outside you will have to get it done by 9am.


The desert skews older so I am not sure how vibrant the dating scene is. You can look up the stats on that and guestimate your numbers.

I've never been to Duluth.

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

Wow, that's quite the conundrum. Honestly, I'd keep looking for jobs but if I had a knife to my throat, I'd go for Palm Desert, and get into a house with a pool.


Duluth has very few sunny days and can get quite depressing otherwise. It's on a hill that can be a challenge in the winter. LSC is up in the heights where things start to flatten out, and the flat areas get tornados in the spring/summer weeks. Notice I didn't say months.


I highly recommend a trip to scout it out, and the sooner the better as you're getting into the "nice" weather season and it'll soon start to fill up with tourists. Most would say that Duluth has seen better days, and it has. The history is rich, but the present is pretty uninspiring.

I'm not sure about tornadoes, only because I lived there 21 years of my life and don't recall any tornadoes above the hill. Maybe a ways out, but not in the city.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by cornsnicker3

Can you see yourself living in a hot desert climate with 6 months of hot or an almost boreal forest climate with 6 months of cold? The economics are slightly favoring Duluth because our cost of living is better, but this is gonna boil down to climate preference. Just saying it plainly, if you consider snow and cold to be bad weather that is to be tolerated rather than enjoyed, do not move to Duluth. This is a place that residents, generally speaking, "do" winter. We don't sit in our house all winter waiting for summer. We hike. We ski. We go ice skating. If that does not appeal to you, forget it.

Bingo.

As to starting a family, all it takes is one.

I would imagine that Duluth has more earth mother type women, while the area around Palm Dessert might have more women. But who knows, really?

OP, what did you decide on?

[gvgranny]

Hi Frankie, Interesting post. Your choice was between two extremes, weather-wise and other ways, too. Curious about where you chose and what you think now, if you don't mind. - Deborah